The last ever Spooks

Cafe Society
1

I have been a massive fan of Spooks for the past ten or so years. I love the mix of John Le Carre and James Bond. I love the somewhat ridiculous plots. I love the relationships between the characters and the way in which upper echelon staff in MI5 are regularly bumped off in exotic ways. (I’ll never forget the death by chip pan fryer.)

Last night was the last ever edition of Spooks - and I was disappointed. It just didn’t grab me in the way I thought it would. I’d always assumed that the ending would revolve around Harry and Ruth - which it did. But (without giving anything away for those who haven’t seen it), I thought it fell a bit flat. I’ve read many reviews and blogs where people said they were in tears. But not me.

Anyway: farewell Spooks. You’ve been a lot of fun.

2

Much as I love the show, there was an awful lot of Stupid For The Sake of Drama going on. There was an extremely time-critical decision to be made, yet the characters were quietly strolling around and moping and resolving personal issues instead of, you know, phoning the Home Secretary with some rather important information. And the bit at the end - what, these people can accomplish a dozen impossible things but don’t know basic first aid?* Dumb, dumb, dumb.

And the worst thing is that there was a good plot with some very clever twists under all that Stupid but it was handled badly because they wanted to make the last show extra-dramatic. <sigh>

  • Also: “My head is cold.” “Here, let me touch you vaguely on the cheek and forehead. Is that better?” “Yes.”
3

Also, I have my doubts that

a small shard of glass going through some pretty heavy clothing would be enough to kill someone.

4

Can you put the Harry and Ruth stuff in spoiler tags for those of us who haven’t watched the show in years but want to know if they ended up together? :slight_smile: Edit: Even if only briefly, and/or in spirit? Harry was my favorite, and one of the best bosses on TV (at least for the first three-ish years I watched).

5

Is Spooks shown in the USA; or anywhere else?

6

In the US, it’s called MI-5, for some stupid reason. I think I quit watching after series 2 or 3, when the whole “replace a major cast member every other week” thing really started taking off.

7

That was the last one??!!:mad:

8

I’m guessing that the name change is probably related to the issue that ‘spook’ is a derogatory term for black people in some parts of the country.

9

I was really disappointed with the ending. I really can’t say more without spoilers.

10

I’m in the US, and just saw the tenth series. I liked the call-back to the first series (in terms of casting a minor role). I’ve always enjoyed the show in general, even if the ending was disappointing.

As for this question,

In the US, some of the early series were shown on PBS, A&E and BBC America, but I’ve most consistently been able to watch it via Netflix. And per Wikipedia, it’s shown in many countries in Europe, as well as Mexico, India and elsewhere in Asia.