[spoilers] Sir Harry Pearce 2.0

[Silktie]

It's an interesting issue, which I have been thinking about with the rewatch going on. If one takes into account the information given about Harry in his diary, it's maybe a little easier to understand why he hasn't buckled under the pressure yet. I would argue that he has already had his breakdown, when his friends and colleagues Archie and Amanda and their little daughter died in a car accident after helping him search for his son that had disappeared. If I remember his diary correctly, it was also around this time that his brother died. Harry mentions in the diary that he basically lost it then, and drank a lot. It took the intervention of his former boss and friend Clive McTaggart to drag him out of his depression, which helps one understand why he took Clive's murder so personally.

I theorise that after this incident Harry basically conditioned himself to become numb to the losses suffered due to the job. Perhaps taking the sort of approach that soldiers do to ensure they don't freeze in battle - basically thinking of yourself as already dead. He mentions various times in the diary that he feels an obligation to continue the struggle to honour the sacrifice made by those who had died in the line of duty. Therefore, we see a much more emotionally distant Harry in the first three seasons, never really establishing close personal bonds with any of his officers.

But then, he seemed to begin to soften from season four onwards (perhaps due to slowly falling in love with Ruth and this breaking down the emotional barriers he has put up?). He lets in Adam and little Wes after Fiona's death, and actually risks a relationship with Ruth. This leads to the very personal reaction of killing Kacvhimov to revenge Adam's death. (I still think he wasn't planning to do it, but when Kachimov so coldly referred to Adam as a resource that could be easily replaced, he lost all reason and decided there and then to kill him.) I also think the writers slipped up in not letting Harry have more of a reaction to what happened to Ruth in season 5, by taking revenge on Mace in some way. I further find it a little unbelievable that he had absolutely nothing to say to Ros about ratting out Ruth to Mace. Ros had done nothing at that point but bitch at Harry and the rest of the team, and showing no gratitude whatsoever for the chance they'd given her despite being involved in the coup attempt. It's totally unbelievable that the whole team, and especially Harry, weren't a bit aloof towards Ros after that.

I think the developments in season 7 and 8 severely dented Harry's self-control. Remember, he was the one that brought Connie back into the fold and allowed her the opportunity to continue spying for Russia. Adam's death, Connie's betrayal and what happened with Ruth's return have all chipped away at his defences, which is perhaps why we see a much more subdued Harry in season 8, who feels the need to defend his decisions to Ruth in particular on some occasions. Perhaps it also explains why he tries so hard to maintain his facade on the roof with Ruth in 8.8, because if he allows any weakness to show, the whole dam might burst. All this should contribute to some spectacular act of revenge should Ros and the HS die in that explosion, methinks, dependent on Harry being able to identify a culprit to take revenge on.