Richard Armitage is About to Hit the Big Time

Richard Armitage is about to hit the big time, and I feel the need to declare that "I knew him when." Celluloidily, of course.

Having never been part of the Armitage Army of ravenous fans that sprang up in response to his gorgeousness and talent, I have nonetheless been an admirer and fan of his for some time. And I find it odd that I'm now feeling a mixture of pride and sadness in knowing that his appearance in The Hobbit is bound to catapult him into stratospheres of stardom.

Because most of the actors that I follow are loved by a smallish audience, it confers a sense of intimacy, ownership, or pride in their careers. An almost motherly feeling that I am loathe to lose when everyone in the world starts noticing what "we" used to have to ourselves. (This is similar to how I felt after Colin Firth hit it big in The King's Speech. A feeling that something wonderful and precious has been released out into the bigger world. And a hope that the bigger world deserved it.)

While Richard Armitage is certainly one of the bigger names to appear on my blog, he is still a relative unknown in that great huge grinding world of massive pop culture celebrity. And I kind of like it that way.

On the other hand, I am just so damn happy for the guy. He certainly deserves a shot at the big time.

So, good luck to you Richard.

Those of us who knew you as Guy of Gisborne, as Lucas North, or as Mr. Thornton, and who watched and waited patiently for each and every role you took on, are behind you all the way.  Probably staring at your butt.

The Best Spooks Characters of All Time.

Sorry. I just can't help myself. The show is addicting and I have yet more to say about it. At some point I know I will move on in my tastes to something else, but right now it is all "Spooks" (that is "MI-5" for you less Anglophilic Americans). I'm sure that, in theory, there are other things worth doing. . . I know the iguana cage could use a cleaning. . . .  But right now that will have to wait.

Maybe it is irresponsible to keep trying to convince people to watch this show given that it gets into your brain like a worm and takes over?

. . . but I'm not ready to stop trying so I'll plunge forward with my list. There have been 9 complete seasons of this program, and I count 21 spooks who have graced the grid with their presence (so far). Check out the complete list here.  I am not including minor characters, recurring Americans or other bad guys (wink), or home secretaries, just the main team members who have worked to save the world.  And, when I say "best", I'm thinking of both: (1) the characters that enrich the program the most, without whom the show would suffer the greatest loss and (2) the ones that make the most skilled and useful spies - those you would definitely want on your side.

1. Harry Pearce - His steadiness, consistency and surefootedness make him indispensable and I am so glad that he has never left or been killed off, though he's come close many times. Though he is usually seen indoors, my most memorable spy moments over the course of the show are when Harry gets out into the world and shows how calculating and on top of his game he really is (such as when he coolly takes off his tie and kills the bad guy tracking him or goes to the home of the former (and evil) home secretary and brazenly poisons him before removing the evidence and quietly leaving. He is equally competent with elected high-officials, walking political tightropes with ease and guts. I can't imagine Spooks without Harry, so he has to be #1. 
2. Ruth Evershed - Ruth is the soul of the show. I like the show so much better when she is there.
   
   And this is in part because of Ruth herself, and in part because of how Harry becomes better and more interesting when she is around. She represents humanity. She reacts in horror when someone should react in horror. Although tough and battle-scarred she is absolutely touchable. Her strength is her analytical brilliance, paging through mountains of minutia to find some indispensable clue. It is so cool to see that valued! I wish like crazy I could find a job just like Ruth's -- only that didn't involve terror and death. (If anyone hears of anything. . . ) 
3. Ros Myers - Of all the section chiefs, she is the best. Her motives and actions are
   
   unimpeachable. Solid and skilled, she is beyond tough and fearless. Despite what people say, she is not an ice queen. She cares deeply about her country and is willing to give everything she has to it without question. She is an untouchable. She is not perfect. Her judgement may sometimes fail, but her honor is unimpeachable. I don't need to be her friend, but I would always want her as my ally.

