Spies 'n' Shit - Spooks S10E02 Review

Finally getting around to episode 2 of the last series of Spooks. I will spell this out now, loud and clear - if Harry and Ruth don't end up alright at the end of this series, I will cut a bitch.

Stay safe guyz!!!!

Anyway - it's been a while since I've watched the first episode, so the "Previously..." is actually quite helpful for once. It reminds us that Harry had a relationship with the wife of a bent Russian minister who was spying for the West, and fathered her son, who isn't exactly Harry's biggest fan. This is all rather bad timing, because the UK wants to have a 'special relationship' with the Ruskies, and America is all I DON'T THINK SO.

We start with Elena (Harry's baby mama) calling him but saying nothing before hanging up and removing the SIM card from the phone, which is a message to meet. Then, we have Tarik doing some encrypting bizniz with files at Thames House, while some presumably bad guys suit up for what one can only assume are Bad Things. And indeed, Calum (douche from episode one, who was carrying a briefcase with Tariq's special secret files in) promptly gets mugged outside.

A bit like this. Except they didn't steal his camera phone.

Erin starts giving out orders for people to brief and look for things and what not. Apparently it was part of their weekly share with MI6, and for a reason I don't quite understand, they deleted the files off the main server once they were done encrypting them and putting them into the laptop that just got nicked. They were personnel files (for added verisimilitude they really have been left on a train) and includes an asset working within a dodgy Russian oil company - of which Gavrik (bent Russian, married to Elena) owns part. Whoopsie indeed.

At this point, Ruth enters to tell them that it's on the internet that the laptop was stolen, and Dimitri sees that the thieves are threatening to decrypt the files and tell the world what's on them. Tariq, like any good nerd, is mostly concerned with the claim that they can break his encryption, at which point Calum The Douche is all douchey and what not. They aren't too keen to pull their assets before they have to, so the idea is to stop the thieves blabbing first.

I don't know what their plan for finding the hackers is, I can only assume it was something like this.

Ruth then starts Ruthing it up with Harry, asking about Elena and saying that they need to talk about Sasha, their son. To which Harry sharply replies 'No we don't'. Dude, less of the 'tude. He then goes and Harrys in his office for a bit. For which read, stares into the distance, looking vaguely perturbed.

A bit like this...

...and this...

...and this, basically.

Next we see Sasha in his hotel room/suite/whatever. Someone with a weird beard enters and he hides with an umbrella (!) for protection but it turns out to just be one of his security detail buddies coming to give him a job or something, and they joke about poisoned umbrellas. 'Classic', they say. Yeah. Totally classic. *eyeroll*. Anyway - turns out that the job is an unregistered phone at their delegation's headquarters - Elena's, clearly. Sasha looks uncomfortable. I think looking like you might have just shit your pants but don't want to admit to it is the main audition requirement for this show.

Back to Thames House and they're too late, as one asset is leaked all over the internet. It's at this point that I'm being distracted by Erin's hair. I can't figure out what exactly I find so distracting about it, though. More on that later.

Harry tells Erin to get Martha Ford (the asset in the Russian oil company) to get as much on Gavrik as possible before she's burned. They agree not to tell her she's in danger, and to get ready to pull her asap if and when necessary. We get some more odd looks from Erin - it's hard to tell if it's bad acting, a red herring, or if we should be suspicious of her. In hindsight, I think that was meant to be discomfort on her part about having to lie to Martha. Bitch, if you can't stand the heat get out of the spy business.

I think this would have been a better choice for head of Section D.

 

Whitehall and a meeting between Harry and the Home Sec. The Home Sec isn't too happy about this - it would be disastrous for them if it gets spread all over the papers that they've been spying on the Russians, even though the Russians know about the spying anyway. And the UK knows that the Russians know. And I think maybe the Russians know that the UK knows that the Russians know? Who knows at this point. The Home Sec is being pissy with Harry, as if Harry left the information in a bin in St James' Park or something. Ahem. (Google "Oliver Letwin bin" at this point if I've lost you). Harry is all passive-aggressive back and notes that the safety of the assets is also at stake. The Home Sec couldn't care less, natch. He's all about keeping the Russians happy.

