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I have no idea why I'm so obsessed with this seemingly random Season 4 episode of Spooks. Is it the domestic Harry/Ruth? The pretty? The introduction of Jo? IS IT THE GORGEOUSLY SHOT SHOOTOUT AT THE SAFE HOUSE (that proves American TV took entirely too long to switch to digital HD film)? I don't know. But - hey guys, guess what, I made a picspam/YT spam of Spooks 4x05 "The Book." (I'm so obsessed, this is the episode my icon is from!) I can't help it - all the camera angles are divine. And there's Harry/Ruth, so YOU CAN'T GO WRONG THERE IN MY EYES.
Seriously. It's beautiful. Therefore:
I've decided to preface this whole shebang with this bit - solely for the way Ruth essentially edits and comments on every way Harry that runs the meeting on making short lists of new personnel. Also, because Zaf is a snob AND I LOVE HIM:
ZAF: Ugh. Six languages, a double first from Bristol, and hobbies include... kite-surfing.
FIONA: Ooh! Cute, too. Better brush up your C.V.s, boys.
ADAM: I thought that's why we have vetting consultants, so that we didn't have to go through the sordid details of each candidate.
HARRY: I like knowing all the sordid details of anyone I'm going to working with intimately.
RUTH: [narrows her eyes at his... interesting word choice]
HARRY: Within professional boundaries, of course.
FiONA: Of course.
HARRY: These are the pick of the crop. They had the best scores in the interviews and in the psychometric tests, which our esteemed HR specialist... [he can't remember her name]
RUTH: Debra Langham.
HARRY: ...will be with us on hand tomorrow to explain more clearly.
ZAF: She could start with the word "psychometric."
HARRY: She'll be here in the morning.
RUTH: At 9AM, actually.
HARRY: Which will give you plenty of time to shift through the dust to choose which are the most stellar candidates to join our illustrious brotherhood.
RUTH: [frowns]
HARRY: What?
RUTH: No, I just thinking - clique or circle might be more... exclusive, don't you think?
HARRY: No, I like brotherhood. Anyone else have a problem with my way of expressing myself today?
RUTH: Are you okay?
HARRY: [immediately] Yes.
RUTH: How well did you know him?
HARRY: As well as anyone, I suppose, which isn't saying very much. We worked together several times over the years, although he was certainly not the most gregarious man I've ever met.
RUTH: He wasn't married.
HARRY: No. Probably considered himself married to the Service.
RUTH: Well, that's all right, then. I was worried he - died alone and lonely.
HARRY: [makes an "that's nice of you to think of that" face]
RUTH: If you feel like you want to talk to someone... I don't have any plans later, if...
HARRY: Thank you, Ruth, but I've got to return a few calls. Nothing like a sudden death to bring friends out of the woodwork.
The thing is: Ruth knows exactly what Harry is thinking but would never say out loud, not even to her - is this how a old spy like me ends up? Alone and committing suicide in some lonely cottage in the country? After EVERYTHING I've given to the Service, will that be what I get in return?
(I WANT TO BELIEVE THAT WHAT SHE'S TRYING TO SAY IS, "DON'T WORRY, YOU'LL HAVE ME!" BUT IT MAKES ME REALLY SAD IF I DO BECAUSE HE DOESN'T, NOT ANYMORE.)
HARRY: [answering phone] If this isn't hugely important, I hope your passport's up to date.
RUTH: Harry, it's me. Ruth.
HARRY: Ruth.
RUTH: Yes.
HARRY: What time is it?
RUTH: Late. Look, I'm sorry to be calling you at this hour.
HARRY: Are you all right?
RUTH: Me? Well I'm fine, thanks.
HARRY: That's, ah. That's good.
RUTH: Harry, I was just wondering if... Perhaps you could come over.
HARRY: Come over... now?
RUTH: Yes.
HARRY: To your place?
RUTH: Yes. [realizes what it is she's implying] No! I mean, there's um--. [sighs in her Ruth-y way]
HARRY: What?
RUTH: [snapping out of her embarrassment] There's someone I need you to meet.
HARRY: Oh.