4. Tom Quinn - It is really hard to choose between our three main men: Tom, Lucas and Adam. All three are equally tough and skilled spies with incredible energy and excitement generated around them. As people, they are all a bit screwed up, so they are on fairly equal footing. But, I'm giving the thinnest edge to Tom, because of his depth. He is introspective and serious. He is philosophical but still very real. He is in good touch with his own failings and knows he's walking on ice a lot of the time.  He approaches his work with great intellect. Although Lucas has a lot of these same qualities too, it turns out he has Voldemort growing out of the back of his head. . . .
5. Lucas North. If Lucas hadn't turned out to be such a messed up example of humanity, I would
   
   probably have him a couple of notches further up on the scale. I adore his focus and his vague strangeness that makes him hard to know. It ideally suits a spy. But I don't like the back story that ended up tormenting his final episodes on the show. They proved little else than that Richard Armitage is a great actor and that even an amazing show like Spooks can have times when it's grasping at straws. But Lucas, in Seasons 7 through 9.6 is an amazing spy who would be giving Ros a run for her money at #3.

6. Adam Carter. I really like his confidence and skill. He makes a great lead officer. He has a regular guy-ness about him which is very appealing. He also has a lot of emotional issues, but even through those, he manages to woo the women, catch the bad guys, strut around the office and give off a great air of "I'm in charge here." He is excellent at seeing another perspective and hunting out a less than obvious solution to a problem. I love Adam, but in the long run, its Tom and Lucas I miss.
7. Zafar Younis. Zaf is extraordinarily skilled and confident. He somehow manages to be polite
   
   and kind to people and, unlike all those prima donna section chiefs, and is never pouty or irritable. Though he is less experienced, he acts with the confidence and skill of any senior officer. He is an incredible fighter with great energy and spirit and has to be one of the most fearless agents -- always getting sent undercover to the least appealing operations. Had he not died I would definitely have expected him to become section chief. I love his look, which for some strange reason reminds me of Ringo Starr, and which is open, guileless and friendly. He is not only good at what he does, he has great charm.

8. Jo Portman. She is just freakin' adorable. (They haven't yet found a bad haircut for that girl; she rocks 'em all. Just sayin). In any case she is also a shockingly willing spy. For someone so young and relatively inexperienced, she goes into any situation under any circumstance and rises to the occasion. She also seems very human and appealing as a friend and confidant.

9. Malcolm Wynn Jones. I love all the tech guys: Malcolm, Colin and Tariq. I'm giving the top spot to Malcolm only because, due to his experience and seniority, feels like more than just a techie. He is a more well-rounded presence on the grid. Plus its really cool to see someone his age get into all the gadgets.
10. Colin Wells. A great open earnest lovely man. He manages to make computers funny.

Honorable Mentions: to Tariq Masood and Ben Kaplan. Really great appealing characters who just don't get the same opportunity to show their stuff as the 10 above do.

Honorable Mentions Class II: to Beth and Dimitri. Beth showed a lot of potential and by the end of Season 9, I really got to like her with Dimitri and them both with Lucas. Dimitri seems cut in the Zaf mode, so he has a lot of potential which I'm looking forward to seeing unfold. But there's just no way they can unseat any of the massive spooks on my top 10 list.


Least Favorites

• Zoe & 
• Danny. Both have too much angst and wishy-washiness. They seem so hesitant, afraid of their jobs and responsibility. There are times both become distinctly likable -- but those are few and far between. Though, in Danny's last episode he stepped up his game and definitely redeemed himself.
• Fiona just irritates me. I feel like she's playing a part and too self-aware.
• Tessa is another one that is just irritating. She's supposed to be all bad and corrupt, but she just comes off as totally forgettable. You want bad and corrupt, try Connie James. That's what I'm talking about.
• Sam Buxton - the Scottish gal. Great voice.

Most medium (!)
All I have left is Helen and Connie. Connie is a played by the wonderful actress Gemma Jones. You love Connie and then you hate her. She is an interesting and thought-provoking person. Her final appearance in "Rain From Heaven" is an amazing part of the coolest episode ever. But I just can't say she is a "favorite" spook, so she gets stuck down here.

Helen. The main thing she is known for is her horrific death, setting the tone for this ruthless tv series early on, so, in that sense, she is important. I can't say she is particularly memorable; she was just beginning and the show was just beginning when she got removed from the squad in this terrible way. Don't hate her, don't love her; don't have much to say about her.