Sasha goes to see his ma and asks if she called Harry. He tells her that he knows she's a spy (but he obviously doesn't know Harry is his father), and asks for the phone that Harry gave her. She gives him the SIM, he tells her to leave the hotel and not come back till the evening. She comes over all maternal and tells him not to put himself in danger - which he aptly points out, she already took care of. Silly cow.

Ruth is at Thames House and looking wistfully at the files of the Gavriks. So, being Ruth, basically.

Something like this...

...and this...

...and this. You get the idea.

 
Dimitri is looking for one of the assets to take him in, but he's gone off the radar. Because he's lying dead in his bedroom, as Dimitri soon finds. Harry wants him to make it look like a suicide to keep the murder off the front pages.

Next, Erin is meeting with Martha the Asset, and tells her to log on as Gavrik to her company's server and steal his files. Martha doesn't seem so up for it, but Erin talks her into it, without telling her the kind of danger she's in.

Back to Dead Asset's flat (which is well posh, btw), and Dimitri and Calum faking the suicide. Dimitri makes Calum clean up the blood in the bedroom, which Calum moans about ('Why do I alwys get body fluids duty?' - lol, and euw). Because he's a douche. And cos he's the new boy, as Dimitri points out. Heh.

FSB London HQ next (I have trouble not reading that as the Federation of Small Businesses) and Sasha is looking all moody and shit. Beardy spy guy from before is there, and Sasha tries to head him off. Beardy Weirdy tells him that they think someone at the hotel called MI5. Sasha tries to convince Beardy Weirdy to team up with him and find out who it was themselves, before going to their superiors (to protect his mother, obvs), which BW agrees to.

Beardy weirdy.

 Martha is back at work at her oil company and is trying to access Gavrik's files, but needs an executive terminal to do it. We see the age-old rush to download files as the person whose computer she is using fast approaches. She gets the files just in time, and pretends she was leaving a note for him. He then introduces her to his mate - Gavrik, who insists she stay and sit in on the meeting they're about to have. Tension!!

Next we see that despite their best efforts, Dimitri and Calum The Douche seem to have been seen leaving the flat of Dead Asset Man after faking his suicide - according to the internet, anyway. Harry realises that MI5 is being framed, just as Martha's details hit the web. Erin comes back from her meeting with Martha to this news, and calls her to pull her out. Martha pretends her granny fell and she needs to leave (lamest excuse ever? If you'll pardon the pun, that is), but Gavrik is looking at her all suspicious-like. As she's trying to leave the building, the other bloke in the meeting gets a call that she's a spy, which Gavrik says he knew. Martha is in the lobby and trying to leave, but her picture is plastered all over the plasma screens on the news. This bit is fairly tense - she seems like a very nice, normal, not-spy type of person, so you do feel for her. Especially when she wasn't told she was in danger. Aww, etc. She leaves the USB stick that Gavrik's files are on in a plant thing in the lobby. She doesn't answer Erin's calls (Erin was coming to pick her up) as she hurries through the streets. Erin and Dimitri realise that if Erin is planning to go on the run she'll have to go home to get her passport, so Erin heads off there.

Martha gets home to 17 messages on her answer machine and starts frantically packing a bag. She has a lovely house too, btw. Erin gets to Martha's about the same time as some bad dudes in a van. Martha knows Erin lied to her and is well pissed, trying to escape her. As Erin is trying to convince her that she has her best interests at heart, the bad dudes get to the door, and the girls run out the back.

Back at the grid, and Tariq is trying to trace the hackers. Calum is being a dick to him - again, and Tariq has had enough. Go Tariq! He has a go at Calum for taking the piss all the time and Calum looks like he feels like a dick. Good. I like Tariq. Tariq is cool. Calum is not. That's why he's Calum The Douche.

Tariq=cool. We already know what Calum equals.

Sasha is at the hotel and has a list of names and room numbers. He goes into room 416, which I think belongs to some random staffer? It's not very clear. Anyway, he goes into the room and plants the SIM card in a phone in the room and turns it on (meaning the guys back at FSB HQ can now trace the phone to its exact location).