DO NOT SIT THERE AND TELL ME HE DOESN'T SOUND JUST THE LEAST BIT DISAPPOINTED THAT SHE'S NOT IMPLYING WHAT HE THINKS SHE'S IMPLYING. I am not making this up! Incidentally, during my Spooks indoctrination, this was the episode that made me sit up and go, "Oh, so, wait a second, this ISN'T in my head? But I thought--? Oh my goodness!"
The amazing part is how Ruth is very much in this scene without ever saying a single word... which is fine, because she's there to know that when Harry hears the revelation of The Book, he's definitely going to want a drink. MAN, I LOVE THEM.
CHARACTER PORTRAITS OF A TEAM OF SPIIIIIIIIIIIES.
THE CARTERS ARE GOING OUT SPYING, SURVEILLING, AND PRETENDING.
RUTH: I'm off.
HARRY: I take it your friend is behaving.
RUTH: Zaf's babysitting him, I think he's got things under control.
HARRY: How did you get mixed up with someone like Hicks?
RUTH: He wasn't always like that. He used to write brilliant and incisive pieces about just about anything. He wrote this piece about Kosovo... he cared. And then he realized people were more interested finding out how Sven Sorensen was scrumping that week.
HARRY: [laughs]
RUTH: Harry, do you really think we should be doing this?
HARRY: What?
RUTH: These people, they're obviously willing to do whatever it takes to suppress it.
HARRY: Someone's got to draw the line somewhere.
RUTH: Yes, I understand that, and I know Clive was your friend and you can't let his murder go unanswered, but--.
HARRY: It isn't just about Clive's murder. Or about The Book.
RUTH: Hicks choose me. He showed up at my doorstep, and there's nothing we can do about that. [doesn't want to go there, but she can't help it] You can't really think that they're going to...
HARRY: [yes, he does] You call me when they get to the safe house.
RUTH: Right.
(not capped because it's visually quite boring, to be honest)
Sad but true: THIS CONVERSATION RIGHT HERE proves why the blackmailing of Harry and Ruth in 5x05 goes down the way it does. Harry is predictable, Ruth is predictable; when pushed, Harry is protective of Ruth and also of His Beliefs. I'm not saying that the two situations are identical, because they're not - here, Ruth and Harry's involvement is a matter of circumstance, whereas in 5x05 they're framed, but the point is, someone sat up and took notice. JULIET Silly me. I keep forgetting that that's MY pet idea.
BUT ANYWAY. What makes this episode so good, I think, is its simplicity - there's not a lot of fancy gadgets or plot twists. It's simply: a dead guy writes a damning book, and someone wants to kill the one person who knows about it. If anything, there's more complexity in the way that Jo finds out who Adam really is, and what he does, than in the plot of the episode itself - complexity that happens largely off screen, and could otherwise be the main action.
(Also, incidentally, I love how the camera lingers on Ruth's shoulder after being shown a tracking device being put under her lapel. Details! Glorious details!)
BECAUSE I'M A NERD, I uploaded the entire shoot out in the safe house sequence to YT, because I'm going to be honest with you - visually, one of my most stunning things ever. It's in the darkness and bursts of blue.
ROY WOODRING: You guys at Five have an annoying habit of showing off how good you are at sneaking into other people's homes.
HA HA HA. It's funny because it's true.
This exists solely for the purpose of: Harry sitting at Ruth's desk (I believe), and Adam.
JULIET: Roy found out about The Book. He came to see me about it. We had to do something. He said he'd take care of it, I didn't know he'd go that far.
HARRY: But you and your little cabal were happy to see him get away with it.
JULIET: We've all got a job to do, Harry. Sometimes it's not a particularly pleasant one, but it has to be done. Clive was brilliant at what he did, but his job, his duty - to you, to me, to the whole country - was to take his secrets and whatever misgivings he had to the grave. Instead he chose to stab us in the back.
HARRY: We're better than that.
JULIET: You know what's going on out there! We're living in dangerous times.
HARRY: We're better than that.
