Episode 5 Discussion [rewatch]

[Silktie]

I really loved this episode. I thought it was one of the best in achieving that elusive balance between plot and character moments, as well as between lighter moments and the serious stuff. Watching it again reminded me why I loved Howard Brenton's scripts so much. Anyway, on to the episode itself.

I have to say that the opening shot looked nothing like the desert to me, as it was supposed to be. Loved the sequence right after the credits though, with Harry trying out his newfound knowledge on disorienting techniques and annoying both Danny and Tom endlessly.

Tom really is spectacularly crap at handling Ellie vs his job. He shows absolutely no emotion when he informs her about the many ways his job will impact on their lives, and when he puts it so coldly, I'm with Ellie that it sounds really ridiculous. It's interesting, as I remember getting annoyed with Ellie for whinging so much when I saw it the first time, but now I actually sympathise with her.

Tessa is an evil so-and-so in this episode! Not only is she trying to convert Zoe to her evil ways, but she also has an affair with Maynard and then has a man killed to save his career. I also found it funny how Harry asks her to 'stroke him and see if he miaauws', thinking he's being very clever and cunning, while meantime Tessa has clearly been 'stroking' Maynard for some time, and much more. At first I thought Maynard might be an innocent bystander, but in the end he was selling his country out, just not as literally as we first thought. I should have known he was dodgy when it became clear he was having an affair with evil Tessa...

Hampton Wilder was crazy, and maybe if he had been honest from that start about lying in his book about Maynard's involvement, things would have turned out differently. But then they probably would not have been able to get rid of him and would have had a CIA asset in high office.

I liked how Harry figured out the main points of the game before anyone else, from the moment he had read the manuscript and realised it was dross, he knew it was part of a plot to remove Manynard. That speech he gave to Tom about how they were the laundry to wash the officers' sins away was very telling.

Loved Jools Siviter at the opera, and later in Harry's office. Also laugh at Harry's face when Jools pulls that manuscript out of his pants every time I see it. And the scene where the whole office is reading the manuscript is priceless - they are collectively gobsmacked by it, hee!