Spooks: "Thou Shalt Not Kill" (1x01)

[fajrdrako]

I watched the first episode of Spooks today - or MI-5, as the American DVD is called. Enjoyed it very much, though for the first half hour or so I had trouble recognizing characters. I liked the way it was an intelligent show, seeming very rational, grown-up and straightforward after Torchwood. And consequently just a touch tame. But 'tame' in a good way.

1. I liked the theme of the Biblical texts, especially in the scene near the end with Tom Quinn and the villain, Mary Kane, are playing duelling Bible-quotes. I'd say he wins, but then, I'd be on his side anyway.
   
   
2. Enjoyed the whole theme of Tom's difficulty in the romance department: he loves Ellie, but if he tells her that she knows him under an assumed name, and everything she thinks she knows about him is a lie - will she accept him anyway?
   
   
3. Loved the scene where Ellie's daughter is singing "Zoe, Zoe, Zoe" because she heard Tom talking to Zoe on the phone. No wonder Ellie fears he's a bigamist. And I loved his totally incoherent promise to her: "Whatever you're thinking it is, it's something else."
   
   
4. I had some trouble catching all the names and identities. I liked Tom (and Zoe) as viewpoints characters - is that consistent through the series? I will find out.
   
   
5. After seeing so many American movies and TV shows where the villain is British, it was fun to see a British show where the villain was American. And I liked the points they made about their relationship with the CIA, and the diplomatic channels being at cross-purposes with the needs of national security or preferences.
   
   
6. I liked Zoe very much: as the young operative on one of her first big cases, she reminded me of Rebecca from The Inside. And I liked her for similar reasons.
   
   
7. The best thing about the whole show was the last couple of minutes, where we learn that Tom lied to Mary Kane and double-crossed her, and she snarls, "Judas". Woo. Strong ending. I loved it.

Comments

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

(We're starting on the third round of this, now... this is such fun!)

It is, isn't it?

(But I have to go home soon. I do. Really.)

And I should go to bed soon - my back is aching a little from sitting up. But still. It's fun.

we of course had no subtitles, and couldn't even run it back to listen again.

That's how I do my initial watching. Watching it more than once helps, of course.

the most annoyingly unfathomable bits of dialogue were when he kissed Martha to put his alien trace on her for the rhino-headed cops; I couldn't make out his lines there even after I'd read the subtitles. And they were such important lines!

I liked that scene. Did you ever learn what the lines were? I transcribed that episode, so I have a copy of the script somewhere. Yes, it's Here - "Smith and Jones" (http://fajrdrako.livejournal.com/650150.html).

You're not a closet anything!

True. I have no secrets.

And it's hard not to get in my car and drive to Ottawa to be there to fetch the remote for you, and put in a new DVD...

It would be wonderful to have your help, but I've mastered the art. Use the remote to open the DVD, three hops with the walker to remove the old DVD and put the new one in, three hops back to the sofa and the remote and Bob's your uncle. It was much easier to learn to do that than to open the fridge door.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

(This is typed under duress... chilly air from the vent is blowing right on me. At least the glare's not too bad, on this screen.)

I have replayed that night's go-arounds for days, now. Such fun that was!

I hope your back did not get too sore...! Yikes, sorry. Myself, I became quite stiff from sitting in one position -- next time, I'll remind myself to shift now and then!

Yes, I now know those lines. After I turned on the subtitles, I could read them; after that, I could kind of follow -- kind of match the verbal sounds to the words that apparently were being said. But, gad, what a problem that would have been for me without subtitles. I would have missed a key event of the plot, and been left trying to fill in the plot-holes with my own imagination.

It would be wonderful to have your help, but I've mastered the art. Use the remote to open the DVD, three hops with the walker to remove the old DVD and put the new one in, three hops back to the sofa and the remote and Bob's your uncle. It was much easier to learn to do that than to open the fridge door.

Oooohhhh, don't say that, now... don't tell me it would be wonderful to have my help! I may show up on your doorstep!

Then again, I would be doing so at my own risk. I would of course bring my camera, and catching you in action would probably end up with my own quick trip to the emergency room, and... well, it wouldn't be pretty.

I'll just try to content myself with long-distance energy massage. It feels good to me, too!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I hope your back did not get too sore...! Yikes, sorry. Myself, I became quite stiff from sitting in one positionI would of course bring my camera, and catching you in action would probably end up with my own quick trip to the emergency room, and... well, it wouldn't be pretty.

Hee - do I have you terrorized?

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

This has been a problem lately. I have basically two positions: lyingimmobile on the sofa with my foot raised, or sitting at my computer, a little hunched. In between, a lot of hopping on crutches or walker. I really must do more stretching (if I can find a way) or just plainmoving. Either way, the immobility tends to make me quite stiff.

Ah. I was subtly worrying about that. See other comments, from this evening, about physical therapists who wade enthusiastically in while a person is still muzzy from the initial anesthesia...!

You do realize, then, that you need to keep up your full range of motion; there are many sedentary-type exercises you could be doing, and I have no doubt you'll be able to think them up on your own. You will quickly get tired, when you do them: just be aware of this, as it's gonna be a Big Truth [g]. But you do need to keep all of the rest of yourself working well, you're clearly aware, and think of it as a good way both to make some time pass productively (you will feel so satisfied, when you've exercised a little!) and to earn the nap that is inevitably coming.

I'm sure you'll get plenty of ideas from the catalog that came with the "grabber," eh? I'm thinking of the elastic bands that you slip under one foot and then "row" with, so to speak. And that's just one thing in there.

I would of course bring my camera, and catching you in action wouldprobably end up with my own quick trip to the emergency room, and...well, it wouldn't be pretty.

Hee - do I have you terrorized?

Utterly. After all, you're armed: you have the crutches. Even if I scamper out of reach, you could still throw them at me, and even if I duck the first one, the second one's coming too!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

See other comments, from this evening, about physical therapists who wade enthusiastically in while a person is still muzzy from the initial anesthesia...!

Heaven forbid!

that you need to keep up your full range of motion

Well, except for The Foot.

After all, you're armed: you have the crutches.

I do - when I can reach them!

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

I now don't remember what I was referring to with the "muzzy from anesthesia" remark. (have a student at my left who is flipping book pages and swinging both feet back and forth under the desk; i'll be out of here soon, I guess)

Your "full range of motion" is your still-unhurt body; went without saying. Don't let things atrophy. You're too young to start feeling "old" joints!

Crutches within reach... well, grab'em with the extend-a-reach thingie. Which reminds me of the wingtip of a pterodactyl, strictly from a skeletal perspective.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It's nice to think about the wingtip of a pterodactyl! My gizmo is coming in handy.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

...Hm. Actually, now your "full range of motion" is also the reach that the gizmo has extended.

So glad that it is coming in handy. Tell me some of the things you've picked up with it! Tapped anyone on the shoulder with it yet? "excuse me, you're blocking my view of Captain Jack Harkness! Please step aside."

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

"excuse me, you're blocking my view of Captain Jack Harkness! Please step aside."

The only person who has ever dared to do that - and it was long before this mishap - was Harry. I screamed at him! He looked startled.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

The only person who has ever dared to do that - and it was long before this mishap

Aha. And now, no one will ever dare again, knowing that you are armed as it were with pterodactylic reach!

- was Harry. I screamed at him! He looked startled.

Hee! He would. Harry sometimes doesn't quite get our shared obsession, bless his heart.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Harry sometimes doesn't quite get our shared obsession, bless his heart.

No. He has his own obsessions. I think he understand in principle - not always in practice.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

"Pterodactylic reach." Gad, I like that one!