Episode 6 Discussion [rewatch]

[A Cousin]

I tend to watch from an artsy-fartsy standpoint and find it very easy to suspend my disbelief. However, I did not find it hard to believe that the case got pushed to trial so quickly nor that it was Zoe tried because it was made clear from the start that an example was being made of MI5 and Officer X. In my own country, there have been enough of junior officers being thrown to the wolves for me to believe that they would go after Zoe and not, say, Harry. It is also big publicity and media. And aside from that, it is, after all entertainment. The writers are intentionally paralleling the Persephone myth, I think rather successfully.

So that said, my two cents are as follows.

I like the format and think that if it had been strung across more than one episode it wouldn't have been nearly as effective. The choice to format it in flashback - disjointed and unraveling the "truth" - parallels the op itself. Having contained in one episode made me feel like the episode was spiraling out of control just like the op did. I did not feel as if I was being beat over the head with it either.

KH and DO were nothing less than fantastic in this. I don't cry at TV, but I cried at this - and this is the 3rd time I have seen it.

There was a fantastic supporting cast in this: Penny Downing, Ian McNeice, James Laurenson, Haluk Bilginer, Hannah Storey, etc. So many dry scenes in the courtroom and it is so hard to sustain any level of anticipation in that setting. Penny Downing as the Prosecution QC was particularly good. I like the episode where there are a lot of extra supporting players. Seems more real. They also did a lot of "art shots" in the courtroom I think to keep it interesting.

And finally, from a character stand point, this is kind of the first time you see just how far Harry is willing to go for his team especially someone who is framed for political and publicity reasons. Some of it is a bit questionable but his paternal tendencies really come out such as his line, "Go and tidy your room, Danny." What a fatherly thing to say in such a situation! There may have been others before, but this episode is where I really started clueing into it. Funny, because apparently he was rotten father to his own kids!

Peace.