JULIET: We should be. But sometimes we have no choice. I didn't want him killed, but I have no tolerance for weaklings who choose to cleanse their soul before they meet their maker with little regard for the mess they're going to leave behind. [turns around] What are you going to do with that?
HARRY: I'll hang on to it. And you will take care of Roy. You'll find some dark rock for him to crawl under and you'll make sure his path never crosses me.
JULIET: Oh, come on, Harry--.
HARRY: This is non-negotiable, Juliet!
JULIET: Fine.
HARRY: You'll make sure nothing like this happens again of your watch, and you'll leave Hicks alone.
JULIET: Since when do you care about a maggot like that?
HARRY: You call off the dogs! This ends here, right now, all of it. Unless you want to see this hit the presses.
JULIET: You wouldn't do that.
HARRY: Try me.
Ladies and gentlemen: why Harry was never going to join Yalta, and Juliet knew it. MY CRAZY SEASON 5/SEASON 6 THEORY ISN'T NEARLY AS CRAZY AS YOU MIGHT THINK, YOU GUYS. I know it's severe, severe, severe retconning, but hypothetically you can believe that Juliet (and, I'd imagine, Roy Woodring) are already working for Yalta, or at least sympathetic to its policy on Iran. Perhaps Clive McTaggert knew that, or knew enough that someone would be able to connect the dots?
I know that what makes this episode work is that you never What it is that's so incriminating about The Book, not in specifics, because that's not the point. BUT STILL. It's hard not to retcon, you know?
(ALSO, I've always wondered what else Malcolm filled the vast portions of The Fake Book with - The Sun Also Rises? War and Peace? Crime and Punishment? Unless he's a budding novelist and wrote his entire version of The Book.)
HARRY: You can't write this.
HICKS: I can't not write it.
HARRY: You can't write it now. If you do, I won't be in a position to help you, and mark my words - you will need help.
HICKS: I thought McTaggert was your friend.
HARRY: We're talking about losing a battle, not a war. This isn't over. And when the time comes, it just might be handy to have you around.
Another scene where Ruth is present but wordless. I like the way she keeps looking between Hicks and Harry, not quite sure if he's telling the truth or not - because honestly, I have no idea if there's ever a time when something like this comes out.
NOT TO END ON A PARTICULAR SHALLOW NOTE, but it's awesome how Jo is the only bit of color in this scene.
I'm a nerd.
Also, 4x07 "Syria" is next on my list, and I'm sad.
Seriously. It's beautiful. Therefore:
I've decided to preface this whole shebang with this bit - solely for the way Ruth essentially edits and comments on every way Harry that runs the meeting on making short lists of new personnel. Also, because Zaf is a snob AND I LOVE HIM:
ZAF: Ugh. Six languages, a double first from Bristol, and hobbies include... kite-surfing.
FIONA: Ooh! Cute, too. Better brush up your C.V.s, boys.
ADAM: I thought that's why we have vetting consultants, so that we didn't have to go through the sordid details of each candidate.
HARRY: I like knowing all the sordid details of anyone I'm going to working with intimately.
RUTH: [narrows her eyes at his... interesting word choice]
HARRY: Within professional boundaries, of course.
FiONA: Of course.
HARRY: These are the pick of the crop. They had the best scores in the interviews and in the psychometric tests, which our esteemed HR specialist... [he can't remember her name]
RUTH: Debra Langham.
HARRY: ...will be with us on hand tomorrow to explain more clearly.
ZAF: She could start with the word "psychometric."
HARRY: She'll be here in the morning.
RUTH: At 9AM, actually.
HARRY: Which will give you plenty of time to shift through the dust to choose which are the most stellar candidates to join our illustrious brotherhood.
RUTH: [frowns]
HARRY: What?
RUTH: No, I just thinking - clique or circle might be more... exclusive, don't you think?
HARRY: No, I like brotherhood. Anyone else have a problem with my way of expressing myself today?
RUTH: Are you okay?
HARRY: [immediately] Yes.
RUTH: How well did you know him?
HARRY: As well as anyone, I suppose, which isn't saying very much. We worked together several times over the years, although he was certainly not the most gregarious man I've ever met.
RUTH: He wasn't married.
