Jul 21, 2010

Spooks~ 7.7 and 7.8

I've been watching Spooks Season 7 for the first time...
yadda yadda, you know the story by now, so let's get on with it!
(See previous post for links to the other episodes.)

I LOVED these episodes!
I think Season 7 became better with each one.
The last two had me on the edge of my seat the whole time,
wondering what would happen next.

*Spoilers Warning.*
(I forgot to mention that before, so hopefully I haven't ruined anyone's suprises
as I've been discussing Season 7 over the last few weeks.)

Episode 7
There are some great close-up shots in these scenes,
when Lucas is a bit freaked out and rightly paranoid about being back in Russia.

Why is Lucas strolling around Moscow in a long black jacket in the middle of summer?

Lucky actress.

Poor Harry... being arrested, drugged and questioned.
I was always on your side, Harry!  I never doubted your loyalty.  Jerks.
This storyline made me dislike the Home Secretary for not believing Harry in the first place.
That had to be a bit awkward for him when Harry walked back into his office,
once again dressed in a suit and tie and carrying on like normal when everything was said and done.
(Yet, that's how it seemed to be~ same as before.)  Go ahead and give him a black eye, Harry!

And then there was Connie.  She creeped me out when she did the hissing thing.
She looks like such a sweet, older lady... and then, YIKES!

Gemma Jones is such a great actress.

Ben wasn't a favorite character of mine, but I liked him.
I was heartbroken to see him bite the dust... and in such a messy way.
Lucas warned you on the phone, Ben... you should've high-tailed it out of there!!!
That was hard for me to watch.  Another sad ending... yet I love this episode thanks
to more suspense and unpredictability. At least they figured out who the mole was.


Episode 8
The season finale.  Why does Spooks only have 8 episodes per season?
It seems a bit stingy to me, especially after getting 13 episodes of Robin Hood per season.

Speaking of Robin Hood, in the scene where Harry, Lucas and Ros are interrogating Connie...
there is something very Gisborne-ish about Lucas in these shots.
I swear I detected a bit of Guyliner!  Or maybe it was the way he was standing or leaning
in to make subtle threats (like Guy would do to Marian)... I don't know what it was,
but I thought of Gizzy during this particular scene.

Then there was all sorts of action~ crossfire, scurrying and hiding...
I was getting exhausted just watching them run around.

By the way, does Harry's cute, droopy face remind anyone else of a hound dog?
Aw... this dog wants to be cuddled... and so does Harry.

I liked the subway scenes (or whatever British people call underground transportation- can't remember),
which were all dark and scary.  Lucas had been shot, but was all manly and like, "Bah! Tis but a scratch."
Is it just me, or was Lucas extra gorgeous (despite being grimey) in this episode?
The minute they stepped onto that abandoned subway train,
I had the heebie-jeebies.  It was like watching one of those thriller movies
where you know something is going to pop up out of nowhere...
and I was right!
The homless lady's sudden appearance made me squeak out loud.  I'm such a pansie.

There was the Russian sleeper cell who looks like my Uncle Jerry.
Instead of thinking, "Why is this guy concerned about his stomach when he's about to
blow up London!?"  I thought, "Ooh, that looks good!" and hit pause to make myself a sandwich.

While I was nibbling away on my ham and cheese on wheat,
I couldn't help but notice that Viktor (the Russian hit-man leader guy)...
seemed to be channeling his inner Bob Dylan with that crazy hair!!!
I was a little disappointed Viktor didn't spontaneously break into "Hey Mr. Tamborine Man" or
"Blowin' in the Wind."  (That shall be saved for "Spooks: The Musical" I suppose.)

As much as I despised Connie for what happened to Ben,
I was very glad that she had the know-how to disarm a nuclear bomb and was
unselfish enough to go out a hero, saving millions of people's lives.

And of course, the show had to end on a cliff hanger, leaving Season 8 to pick up here.

I have to say that I am truely a fan of Spooks now,
and not just Lucas North. (Although he's my favorite character, of course.) 
Season 7 was well-written, well-acted and very exciting to watch.  I'll have to go back and
view the previous seasons and have a rewatch of Season 8. 

Thanks to Skully at The Spooks Fan Blog
who inspired me to get with the program and finally watch Season 7
due to her recent posts.  Also, thanks to those of you who have added
your 2 cents about each episode as I've gone through and
discussed my random thoughts about them all.


Screencaps thanks to Richard Armitage Net and Nancherrow.

9 comments:

Skully said...

Harry the hound dog... too sweet :)
I'm so glad you've become a Spooks convert! RA has certainly attracted many new fans to the show and it's great to see.

tyme_4_t said...

Yay Nat!!! I think you will enjoy the earlier series...

There once was an RA fan named Nat
Who happily liked to comment & chat
She discovered MI Five
Which made her feel a-live
But watch out for the episode with the deep fryer vat!!!

;)

Twinkling Moon said...

@tyme4tea, you are too funny! I can't express myself nearly as creatively as you, but Nat, I second tyme's rhyme :)

I too wondered about the winter wardrobe in the middle of summer in Russia. I don't get it. In the DVD extras it's clear that they are filming in summer, but is it suppose to be winter for the show? I ask because I feel like in every season they dress up like it's cold outside, but I know that can't be the case because they seem to always film during the Spring/summer. I wonder what the logic is with pretending it's cold outside?

@Nat, Connie's hissing definitely freaked me out. I didn't expect it. In fact, I've never had anyone hiss at me, I'd have no idea how to respond. It actually reminded me a lot of Harry Potter and the snake scenes, LOL!

Traxy said...

He's of course wearing that coat because it looks awesome on him! Duh! ;)

I struggled to suppress a laugh reading your post, Nat. Hilarious! (Bursting out laughing for "no reason" while at work? Eh, perhaps not.)

The Russian Bob Dylan actually had me thinking of British actor and comedian Alan Davies - same hair, similar face.

Connie sure ain't no "venerable Mrs. Fairfax", that's for sure...

"Spooks: The Musical" - now THAT would be interesting! Well, we're told Mr. Armitage can sing, so ... wow, fancy Lucas singing. *zones out to dreamland for a bit*

Ya know, I'm almost starting to wonder if in your current state, if you met RA, you wouldn't just stare at him and bring out knife and fork. I mean, we all know he's delicious, after all... ;)

@Rob said...

I perfered season 7 to 8. How lucky was that actress in the Russian Male "Club." And boy oh boy they had chemistry too, which makes me think he has a thing for brunettes. The Bob Dylan referance was LOL. You are clever as always!

BTW -- it's called The Tube. I think. Someone British should prob answer this one.

Those Brits will kill off anyone, they show no mercy. Goes back to Shakespeare if only five people die it's a comedy.

Myrtle said...

Resident Brit here:
The London underground is called the TUBE :D


I too preferred S7 to S8. I have been watching S7 as I wait for my
S8 DVD to arrive, preparation for
S9 has to be thorough, ha ha!

@rob, I think your theory about his preference for brunettes maybe right, the scene in the Bedouin Bar certainly had something!

Myrtle said...

....infact the 'Sexy Russian Girl' does resemble Nigella Lawson a little. Perhaps RA was fantasising that she had eaten chocolate cake :D


I too thought that 'Connie' was a great character, quite different from Bridget Jones mum.:D

kaprekar said...

Well he had to leave for Russia in a hurry so maybe he didn't have time to pack a summer coat...it does look awesome on him, I feel sad that he had to leave it behind.

Chelle said...

Totally with you! Waiting for Season 8 to be released over here is driving me nuts!