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Episode 4 Discussion [rewatch]
18-01-2010, 11:47 PM (This post was last modified: 18-01-2010 11:50 PM by JHyde.)
Post: #11
RE: Episode 4 Discussion [rewatch]
I've said it several times before elsewhere on the forum, but I love Harry's line "Career, career....." It's one of my favourite Harry moments EVER. And I always laugh really hard when he follows it with "Stressful day!" - so funny.

I love Anthony Head, who is masterful in this. I'm surprised so many of you weren't crazy about Salter. I understood his motivations, and had some measure of sympathy with him. In the absence of religion or family, the intellectual stimulation of such a job would eventually become trying and repetitive. He was seeking meaning, and thought he'd found it in this girl. As he said, he would have been a double agent until the end of his days, and he didn't want to betray Andrea, who he truly loved, I think.

Did anyone spot RA?

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18-01-2010, 11:59 PM
Post: #12
RE: Episode 4 Discussion [rewatch]
Nope, missed RA -- where was he?

I'm not sure I bought that Salter was in love with Andrea. I think, more likely, he was in love with the idea of her -- young, idealistic, going after what she wanted with a vengeance, that she actually believed in something. He no longer seems to believe in anything -- your basic mid-life crisis which wouldn't be a big deal except that he works for MI5.

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"Betrayal is a cancer. Let it eat your soul, not mine."
"Please tell me this isn't going where I think it's going."
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19-01-2010, 12:03 AM
Post: #13
RE: Episode 4 Discussion [rewatch]
I think the fact that he at least mentioned that he didn't want to betray her while he prepared to hang himself means that he felt strongly about her. Especially given how much spies lie anyway. I do agree that part of him wanting to die was as much about him wanting to avoid the scenario of being a double agent though, and I'm sure that youthful idealism was partly why he fell for her in the first place.

My point is that in the absence of meaning, that void eventually needs to be filled by something in a man like Salter.

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19-01-2010, 12:16 AM
Post: #14
RE: Episode 4 Discussion [rewatch]
(19-01-2010 12:03 AM)JHyde Wrote:  My point is that in the absence of meaning, that void eventually needs to be filled by something in a man like Salter.

I do agree with that. It seemed to me, however, that where Marks got angry with all hypocrisy and manipulation and acted on that anger, Salter just kind of "faded." I never got any sense that he was upset or angry or trying to get even, just that he was tired of it all and I have no doubt that he would have committed suicide at some point, even if not then. He just wanted the emptiness to go away.

harry
"What is the truth?"
"Betrayal is a cancer. Let it eat your soul, not mine."
"Please tell me this isn't going where I think it's going."
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19-01-2010, 05:29 AM
Post: #15
RE: Episode 4 Discussion [rewatch]
The sense I got from both Salter and Marks was that they were disillusioned with England's diminishing role and status in the world, and started to wonder why they should continue to labour to uphold this fading country. They just handled it differently, whereas Marks turned into a ruthless crook who did everything for financial gain, and Salter went searching for blind idealism and found it in the shape of the girl. It's interesting that neither proclaimed disillusionment with the job of MI5 specifically, or some of the less than moral things they no doubt had to do as intelligence officers to rationalise their traitorous actions. Cause let's face it, both of them were traitors in the end.

And I wonder what made Tessa think that Zoe would possibly join her in her nefarious scheme about the ghost sources? We've seen nothing from Zoe to date that would indicate she is overly interested in money. Is Tessa banking on Zoe's admiration for her as an older and more experienced officer? Wonder if they'll explain this later.

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19-01-2010, 10:24 AM
Post: #16
RE: Episode 4 Discussion [rewatch]
Where was RA?? :O I completely forgot to look out for him!!
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19-01-2010, 10:49 AM
Post: #17
RE: Episode 4 Discussion [rewatch]
(19-01-2010 05:29 AM)Silktie Wrote:  And I wonder what made Tessa think that Zoe would possibly join her in her nefarious scheme about the ghost sources? We've seen nothing from Zoe to date that would indicate she is overly interested in money. Is Tessa banking on Zoe's admiration for her as an older and more experienced officer? Wonder if they'll explain this later.

For the life of me, I can't remember who originally said this, but dishonest people expect everyone else to be dishonest too. Tessa gambled because she honestly expected Zoe to capitulate for the money - let's face it, 10 000 quid is a lot, especially given her salary couldn't be more than 3 times that. And Zoe paused. She wasn't immune to the temptation. More than that, she didn't want to believe that Tessa was so terribly corrupt because she saw her as an older female officer and someone she might like to become.

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19-01-2010, 11:15 AM
Post: #18
RE: Episode 4 Discussion [rewatch]
I dont think Tessa had any real choice though other than to try and bribe Zoe. Harry had already ordered Zoe to do the dead drop instead of Tessa. Tessa is clearly very clever and I would imagine has probably already covered most of her tracks and cleaned the money she has taken from her ghost agents. She hardly comes across as someone planning and wanting to work for MI5 for the rest of her life!

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19-01-2010, 11:20 AM
Post: #19
RE: Episode 4 Discussion [rewatch]
Although how the hell they didn't see Tessa's place and make the connection I don't know! Harry probably makes a bit of money as Section Head, and Section Chief would be on a higher scale too (I think Tessa would have been on a similar grade) but there's no way she was making the cash to float a place like that palace on her government salary, and from what we know of her past, she didn't come from money or anything. Silly Section X......

It's definitely a topical issue for the Service, so it was a worthy storyline and a good way to twist Tessa's narrative.

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19-01-2010, 11:30 AM
Post: #20
RE: Episode 4 Discussion [rewatch]
Then again we are assuming it was Tessa's place. Perhaps she has a wealthy toy boy somewhere. I could imagine Tessa and a younger man.

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