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BravoNine · 15-11-2010, 10:35 AM

(15-11-2010 10:13 AM)Silktie Wrote: I'm apparently a less discerning viewer than most on here, because I truly enjoyed season 9. I thought as a piece of pure entertainment it was stellar, each episode drew me in and engaged me for the hour it was on. After many years of watching television, that doesn't happen too often, I can tell you. And for all the bashing the writers have taken over this season, I thought in general the dialogue was much better written and much less clunky than I found the dialogue in season 8. But it's the first time that we have seen some very relevant themes explored so thoroughly, such as the cost of the job on the personal lives of the officers. The last time this was really explored was way back with Tom.

Were there problems with the Lucas storyline? Certainly. Is it the first time this has happened in Spooks? Not in my view. I found the season 6 Ros storyline just as bad, and found the way Ros was so seamlessly integrated back into the team, and as Section Chief to boot, after her betrayals just as hard to believe as I found the Lucas storyline of this season.

I don't think anyone's saying that Series 9 wasn't a great piece of entertainment, because it was. It was heart-racing, emotionally draining, and enough to warrant it being a health-hazard. There is no doubt that production was kicked into its highest gear for this series and it shows. The acting was phenomenal and there were enough moments to give people heart-attacks.

It's true that every storyline has its problems no doubt about that, I mean, the fact that Ros and Lucas spent Series 8 running around London all by themselves after the bad guys was pretty ridiculous, but I could suspend my disbelief. Even Ros being accepted into the team was understandable despite some strange moments.

The issue with Lucas's storyline is not just little plot holes here and there, if it was, I wouldn't be having an issue, I'd understand that suspending a little disbelief here and there on a fictional show is needed. My issue with Lucas's storyline lies in the foundation of the story, a storyline that shatters every meaningful thing ever said in previous series and twisting its meanings to make something dark and evil out of them. There are so many contradicting and questioning points that much of the storyline is left unresolved and somehow the writers are expecting the viewers to fill in the gaps ourselves and make some sense out of it. Instead of reaching into a vast history and rich potential of Lucas's already stated background and leading it down a story of truth, lies, and betrayals, the writers just decided to make up something new, make every intelligence agency the laughing stock of the town because apparently John/Lucas outsmarted them all, and twist a character whose loyalty made him shine and turned it into something evil. And worst of all, centering it around a love interest who unfortunately does not hold up her end of the bargain.

I don't mind they made Lucas into a broken man or that they wanted him to exit in this way, I can see all that and I can accept it all. But they never gave clear reasons for why John what he did, apparently he just did it to be someone. He was a loyal man who gave up so much for his country and now turns around to betray it for a woman he hadn't thought about for 15 years.

This story is exciting, it's heart-breaking, but like a house with weak foundations, the logic that is holding this storyline up just doesn't track right or in a plausible way, it in turn effects the whole storyline.

And like many have said, there were so many ways this storyline could have gone where it would have made sense and be plausible, even if they wanted Lucas to exit the way he did or become this insane broken man. His already stated past is filled with good plausible reasons that I would have easily accepted. It just so happens that this storyline the writers cooked up, while exciting, only causes me to be confused and frustrated. And as a Lucas fan, it is sad to see a character with so much potential broken down and crushed by a storyline that doesn't make much sense.