My bold.
Noticing and commenting on a woman’s/character’s attractiveness (or lack of) does not make you, on that basis alone, deserving of the labels you’ve applied to yourself. 
Sounds like Terry Pratchett’s Dodger at the end of the book, who becomes a spy who pockets cash and jewels for himself while he’s stealing government secrets on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government. Might be an interesting series in itself.
Dinsdale - I had the same question about the money, and wondered whether it went to him or to Jedd (or conceivably both). I assume she got something since she was going back to get her son. Heck, some of it could have ended up funding Angela Burr’s department. It’s an annoying loose end.
Yep, I should have elaborated upthread. My top four BBC dramas of the year so far:
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- Line of Duty series 3 (starting at series 1 is recommended but optional, but essential to watch series 2 first)
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- Happy Valley series 2 (start at the beginning)
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- War and Peace, which was the most ridiculously beautiful production, like, ever
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- The Night Manager
I should add that I liked The Night Manager a great deal. All four of these were appointment TV for me, and that is rare these days as I prefer to binge watch usually.
Thanks all - I’ll check them out.
And yeah, I was overreacting in anticipation of criticism which may not come. Thought folk upthread and elsewhere had commented on various actors’ appearances, including Jedd as super-sexy. But I’m well-aware of (and try not to overly contribute to) the unfair treatment women in all professions receive.
Actually think she did a fine job acting, so felt a little uncomfortable making such a superficial comment. Wasn’t sure, tho (and may be one shortcoming of the show) what her character’s allure was. (To Roper at least. To Pine, she was the vulnerable damsel in distress.) I didn’t see it clearly in her personality, brilliance, etc. Sure she was attractive, but was she attractive enough that a guy who could have just about any woman would choose her?
I haven’t seen it. I haven’t been watching Peaky Blinders either, after being initially put off by the name, but apparently that is excellent too. There’s only so many hours in the day, alas…
My assumption, since he discussed the whole plot with Burr and the CIA-guy, is that they knew where he was transferring the money, so it probably wasn’t to himself. He mighta skimmed off a couple of mil without any one being any the wiser, of course. But that was a loose end that didn’t get tied off.
Knowing that the finale was airing on AMC this week, I held off on watching any of this until Sunday–did an episode per day, which was a very enjoyable way to see a show that benefits from a bit of ruminating over.
I agree with all the accolades posted here–it was very well done. I was very worried for the health and well-being of several of the characters, and was glad to see them all survive.
As for the Olivia Colman character’s pregnancy: aside from the fact that the actress was actually pregnant, there was, perhaps, a hint of an homage to Fargo in there. (I remember some reviewer of that film writing something like ‘when was the last time you saw a filmed story in which a very-pregnant character did NOT give birth?!?’)
Speaking of Olivia Colman, I did think she was perfect in this, but then she’s good in everything. I first saw her in the extremely wonderful second series of the 2005 BBC Look Around You, in which she was quite hilarious.
Did anyone else listen to Hugh Laurie and think at times that he sounded like an American doing a not-quite-flawless English accent? Maybe it was deliberate–illustrating Roper’s mysterious background. Or maybe House did him in, accent-wise.
We got around to this as our one-episode-a-night quasi-binge.
Yeah, fairly good. Quite nice in parts. Horribly implausible in others.
I used to have a hard time dealing with Laurie speaking English. Seemed odd. But now I’m used to it. Does a really god job playing the Big Bad. (My mind somehow consider his old comedy stuff as Some Other Guy.)
It does get off to a lousy start. No way is the story of the two doomed lovers who barely know each other enough to drive a years long story arc.
Still left too many questions. (Do I really need to spoiler these?)
[spoiler]What happened to the money?
How did the truck drivers know to vamoose before the boom? These couldn’t be Pine’s guys.
Why does Roper and company personally show up at places like skeevy Istanbul docks to personally inspect shipments? The top guys who do this in real life would never been in the same city as the stuff their shipping. This is what flunkies are for.
Why isn’t the issue of Pine being expendable to Roper the main concern? It’s all too tidy. Such organizations burn thru a lot of people. Need someone to go negotiate with a Nigerian warlord? Send Pine. If he doesn’t come back, oh well. Yeah, he saved the kid’s life but it’s not like he was deliberately being sent to die. And if he does come back, he gets a gold star and bit more trust. Do this a half dozen times and then he might be allowed to be in the same room as the boss’s special lady.
And it’s the age of the Internet. Just post the stupid files online. The crooks at MI6 are going to find it hard to sit on things then.[/spoiler]
Before the last episode, I outlined to Mrs. FtG 2 ways they could go with ending it. The old style Shiny Happy People way and the newer, gritty reality way. Oh, well.
Hiddleston as Bond? Terrible choice for the classic Connery/Moore type version. Almost good enough for the Craig type version. Not anywhere close to the same class as Elba.
How did the truck drivers know to vamoose before the boom? These couldn’t be Pine’s guys.
It’s been at least a month since I watched the last episode but as I recall:
The truck drivers were his friend from the kitchen that he reconnected with and a couple of his pals. They were not connected to the bad guy buyers.
I watched all but the last episode this spring when it aired. I really liked it, scenery, acting esp Hugh Laurie, plot. Unfortunately over the summer, events intervened that made me reluctant to finish it, namely Hiddleston’s ill-advised showmance with whatsherface. If he was ever in the running for Bond on the basis of this show, he certainly ruined it. Bring on Idris Elba.