How did you feel about Season 9?

[xRuthx]

It was far too hit and miss for my liking overall...

Like most people on here I enjoyed the plot of the week format but the Lucas/John storyline really overshadowed things and made me mad. Like Binkie says (and I believe implicitly in the power of words and the responsibility of people to think about how they are using them) it was reprehensible on the writer's part to rewrite Lucas as they did, invalidating his experiences as a tortured prison victim by making him a repressed villain and therefore as someone else pointed out, placing the blame on Lucas' weakness of spirit rather than the service's way of using its agents. It's one of the biggest things that bugged me and I know I am in the minority when I say this, but I also found it annoying how Harry was upheld as morally upright and correct, never having to ever face any consequences yet again for the upteenth season. The Harry/Lucas confrontation felt necessary for me but was dodged sideways for a storyline that allowed the writer's an easy way out that relied on shock value rather than intelligent drama. I am also annoyed that the integrity of seven and eight Lucas is now undermined. I am now going to have to watch seven and eight selectively ignoring show canon and I hate it when shows force you to do that.

I do have to say though that series nine isn't the worst series for me (that would be six) and I did enjoy the cinematography, makeup, costuming and the acting was outstanding! I also loved that Ruth became more of a character in her own right and I loved her story line in 9.4? (with the Chinese) and 9.7. Incidentally, the only time I believed in Lucas is John was in the 9.8 Ruth and Lucas scenes. They singlehandedly salvaged that finale for me (though I still think it's one of Spooks worst). I also liked alot of the guest stars... the Chinese guy was astounding, I liked the new CIA guy, Towers and the actress who played Daniella.

My overall feeling is frustration, because the series could have been one of the best and it fell flat on its face because of the Lucas/John debacle. 9.8 left me upset enough that despite my extreme love for Spooks, if Ruth dies/leaves in series ten or the storyline is such that we get a repeat of Lucas is John with another character in ten, I don't know if I will continue to watch Spooks. Also, please give Tariq. Dmitri and Beth storylines. Please. I miss old school Spooks when we knew bits about all of the characters