Jasmine Sahu is well suited with this new American drama exclusive to Dave.
Lois Cameron explains why this series is much more than your average cosy period drama.
The last episode of this series sees Sherlock and Moriarty attempt to solve the final problem with devastating consequences.
With major cast changes afoot, Jacob Martin ponders whether Being Human can live up to its own scarily high standard.
“‘The greatest hazard of all – losing one’s self - can occur very quietly in the world, almost as if it were nothing at all.’”
The American President (codename: Lighthouse, which happily allows the characters to avoid having to clumsily use the name of a fictional leader) is coming to the UK to chair top-secret talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. MI5 is tasked with making sure this Operation Horizon goes off smoothly, including sending Dimitri and Beth to pose as members of the Home Office to look after one half of the negotiations each. In a camp in Lebanon, someone knows about the talks and is determined to make sure they don’t go ahead – but why?
Any episode that starts with Harry striding down the halls of White Hall to talk to the Home Secretary is always, always going to make me feel hopeful. After a series that’s been fun, but ultimately annoyingly lacking in real weekly developments, this was Spooks back on absolutely top form. This episode was, like most, tense and interesting, but it was also emotionally engaging. The tensions between Anna and Levi were nicely played, and paid off beautifully with the revelation that his decision not to save her had even darker consequences than he could have ever imagined. Paul Freeman had great chemistry with Peter Firth as Harry’s old friend, and I have to admit to choking up a little at Harry’s reaction to the denouement between father and daughter. And if your favourite element of Spooks is the twists, you certainly got your money’s worth here. From the revelation that they wanted to kill the President, to the surprise that Muatt was trying to save him and the scenes surrounding the plausibility of the sniper’s aim and the realisation that he was simply a diversion so Anna could turn herself into the necessary bomb, they were all unexpected and worked beautifully.
I also enjoyed the continued development of Dimitri, particularly through his scenes with Anna. I was much more affected by his feelings of betrayal and doubt than I was with similar scenes involving Beth last week. Max Brown has a quiet charisma that makes him perfect for the usually-in-the-background secondary male, and I hope they continue to use his character more.
But, as anyone who’s read any of my blogs so far will probably be able to see coming, my favourite thing about this episode was the final, brilliant, completely astonishing, marvellous twist. Sure, it still involves Vaughn turning up and calling Lucas “John”, but this time he’s not just Vaughn – he’s also Michael, Maya’s partner. I didn’t see it coming at all, and hopefully it will mean Iain Glen finally gets the interesting material he so richly deserves in the final few episodes.
My only problem with this episode was the lack of Harry and Ruth scenes (although she made an rather sweet team with Tariq) but hopefully that will be rectified next week.
Overall, though, this episode was a brilliant step in the right direction for Spooks, and I hope that next week lives up to the brilliance of this week’s amazingly unexpected cliffhanger.
You must log in to submit a comment.