I have also compiled a list of all the Spy Teams that have been on the show (and picked my favorites). You can see that here:  Ultimate Spooks'-Lovers Guide to Spy Teams

MI-5's Lucas North, the Character that Pamela Ewing Dreamed.

 I have just finished watching the last episode of MI-5 (Spooks') Season 9 and I'm a bit ticked. (Please take care for the Spoilers that follow and - don't read if you haven't watched through Season 9).

I have no problem admitting that I'm often in over my head with some of the sophisticated and complex Spooks plots. Whenever one doesn't make sense, I always assume its me that can't figure it out and I really don't let it bother me. I have a rather healthy suspension of disbelief. But this time its not about me. This episode has huge plot-holes in it that are not my fault and due to nothing more complex than stretching a storyline too far.

Lucas North's (oh excuse me, John Bateman's) motivations and actions in this episode just don't and can't add up. While Vaughn was alive and blackmailing him, things made sense. The character-formerly-known-as-Lucas was walking a tightrope trying to keep things together --wishing to protect his job and reputation and trying to carve out a life with Maya. This is all fine. But after the threat of blackmail is gone (with the death of Vaughn) and after Harry knows (most of) the real story and Lucas knows his job and reputation are shot, his main motivation hinges on simply escaping somewhere with Maya.

Why in hell wouldn't Lucas have cut a deal with his own country rather than work with the Chinese to whom he has no particular allegiance and who are not providing him anything that others in power couldn't also provide? The Chinese entanglement was Vaughn's deal, not Lucas'; he is too smart to just keep working with them by default. Especially when all the spooks are offering to deal.  It doesn't make sense.

Once his last motivating factor, Maya, is dead, things become even more strange and strained. There is no reason why Lucas would become distraught to know that Albany wasn't a real threat. He was not invested in Albany and didn't even know what it was for much of the episode. His "mission" wasn't to deliver Albany to the Chinese. His mission was to get out of town. He could have been giving them chocolate. He didn't care. Why should he jump off a building when Albany turns out to be useless? It doesn't ring true.

Somebody defending the episode might say, well, he acted unpredictably because his mind was screwed up; he was confused; he wasn't acting out of rational motivations. Fair enough. But, while I think it makes sense for Lucas' options and strategy and even his state of mind to be messed up, there's no reason for his basic driving purpose as a character to be messed up.

And there is no reason for the writers to have changed everything about him that a viewer had the right to rely on. One of the best things about this show has always been its internal consistency with respect to character development. Rugs just don't go getting pulled out from under us. Here they are flying through the air.

...And, if he was so messed up, it just points to another plot flaw: there is no way, in that state of mind, he could have orchestrated (solo) all the sophisticated maneuvers he had going to get Albany from the spooks (the car pre-programmed with directions, the phone that calls only him, the suit of clothes for Harry to switch to, the scanner set-up, the IV drip for Ruth, and on and on). Its too much.

I'm not going to say that Season 9, Episode 8 isn't good TV. Its exciting and heart-thumping and heart-breaking and interesting. But it doesn't feel true to me. It has a flavor of Bobby Ewing showing up in the shower in Dallas rather than being dead. Yes, writers of fiction have wide license. If they want to all of a sudden make someone really alive after all!  they can do it. If they all of a sudden want to make someone really really bad after all!, then they can do that too. But there is no reason to have made Lucas so super duper ultra bad that he was willing to sell out his country for basically no reason... so really ultra bad that he was willing to kill a random stranger, let alone an attempt on a co-worker whom he cared about, trusted and respected. Not when he'd just spent years working his ass off as an agent dedicating his life to protecting his country and countrymen.

And I say all this as someone who is actually quite OK with some level -- a fair level -- of badness in Lucas. It makes sense. He is ambiguous. He has a strange flatness about him into which you can read a variety of things. So I don't mind the writers constructing a past for Lucas that torments him and causes him to become unstable. Its an interesting choice that enlivened this whole series, but by the last episode it was clear to me that they were straining to make it all work. They took a good idea to the wrong place and went too far.