HARRY: No. Probably considered himself married to the Service.
RUTH: Well, that's all right, then. I was worried he - died alone and lonely.
HARRY: [makes an "that's nice of you to think of that" face]
RUTH: If you feel like you want to talk to someone... I don't have any plans later, if...
HARRY: Thank you, Ruth, but I've got to return a few calls. Nothing like a sudden death to bring friends out of the woodwork.
The thing is: Ruth knows exactly what Harry is thinking but would never say out loud, not even to her - is this how a old spy like me ends up? Alone and committing suicide in some lonely cottage in the country? After EVERYTHING I've given to the Service, will that be what I get in return?
(I WANT TO BELIEVE THAT WHAT SHE'S TRYING TO SAY IS, "DON'T WORRY, YOU'LL HAVE ME!" BUT IT MAKES ME REALLY SAD IF I DO BECAUSE HE DOESN'T, NOT ANYMORE.)
HARRY: [answering phone] If this isn't hugely important, I hope your passport's up to date.
RUTH: Harry, it's me. Ruth.
HARRY: Ruth.
RUTH: Yes.
HARRY: What time is it?
RUTH: Late. Look, I'm sorry to be calling you at this hour.
HARRY: Are you all right?
RUTH: Me? Well I'm fine, thanks.
HARRY: That's, ah. That's good.
RUTH: Harry, I was just wondering if... Perhaps you could come over.
HARRY: Come over... now?
RUTH: Yes.
HARRY: To your place?
RUTH: Yes. [realizes what it is she's implying] No! I mean, there's um--. [sighs in her Ruth-y way]
HARRY: What?
RUTH: [snapping out of her embarrassment] There's someone I need you to meet.
HARRY: Oh.
DO NOT SIT THERE AND TELL ME HE DOESN'T SOUND JUST THE LEAST BIT DISAPPOINTED THAT SHE'S NOT IMPLYING WHAT HE THINKS SHE'S IMPLYING. I am not making this up! Incidentally, during my Spooks indoctrination, this was the episode that made me sit up and go, "Oh, so, wait a second, this ISN'T in my head? But I thought--? Oh my goodness!"
The amazing part is how Ruth is very much in this scene without ever saying a single word... which is fine, because she's there to know that when Harry hears the revelation of The Book, he's definitely going to want a drink. MAN, I LOVE THEM.
CHARACTER PORTRAITS OF A TEAM OF SPIIIIIIIIIIIES.
THE CARTERS ARE GOING OUT SPYING, SURVEILLING, AND PRETENDING.
RUTH: I'm off.
HARRY: I take it your friend is behaving.
RUTH: Zaf's babysitting him, I think he's got things under control.
HARRY: How did you get mixed up with someone like Hicks?
RUTH: He wasn't always like that. He used to write brilliant and incisive pieces about just about anything. He wrote this piece about Kosovo... he cared. And then he realized people were more interested finding out how Sven Sorensen was scrumping that week.
HARRY: [laughs]
RUTH: Harry, do you really think we should be doing this?
HARRY: What?
RUTH: These people, they're obviously willing to do whatever it takes to suppress it.
HARRY: Someone's got to draw the line somewhere.
RUTH: Yes, I understand that, and I know Clive was your friend and you can't let his murder go unanswered, but--.
HARRY: It isn't just about Clive's murder. Or about The Book.
RUTH: Hicks choose me. He showed up at my doorstep, and there's nothing we can do about that. [doesn't want to go there, but she can't help it] You can't really think that they're going to...
HARRY: [yes, he does] You call me when they get to the safe house.
RUTH: Right.
(not capped because it's visually quite boring, to be honest)
Sad but true: THIS CONVERSATION RIGHT HERE proves why the blackmailing of Harry and Ruth in 5x05 goes down the way it does. Harry is predictable, Ruth is predictable; when pushed, Harry is protective of Ruth and also of His Beliefs. I'm not saying that the two situations are identical, because they're not - here, Ruth and Harry's involvement is a matter of circumstance, whereas in 5x05 they're framed, but the point is, someone sat up and took notice. JULIET Silly me. I keep forgetting that that's MY pet idea.
