Episode 7 Discussion

[JHyde]

Wow, you all must have gone to bed after this episode!

First let's get all the jokes about Lucas fixing leaky taps out of the way. You can only contribute a joke to this mix if you post legitimate, chunky posts about the episode. I'll go first:
"He can come round and fix my pipes any time."

I'll divide the rest of my comments into 3 sections: aesthetic, theoretical and trivial.

Aesthestic -
*Ros' suit in those first scenes was really awesome.

*Tariq seems to be growing a longer moustache. I'm sure he really likes Movember.

*Loved the use of the London Eye and the Aquarium as locations, although whenever I see the London Eye I'm reminded of Catherine Tate's crack about breast implants possibly blowing up on them.

*The Home Sec's a young thing, isn't he?

Theoretical -
*As I said on the episode summary thread, I'm a little biased given my fascination with Indian and Pakistani politics, but this was a storyline long overdue given Britain's cultural and political landscape. And it didn't disappoint. Ashok's youth as an asset and his reasons for getting involved with this crowd in the first place (they were the only ones who would accept him, even a little) ring far too true for my liking. That kid was sharp as from the beginning, and his story was utterly moving. How horrific was that final scene in the siege? Truly frightening.

*the ongoing themes of how lying is a common-place part of being a spy and how you deal with the guilt and subsequent fallout from that were well explored. More about that in the themes thread when I've slept and am more coherent.

*I love it when Harry makes broad historical comparisons, in this case, to the British Civil War. Not because they're inaccurate or anything, they're just great lines. Very Harry. And wonderful promo moments.

*On another personal topic, I loved the Professor's comparison of Sanskrit to a woman. Not the simile as such, but more that I really empathised with the complexities and ambiguities of translation.

Trivial -
*It's not really trivial, but lovely Harry/Ruth moments.

*Good score for this episode. Not intrusive, but especially in the first part of the hour, was a beautiful balance to the story and nicely punctuated certain moments.

*I want to start a drinking game involving Harry and the line "Get me the Home Secretary."