Episode 3 Discussion [rewatch}

[Silktie]

Great post by lwhite, and I second everything she said. That sequence where Adam is trying to lose his tail is one of my all-time favourites from Spooks, as it provides an in-depth look into old-school tradecraft, and highlights the fact that spying is a team game, and one lone person cannot possibly win against the overwhelming forces of the opposition.

Mace is wonderfully slimy in this episode, and his verbal jousting with Harry is also a highlight for me. Mace got some wonderful lines, especially his "We may not be able to see the red-coated ranks of her Majesty's finest swarming over the field at Waterloo, but for all intents and purposes we are at war." And also his comment about a secret being something you told only one person.

This episode also sets up the wonderful friendship that will develop between Ruth and Adam, as after her slip with his name at the beginning, she is the first one to make an effort to help him and draw him into the team. It's quite funny, though, that after Adam asks her not to tell the rest of the team that he asked her to look into Harakat, the first thing she does is run to Harry. It's clear that even this early in season 3, and after the departure of Tom, Ruth has unconsciously made a decision about where her real loyalties lie.

I loved Harakat, and also the role cricket played in this episode. This is the second time we see Spooks use sport as a unifying tool, we also saw that in episode 2.2 when football was used in an attempt to talk the suicide bomber kid out of blowing himself up.