Series 10 - Episode 6 Discussion

[A Cousin]

(28-10-2011 03:18 PM)Gillymac Wrote:  There is tragedy in Ruth's death most certainly, but in the scenes leading up to her death we see Ruth forgive Harry, thus enabling him to forgive himself regarding the Elena mess.

Harry avenges her, pays tribute to her (and her fallen colleagues), then does what she would want him to do and go back to work.... I'm in no doubt that Harry comes through his grief a stronger, better Section Chief, and I sleep soundly in my bed knowing that he is in charge.

For me it comes down to whether or not creators did what they said they were going to do. I keep reminding myself that the episode did not end with Ruth dying. It ended with Harry deciding to return to work. I did not feel like Harry was left a broken and desolate leader. That would mean that he has learned nothing from the action of series and would most certainly not honour Ruth's memory in his mind or mine. I actually thought quite the opposite, as you list above. This is completely my fantasy, because I do like to indulge fantasy when it comes to Harry and Ruth, but I like to think that she is always whispering in his ear challenging his decisions. I like to think that he would always ask himself, What would Ruth think/do? Moreover, he knows exactly where his line is now and, more importantly, that it is not a weakness to have it. Ruth taught him that.

And Gillymac, I'm going to ignore the rest of your post because, to be blunt, it makes assumptions about the projected actions of others which is something no man can decide for another.

(28-10-2011 07:17 PM)Tea Lady Wrote:  Just because you are a Harry/Ruth fan does not make you a complete nutter, dressing in blue wrap dresses all the time and going to bed wearing a "Harry loves Ruth t-shirt."

Speak for yourself, TeaLady! I didn't get "Harry Ruth" tatooed on my ass for nothing! That was painful!

Speaking as someone who was very invested in the Harry & Ruth dynamic but who also accepts the ending as written, we all come at this from our own POV's, all of which are as individual as we are ourselves. I felt there was sufficient redemption for both Harry & Ruth in their final conversation B.S. (Before Sasha). They were finally on the same page. For me, it didn't need to go any further than that.

(28-10-2011 07:17 PM)Tea Lady Wrote:  Kudos chose the ending they did, because it was what "everyone" had come to expect from Spooks. Why go down a different route and do something different? Because it's not Spooks. Yeh, ok. I hear you. I can see the read through now of episode 10.6, they just took the script from episode 4.7 and crossed Fiona out and wrote Ruth's name and crossed Adam's name out and put Harry's name there. What a fitting tribute to ten years of Spooks. Another miserable, same old, same old, ending.

OK. I can totally see the regurgitation of Fiona's death in Ruth's death. But it's not like they haven't done that kind of thing before and we have been able to mark it off as familiar and move on to what it means in the bigger picture? Perhaps it was one leap too many? Because if I have one quibble about SV & JB its that they can be a bit over-ambitious and only succeed in confusing their audience.

Maybe my issue is that I have been unable to come up with a different resolution to Harry & Ruth that will pack the same punch re: the ending of Spooks thematically? None of the fanfic has done it for me yet either. (And you know I like to indulge a little fanfic fantasy. It helps me work through things....)

(29-10-2011 12:20 AM)Betty Wrote:  Ar-oooooooo! (That was a howling sound.) Of all possible endings, they probably chose the best from a dramatic point of view. I don't know that I'll ever stop wishing, though, that they'd chosen the most merciful...

Well stated Betty. I wish that too. But I can see why they didn't. Not for mindless shock value, lazy story-telling or even disdainful disregard of the fans wishes. I think they did it because they were making a very difficult point about the heroic tenacity of those in the service as embodied by one heroic, strong, dedicated, dutiful, decent but ultimately very human, haunted and imperfect man.

Oh and, a little rounder with the lips and support from the diaphragm and the howl will be perfection! I'm really good at it by now. I do it every time I watch the last 15 minutes of 10.6 - despite all my pseudo-intellectual pontification about Greek Tragedy.