Closing the file (for now?)
Apr. 15th, 2022 04:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shallownessThe Ipcress File – ep 6.
Slow opening, but satisfying twists and betrayals leading to a tense climax and fairly satisfying epilogues. Dalby’s agency’s professionalism saved the day, ultimately. Just about.
Jean bugged Maddox, and although I slightly cared about an African American in his position, when he tried out the ‘Bobby Kennedy called me’ line, I didn’t really care enough as to how much he was lying. He couldn’t face Jean getting hurt and did the right thing there, anyway. I just didn’t find him as compelling as I might have.
Far more compelling was finding out from Mrs Dalby that the marriage had been a sham for her too, and she’d been reporting to other security services on her lying husband. The Minister’s wife seemed to be in on her spouse’s treachery, which he justified because of colonialism, its decline and money.
I’d wondered if Harry would call his ex-wife from the phone box, not trusting official channels, despite her having appeared in the hallucinations. Indeed he did, eventually went to stay with her and her new husband, and they chose not to show any of the repressed mixed emotions involved. I deducted marks from Jean and the agency for not fully debriefing him and getting that psychiatrist who had helped with the Abducted Physicist while taking Maddox’s word a little too much on the state of Harry.
My whole issue with Jean being about to treat Harry at home and then not going through with it was that it wasn’t under proper scientific conditions. Sweet of her to want to respect his privacy/spare his brain, but predictably too cavalier. After all, he had given her AND HIM enough reasons to legitimately worry about what he remembered/didn’t remember.
And although I didn’t mind some of the eliding of their personal stuff – from her saying she couldn’t root around in his mind and him backing off to the discovery that they were sleeping together (but in that weird ‘and then we put on clothes for the TV audience in the morning' way). That’s what fanfic is for. But actually I do mind their not showing the whole Harry living situation. Why not show him finding out Jean was living in his former flat? Why not show them discussing the situation or on what basis he was back in the flat? I mean I’m happy for Harry/Jean driving off, her safe in the knowledge he’s probably not going to comment on her driving now and him knowing a place where they can eat and celebrate still having jobs where they’re expendable because Harry didn’t kill the resident based on what we saw, but we could have seen more before that…
Alice and Double Barrel came through, sticking to their assessment about Dalby’s Love Interest, then finding out the truth about the brother. (And having feelings about it coming from German sources.) It felt like they left it a bit late to tell Dalby, who was feeling under all sorts of pressure professionally and personally and to his vanity, and then learning he’d been played for years by the Soviets.
Convenient timing on the reveal of the American asset. I had worked out that would be the Minister, and the timing of Harry being whisked away worked well. I have mixed feelings about Jean fighting the big operative and winning. I’d like for the few seconds’ warning to have helped more, because the knife felt like a trope as did her retrieving the gun, because in between we had the icky visual of a massive man trying to kill a much smaller woman. And when she isn’t a main character fighting a stooge, the woman is going to get killed in that scenario.
Thank goodness Alice had been stone cold and capable of shooting dead the CIA operatives. Dalby got to redeem himself, just, say goodbye to Polina (oh good grief, Dalby, you sap, I mean, it’s realistic that she had some feelings for him and he wasn’t over her, but I’d have had more sympathy if she hadn’t just been there as his love interest.) The conspiracy was thwarted and er, am I right that they gave info on BRAINWASHING to the Soviets? To balance out the American conspiracy? Er, okay!?!?
It remained stylish, and I believe there are other books and it’s been popular on ITV Hub, so I expect it to return, and I’m pleased about that, even if the whole series didn’t live up to the very strong impression of the first couple of episodes, although when they make more there’s the minor fact of the world having changed now.
[Edited for typos 30/12/24.]
Slow opening, but satisfying twists and betrayals leading to a tense climax and fairly satisfying epilogues. Dalby’s agency’s professionalism saved the day, ultimately. Just about.
Jean bugged Maddox, and although I slightly cared about an African American in his position, when he tried out the ‘Bobby Kennedy called me’ line, I didn’t really care enough as to how much he was lying. He couldn’t face Jean getting hurt and did the right thing there, anyway. I just didn’t find him as compelling as I might have.
Far more compelling was finding out from Mrs Dalby that the marriage had been a sham for her too, and she’d been reporting to other security services on her lying husband. The Minister’s wife seemed to be in on her spouse’s treachery, which he justified because of colonialism, its decline and money.
I’d wondered if Harry would call his ex-wife from the phone box, not trusting official channels, despite her having appeared in the hallucinations. Indeed he did, eventually went to stay with her and her new husband, and they chose not to show any of the repressed mixed emotions involved. I deducted marks from Jean and the agency for not fully debriefing him and getting that psychiatrist who had helped with the Abducted Physicist while taking Maddox’s word a little too much on the state of Harry.
My whole issue with Jean being about to treat Harry at home and then not going through with it was that it wasn’t under proper scientific conditions. Sweet of her to want to respect his privacy/spare his brain, but predictably too cavalier. After all, he had given her AND HIM enough reasons to legitimately worry about what he remembered/didn’t remember.
And although I didn’t mind some of the eliding of their personal stuff – from her saying she couldn’t root around in his mind and him backing off to the discovery that they were sleeping together (but in that weird ‘and then we put on clothes for the TV audience in the morning' way). That’s what fanfic is for. But actually I do mind their not showing the whole Harry living situation. Why not show him finding out Jean was living in his former flat? Why not show them discussing the situation or on what basis he was back in the flat? I mean I’m happy for Harry/Jean driving off, her safe in the knowledge he’s probably not going to comment on her driving now and him knowing a place where they can eat and celebrate still having jobs where they’re expendable because Harry didn’t kill the resident based on what we saw, but we could have seen more before that…
Alice and Double Barrel came through, sticking to their assessment about Dalby’s Love Interest, then finding out the truth about the brother. (And having feelings about it coming from German sources.) It felt like they left it a bit late to tell Dalby, who was feeling under all sorts of pressure professionally and personally and to his vanity, and then learning he’d been played for years by the Soviets.
Convenient timing on the reveal of the American asset. I had worked out that would be the Minister, and the timing of Harry being whisked away worked well. I have mixed feelings about Jean fighting the big operative and winning. I’d like for the few seconds’ warning to have helped more, because the knife felt like a trope as did her retrieving the gun, because in between we had the icky visual of a massive man trying to kill a much smaller woman. And when she isn’t a main character fighting a stooge, the woman is going to get killed in that scenario.
Thank goodness Alice had been stone cold and capable of shooting dead the CIA operatives. Dalby got to redeem himself, just, say goodbye to Polina (oh good grief, Dalby, you sap, I mean, it’s realistic that she had some feelings for him and he wasn’t over her, but I’d have had more sympathy if she hadn’t just been there as his love interest.) The conspiracy was thwarted and er, am I right that they gave info on BRAINWASHING to the Soviets? To balance out the American conspiracy? Er, okay!?!?
It remained stylish, and I believe there are other books and it’s been popular on ITV Hub, so I expect it to return, and I’m pleased about that, even if the whole series didn’t live up to the very strong impression of the first couple of episodes, although when they make more there’s the minor fact of the world having changed now.
[Edited for typos 30/12/24.]