By way of comparison, I enjoyed the way the departure of Tom was handled many many seasons ago . . . it was ever so slightly similar.  Devoted and caring agent just has one little bit more than he can take  and becomes rogue and unstable. There was a great ambiguous ending for him. I'm OK with rogue agents going a bit over the brink or being scarred by a difficult life. I mean, you don't generally go into this line of work if you are and have always been boring and squeaky clean.

The only thing that made the last episode of season 9 bearable was the phenomenal acting from Richard Armitage who almost managed to sell this ridiculous storyline. He reached deep and found a humanity for Lucas, despite these crazy plot twists. His scenes with Ruth, Harry and Maya are all powerful and touching. It was rich when he was advising Ruth to marry Harry. He has an incredible capacity to tap into Lucas' vulnerability.

I'm going to miss Lucas. And I don't see why they needed to blast him to bits before they ousted him. Even Connie got to redeem herself by disarming a nuclear bomb and saving millions of people before she was blasted away.

Spooks has always wooed me willingly along to wherever it wanted to go. And I've always been thrilled by the ride. But I feel jerked around by this ending to the Lucas story.

It might have been better if  Pamela Ewing had just dreamed it all, really.

"MI-5's Lusas North, the Character that Pamela Ewing Dreamed." LostinBritishTV

A Lot of People in America Don't Know MI-5 (Spooks). They Should.

I wish more people in America knew about MI-5 (Spooks). It is simply phenomenal. Some of the best TV I have ever seen. And from me that is really saying something because I hate dark, gritty, thrilling programs. If this is good enough to make me fall in love with it, I can imagine few who wouldn't.

What makes Spooks so good is the acting, the tension, the style of filming, and the writing. Among other things :) And for me, the best character in Spooks is London itself; it is shot lovingly in that city giving meaningful glimpses into the British government and way of life that I think would be especially fun for Americans since we don't otherwise see that. Of course it scares the hell out of me. And sometimes is very disturbing. But the acting and writing make the characters come fully to life and it can be appreciated at different levels. These factors make everything worth it.

And its actually pretty easy to come by. You can get it on Netflix or Blockbuster through the rental of dvds or online streaming. I actually watch it on dvds that I check out from my library and my husband tells me it is also on TV late at night.  Just look for it.  The only caveat in the "looking for it" plan, is that you need to know that in Britain it is called "Spooks," in America it is packaged as "MI-5." Also, good to know that in Britain the term "series" means what we call a "season." I mention all this, because, armed with info there is simply no excuse not to start enjoying this show today.

I suppose it should go without saying to wait till the little ones are in bed though. It is seriously intense, sometimes graphic, and sometimes contains nudity and sexual situations. I did let my 12 year old watch one episode with me because it was just so good and one of the more appropriate ones (more of a PG-13 than an R). In fact it is the episode that I would recommend to anyone interested in the show.  If you watch only one episode of this show, let it be Episode 8 of Season 7.

These are the best spies I know. They are just sooooo cool. In case you don't know, the characters you see in that episode are: Harry, their leader (the guy with the tie, you know what I mean if you watched the clip), Lucas (the very sexy dark haired guy who knew they were speaking Russian), and Ros and Connie the other two who are on the run and getting shot at. They are all good guys. Except that Connie (Gemma Jones, who most Americans would know most readily as Bridget Jones' mum) was just discovered to be a "mole" for the enemy. (That's spy talk for someone who has infiltrated your organization). Ros is my favorite character of all time, but you just get glimpses of her in this clip. Still you can see how awesome she is just by how she walks and holds her phone. You also briefly get to see Malcolm and Jo (the good guys assisting with cool high tech stuff at good guy headquarters -- we in the know call that "the grid").

This show continues on with a great chase and confrontation under the street of London in defunct subway lines. I won't say more.

British TV in general and Spooks in particular just has a talent for fully developing amazingly rich characters while simultaneously entertaining you with great plot lines. Add some incredibly talented actors and you just can't miss.

Great show.


A Lot of People in America Don't Know MI-5 (Spooks). They Should. LostinBritishTV

Why Ros Reigns Supreme -- Ros Myers of MI-5 (Spooks).