BUT ANYWAY. What makes this episode so good, I think, is its simplicity - there's not a lot of fancy gadgets or plot twists. It's simply: a dead guy writes a damning book, and someone wants to kill the one person who knows about it. If anything, there's more complexity in the way that Jo finds out who Adam really is, and what he does, than in the plot of the episode itself - complexity that happens largely off screen, and could otherwise be the main action.
(Also, incidentally, I love how the camera lingers on Ruth's shoulder after being shown a tracking device being put under her lapel. Details! Glorious details!)
BECAUSE I'M A NERD, I uploaded the entire shoot out in the safe house sequence to YT, because I'm going to be honest with you - visually, one of my most stunning things ever. It's in the darkness and bursts of blue.
Click to view ROY WOODRING: You guys at Five have an annoying habit of showing off how good you are at sneaking into other people's homes.
HA HA HA. It's funny because it's true.
This exists solely for the purpose of: Harry sitting at Ruth's desk (I believe), and Adam.
JULIET: Roy found out about The Book. He came to see me about it. We had to do something. He said he'd take care of it, I didn't know he'd go that far.
HARRY: But you and your little cabal were happy to see him get away with it.
JULIET: We've all got a job to do, Harry. Sometimes it's not a particularly pleasant one, but it has to be done. Clive was brilliant at what he did, but his job, his duty - to you, to me, to the whole country - was to take his secrets and whatever misgivings he had to the grave. Instead he chose to stab us in the back.
HARRY: We're better than that.
JULIET: You know what's going on out there! We're living in dangerous times.
HARRY: We're better than that.
JULIET: We should be. But sometimes we have no choice. I didn't want him killed, but I have no tolerance for weaklings who choose to cleanse their soul before they meet their maker with little regard for the mess they're going to leave behind. [turns around] What are you going to do with that?
HARRY: I'll hang on to it. And you will take care of Roy. You'll find some dark rock for him to crawl under and you'll make sure his path never crosses me.
JULIET: Oh, come on, Harry--.
HARRY: This is non-negotiable, Juliet!
JULIET: Fine.
HARRY: You'll make sure nothing like this happens again of your watch, and you'll leave Hicks alone.
JULIET: Since when do you care about a maggot like that?
HARRY: You call off the dogs! This ends here, right now, all of it. Unless you want to see this hit the presses.
JULIET: You wouldn't do that.
HARRY: Try me.
Ladies and gentlemen: why Harry was never going to join Yalta, and Juliet knew it. MY CRAZY SEASON 5/SEASON 6 THEORY ISN'T NEARLY AS CRAZY AS YOU MIGHT THINK, YOU GUYS. I know it's severe, severe, severe retconning, but hypothetically you can believe that Juliet (and, I'd imagine, Roy Woodring) are already working for Yalta, or at least sympathetic to its policy on Iran. Perhaps Clive McTaggert knew that, or knew enough that someone would be able to connect the dots?
I know that what makes this episode work is that you never What it is that's so incriminating about The Book, not in specifics, because that's not the point. BUT STILL. It's hard not to retcon, you know?
(ALSO, I've always wondered what else Malcolm filled the vast portions of The Fake Book with - The Sun Also Rises? War and Peace? Crime and Punishment? Unless he's a budding novelist and wrote his entire version of The Book.)
HARRY: You can't write this.
HICKS: I can't not write it.
HARRY: You can't write it now. If you do, I won't be in a position to help you, and mark my words - you will need help.
HICKS: I thought McTaggert was your friend.
HARRY: We're talking about losing a battle, not a war. This isn't over. And when the time comes, it just might be handy to have you around.
Another scene where Ruth is present but wordless. I like the way she keeps looking between Hicks and Harry, not quite sure if he's telling the truth or not - because honestly, I have no idea if there's ever a time when something like this comes out.
NOT TO END ON A PARTICULAR SHALLOW NOTE, but it's awesome how Jo is the only bit of color in this scene.
I'm a nerd.
Also, 4x07 "Syria" is next on my list, and I'm sad.