Spooks Season 3
15-12-2004 11:20 | 9278 views | Michael Mackenzie
** Warning: spoilers abound for Season 3 of Spooks. If you haven't seen the final episode yet, stop reading now. **
Well, the third season of Spooks (BBC1) has now come to an end (remind me to finish that Season 2 DVD review before the year is out), and looking back on it I must say that it has been, when all said and done, a fabulous piece of work. Spooks is, in my opinion, one of less than a dozen television programmes to come out of the UK in the last decade that I can actually say I've honestly enjoyed. While this season has seen the departure of all three of the show's original leads, resulting in unease as somewhat similar but somewhat different replacements were drafted in, the show has maintained its momentum, delivering a number of true stand-out episodes.
Season 3's major coup is the vast improvement to the quality of the show's dialogue, for the most part dispensing with the sanctimonious flag-waving and self-righteousness that often reared its ugly head in the previous two seasons, while delving deeper into the darker side of what it means to be a spy. In this season, all of the main characters find themselves face to face with having to carry out a task that seems to them morally and ethically wrong, whether it be Tom's dilemma over destroying the life of a scientist who finds himself blackmailed into working with MI5, Zoe and Danny's assassination mission against a defector, Danny's increasing horror as he watches his new boss Adam applying sadistic torture techniques to interrogate a prisoner who may in fact know nothing and, in the final episode, Adam being told to choose between the life of his wife Fiona and Danny when they are taken hostage.
Spooks does stretch the limits of the phrase "suspension of disbelief" at times, but when all said and done it is excellent escapism that hits just close enough to real life for it to be meaningful. Roll on Season 4.
Well, the third season of Spooks (BBC1) has now come to an end (remind me to finish that Season 2 DVD review before the year is out), and looking back on it I must say that it has been, when all said and done, a fabulous piece of work. Spooks is, in my opinion, one of less than a dozen television programmes to come out of the UK in the last decade that I can actually say I've honestly enjoyed. While this season has seen the departure of all three of the show's original leads, resulting in unease as somewhat similar but somewhat different replacements were drafted in, the show has maintained its momentum, delivering a number of true stand-out episodes.
Season 3's major coup is the vast improvement to the quality of the show's dialogue, for the most part dispensing with the sanctimonious flag-waving and self-righteousness that often reared its ugly head in the previous two seasons, while delving deeper into the darker side of what it means to be a spy. In this season, all of the main characters find themselves face to face with having to carry out a task that seems to them morally and ethically wrong, whether it be Tom's dilemma over destroying the life of a scientist who finds himself blackmailed into working with MI5, Zoe and Danny's assassination mission against a defector, Danny's increasing horror as he watches his new boss Adam applying sadistic torture techniques to interrogate a prisoner who may in fact know nothing and, in the final episode, Adam being told to choose between the life of his wife Fiona and Danny when they are taken hostage.
Spooks does stretch the limits of the phrase "suspension of disbelief" at times, but when all said and done it is excellent escapism that hits just close enough to real life for it to be meaningful. Roll on Season 4.
Comments
Member
Posts: 203
I love the first two series - they are fantastic entertainments. And so were the first two episodes of series 3. But after Tom left, the quality in the stories took a nose-dive. It's like the writers didn't know he was leaving, and had to hastily write new stories. At least that's what it felt like. The remaining episodes just weren't as satisfying...
I think the departure of the key characters has damaged the show for some viewers, especially since Adam isn't as edgy as Tom (and you've got to admit, the finale wasn't a patch on the one for Series 2....or 1 for that matter). I'll miss these characters. Oh well, at least we still have Harry...
So, yes, I was disappointed. I dare say I will give Series 4 a chance when it airs, but for me, Spooks has already passed its prime.
D.J.
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I do agree that Season 3 wasn't quite as good as Season 2, but in my opinion Season 1 was the weakest -- mainly because, with only six episodes, they didn't have much time for character development. For the most part I think that the new characters will probably improve once they get a chance to settle in and expand a bit. In shows with a core cast as small as that of SPOOKS, it must be difficult to successfully bring in and integrate new characters, because they will always be perceived as being replacements and will be measured up against their predecessors, but I think that with Adam they did a fairly good job. Time will tell whether his wife will shape up. I'm assuming the Asian fellow that appeared in the final episode will be Danny's replacement in the next season -- I wasn't overly impressed by him but then we didn't really have much of a chance to get to know him.
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It was sad to see them go, and i thought only Danny got the only worthy ending out of them all
Adam is good, it will be interesting to see him develop, but Tom was just the best! :)
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Contributor
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I thought it was a damn good series, although i wonder if the main actors leaving was there choice or the writers/producers.
I believe it was their choice.
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Member
Posts: 110
I happen to think that spooks is the best thing to happen to british tv for a long while - the third season seeing the show at the top of it's game. I just hope that come new year, the quality is just as good and the absence of the three original leads doesnt hurt the series too much.
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I gave up on Spooks after episode 4 of series 3. I watched it religiously prior to that, and apart from the two child prodigy episodes in series 2 (which I truly hated), I thought it was fantastic, gripping stuff. But series 3 was just a let down from the get go. Why spend an episode getting Tom to unrealistically rejoin the team as if he hadn't just shot his boss only to write him out in the very next episode?
The thing is though, none of the episodes I saw were anything like as bad as the aforementioned child prodigy episodes from last year, and they featured some very good sequences (the one where Adam walks around London trying to lose his tail springs to mind) but I wasn't feeling compelled to watch the next episode any more. So when I missed one, I just didn't bother trying to watch the rest.
One thing I did notice was on the series 2 DVD, Peter Firth was talking about how he initially enjoyed discovering more of his character's personal life in one episode but then decided it was probably a mistake. I agreed with him then, so his character's daughter showing up was the moment that finally killed it for me.
Member
Posts: 1
Also, it's hard to see how Harry can keep his job with his agents dropping like flies. That isn't attrition, it's roadkill! It would have been nicer to see the main characters rotated out a bit more gently - say over two or three seasons.
I have doubts about Adam and his misses. Keep the family aspect out as much as possible and the series should do fine.
Can't wait for season 4 on DVD (am in Germany and that's the only option!). That and season two of Deadwood...javascript:smilie(':D')
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War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. JSM