I first tuned in to MI-5 (Spooks) in order to watch Richard Armitage. There it is, the truth. I loved him in North and South and wanted to see, ahem, more of him. Unfortunately, the things he had acted in were fairly obscure and hard to come by in America. So I watched North and South a few more times, then exhausted the British Robin Hood series, of course, and finally, against my better judgement (because I am complete wimp and was sure I wouldn't be able to handle it) checked out season 7 of MI-5 from my library.

Spy shows are not my thing. Romantic comedies. Yes. Period dramas. Yes. Spooks? Spies and intrigue and terror? No way. Still, I tentatively slid the dvd into the player and gave it a go. The first few minutes included a new father being violently seized by some thugs, then after the opening credits, a disturbing psychological flash-back montage that freaked me out. I turned it off thinking this was a big mistake. The soundtrack alone was giving me heart stress. But I persevered and a few nights later tried again.  And then it happened. I fell in LOVE. Only it wasn't Lucas North. It was Ros Myers.

The ultra cool sexy woman encountering a dead body completely unfazed; making a quiet phone call, refusing to abort her mission, saying "if its something worth killing for, its something worth knowing." In this  scene, calmly, while on the phone, Ros notices a reflection in the bottle on the table that alerts her to a bad guy skulking up behind her. She grabs that bottle and smashes it into his head. Then, with a table knife, finishes the job (off camera, thank God). Removing evidence from the (first) dead body and breezing through Moscow, Ros stole my heart. We just don't get to see this kinda thing very often.

In my limited experience with scary things, beautiful woman do not behave this way. Some of the things Ros didn't (and doesn't ever) do: (1) scream or look scared, (2) pout out her lips and breathe heavy so that her breasts heave up and down, (3) seek out a man or some other authority figure to rationalize, talk, justify, worry or cry, (4) make you worry about her and her safety when she is on screen. Watching her is calming because she is calm. She radiates a supreme sense of competence. You know she is perfectly willing to die, because that's her line of work. Its simple as that. She's smart, funny, beautiful, hot, cool, skilled and oh so good at beating people up. She rocks.

But then, last night, while watching an episode from series 3 and getting our first real introduction to Fiona, I wondered why Fiona isn't in the same league with Ros? She's tough. She doesn't cry. She's ruthless, dedicated and gorgeous. Why is it not at all the same??

The answer came to me at Trader Joe's this morning. I watched a mom come into the store with her two children who were quite young. The mom was speaking in a loud clear 'mom' voice to her children, directing them to look at certain things, share their thoughts, and encouraging proper behavior and assistance in selecting good vegetables. In every way this should have been appealing, yet she irritated the crap out of me. Every thing she did, seemed to encourage bystanders to look at her and her kids and notice what a lovely family they were. They were lovely. She had nicely cut and highlighted hair, she wore great long fitted shorts; her kids were crisp and clean. They all looked the part. But that was it. They were playing their part: the happy mom and kids on their shopping outing. She seemed to expect that people should notice and compliment her - in fact one older lady did - but coiffed mom wasn't fooling me. It was her gig.

You see, I've been complimented for being a good mom, too, while out shopping. But it took me entirely by surprise. I was just out with my kids and going about my business. I had to think about what I might have done or not done that could have caught the lady's attention and caused her to think I was a good mom. I know that on another day, she might have figured I was a horrible mom because I caved into the demands of a tired kid for candy. But I don't do my shopping to please bystanders. I just do what I do.

And that's the difference between Ros and Fiona. Ros doesn't see herself as 'hip spy out doing a mission'. She just is one. She doesn't have time for angst or introspection. She doesn't need reassurance. We don't know or care whether she puts on makeup or wears sexy underwear. She wears what she wears, looks how she looks, and does what she does just because it radiates naturally out of her. There is no self-consciousness about it. I think it is a combo of brilliant acting and writing that have led to her being the all time most awesome character on Spooks. And that is saying something as the show is saturated with phenomenally good characters and acting.

Check out Spooks ("MI-5" in America, "Spooks" in Britain) on the BBC


Why Ros Reigns Supreme -- Ros Myers of MI-5 (Spooks). LostinBritishTV