Episode 1 Discussion [Rewatch]

[The Grid]

I know I'm a bit late but I thought I'd start reviewing each Spooks episode too. So I just watched 1.1 and here are my thoughts:

So Spooks begins and I think this is a very strong opening episode. The show manages to introduce each individual character effectively and manages to create a realistic working environment, which I believe is lacking in later series due to more emphasis being on the action scenes. This first episode focused on Mary Kane, a pro life terrorist. Mary was a brilliant villain and through the use of surveillance and a bit of undercover activity we witnessed her downfall.

In this first episode, we got a brief knowledge on how this MI5 team work - through undercover operations, surveillance and manipulating the media they achieve their results. We had Zoe briefly going undercover to befriend Mary's friend, then later as the family planning doctor. We witnessed Zoe and the team putting surveilliance inside Mary's house, and Tom fabricated a story to feed to the press to cover up the truth behind the car explosion that killed that poor mother and her child. No matter how many times I witness the scene where the mother drives off to work and her family wave goodbye to her, my eyes always fill with tears as they all look so innocent going about their daily business. The family are the innocent victims of a warped terrorist group, and when I hear the child say 'bye mummy' as she drives away, it sends a shiver down my spine as we know an explosion that will claim innocent lives is just seconds away.

Whilst Mary Kane is at the forefront of her pro life operation, we get an insight into those others who are involved. Mary's friend Rachel seemed to be incredibly naive and I think she represented that many people in the real world become tangled up and trapped in things they don't properly understand, due to their lack of common sense and judgement. I think Rachel genuinely believed what Mary was trying to achieve was for the greater good, and the spooks successfully picked up on her naivety and vulnerability in order to back her into a corner and extract information from her. Zoe posing as the family planning doctor towards the end of the episode demonstrated that this job involves them all risking their lives every day in order to protect their country. I think Tom summed up my thoughts perfectly when he confronted Mary Kane at the end of the episode "killing people for pro life, that's one of the most ridiculous things I've heard".

As well as all the drama and tragedy that this first episode delivered, we also got some real gems of comedy that helped balance things out. Two of my favourite moments of this episode has to be when Zoe and her team accidentally let the cat out of the house as they try and put in surveillance. Despite their surreal jobs, this situation demonstrated that they can all make silly cock ups just like the rest of us ordinary civillians! The second funny moment was Malcolm offering Zoe his camp bed. It was amusing, but it also revealed to us Malcolm's sweet and generous nature.

Finally, we got an insight into Tom's personal life. Ellie and Maisie are OK for now, but they really do start to grate on me as this series progresses. I guess the characters are relevant though to show how difficult it is for spooks to lead ordinary lives. Helen's little chat with Tom showed how nice and genuine she was, which I think is significant for the following episode...

A strong opener, though it's not one of my favourite ever episodes.

9/10