Episodes 1 & 2 [re-watch]

[Silktie]

I do like these two episodes. The 'plague loose on the streets of London' storyline, to quote Harry, is suspenseful and very well done. We also get some nice character development.

Poor Zaf. He is really fantastic in the first episode, showing loyalty and incredible self-sacrifice despite being unhappy with having to bomb that train. The question does arise, though, how he didn't die from the virus himself. Did the people who killed the mercenaries and took Zaf from them miraculously happen to have some of the vaccine?

Another question is why was it MI5's job to get rid of the Iranian scientist in Iran. Surely that would normally fall to MI6. I, too, wondered why Harry didn't refuse to go through with it. I guess it is not so easy to ignore orders when they come from the Home Sec, or maybe because he knew it had to be done and that there was not enough time to formulate an alternative plan.

I do love the second episode and the desperate measures that Harry and co take to find the vaccine. Bob Hogan and Harry together are great, and I also loved the sleazy Russian spy that Jo abducted. He was quite funny. Apparently the Spooks writers think all Russians ever are only interested in strip clubs and hookers, though...

Loved the introduction of Connie. There was something very old school and Cold War era about it, and I always like that. It's the little touches that does it for me - Connie spraying breath freshener in her mouth, immediately interrogating Poor Malcolm and Harry about their love lives, and the casual way she shows Ros the dungeons on top of which she lives. There's something irreverent about it all which made me immediately like her. And of course she gets to tell Harry to buck up and not let his people see he has no idea what to do.

Is this the first time we hear Harry acknowledge that he doesn't know what to do? Love that line of Connie's when she calls him 'the still point in a turning world'.

Malcolm gets quite a lot to do in this episode, which is wonderful. Interesting that it is actually him who comes up with the idea to kidnap the four other intelligence agents. There's also a great touch on the friendship between Malcolm and Harry when Harry sends Malcolm away so he wouldn't have to witness what they're going to do to the four men.

So Anna makes her first appearance, and we also see the first of the Adam/Ros relationship. I confess that these are two of my least favourite storylines. Perhaps separately, it would have worked better for me. I thought it interesting to explore an officer getting caught up with an asset, which is something that does happen in real life. But lumped together with Adam also seeing Ros and the jealousies and other issues it brings, it becomes too overwhelming and, at least for me, starts to take up too much of the show's time.