Erin has taken Martha to an MI5 safehouse. Martha tells her that she dumped the data to avoid getting caught with it, Erin leaves to go and 'fix it'. But before she leaves, she gives Martha the keys to the safehouse. Which seems like an odd thing to do, given that Martha was a flight risk all of five minutes ago. Even odder, when we see Martha fondling the keys and looking strangely into the distance as Erin leaves. I have no clue what that was about. Smell the fart acting at its best, folks.

Oooh, topical!!!

Beardy Weirdy has found the phone, but doesn't seem happy about it - he wants to know who all knew that he was looking for the phone. At which point Sasha calls him. He has shit timing. BW tells him he found the phone in room 216, at which point Sasha nearly shits a brick, but BW corrects himself and tells him it was in room 416. When he hangs up with Sasha, BW ends up following Elena through a crowd in London, as does Sasha - it's one of those slow montage scenes with heavy, mournful strings. As is Spooks' wont. Anyway, she's meeting Harry in a theatre where a ballet company are rehearsing, meaning we have a really famous piece of classical music soundtracking this scene but I can't for the life of me remember the bloody name of it.

Anyway - Harry is telling Elena that someone has been posing as him, sending her messages. She says whoever it was knows everything about her and Harry, and that they were asking questions about the partnership between the UK and Russia. She told them everything she knew because she thought she was talking to Harry. BW and Sasha are both at the theatre - BW leaves after seeing Elena with Harry, and Sasha runs after him, asking if he's called it in yet, which he says he has. Sasha thinks he's talking a load of balls, though, cos BW is ascared of Sasha's da. They then have quite the bust-up in the corridor of the theatre, intercut with the ballerinas dancing and the music getting rather loud. More tension!

Elena tells Harry that Sasha knows about her being a spy, which Harry already knows of course. He asks her what sort of a person Sasha is, to which she replies 'he's like you, in many ways'. Cut to Sasha killing Beardy Weirdy. Lol.

Harry thinks he knows who it is that's impersonating him. Elena says that although she regrets many things, having Harry's son isn't one of them. Ugh, angst. As he's leaving the theatre, Harry gets a call from Sasha to come to the backstage corridor, where he's just standing around with Beardy Weirdy's dead body on the ground. Dude, wouldn't you at least find a cupboard or something? FFS, like. Sasha blames BW's death on Harry, because he had seen Harry and Elena together and Sasha had to stop him. Sasha still doesn't believe that someone has been posing as Harry, but he needs Harry to help him get rid of the body and cover it up.

I know how you feel, buddy.

Harry arrives back at the grid, and Ruth follows him into his office to ask if he saw Elena. Harry tells Ruth he needs her to investigate his CIA friend Jim Coaver, who he believes to be the Fake Harry. Ruth is still pissed that Harry won't talk about the whole thing with Elena and Sasha. He says there's nothing to be done, 'I've tried'. He says he needs her, she's the only one he can tell about this to find out who's been impersonating him. She says she doesn't mind being dependable Ruth as long as he's telling her the truth. But then she knows she'll never get a straight answer to that anyway, so she goes off to do his bidding, while Harry looks like he doesn't know whether to vomit or cry.

Dear Calum...

Dimitri and Tariq decide to send the hackers something irresistible to try to find them. 'Uh-oh', says Calum, 'the Admiral's got a plan'. DOUCHE. So the section make up a whole load of crap about black ops, rendition and what not to send to the hackers. Ruth is worried that it'll make things worse but it's too late as they're taking the bait. Except that the hackers are doing a pretty good job of hiding their IP address. Until Tariq realises he can activate their web cam and get a pic of the person doing the hacking - who turns out to be a former MI5 agent gone dirty, Victor Elliot.

Harry goes off to find Elliot's office and take Erin with him. He gets there just as Elliot is leaving his office with the stolen laptop. Elliot says that he didn't steal the laptop, it was delivered to him by a 'benefactor'. He insists that he didn't go dirty, that the operation in Iraq (which he was canned for) was clean, and that he was set up to give a job to a company with connections to a high-ranking woman within the British intelligence community. I'm not sure at this point if we're meant to know who that is.

Harry is all 'whatever bitch' and tells him that he has to tell the world that it was all lies, and that the people outed as assets never had anything to do with MI5. Elliot is all 'bitch no', but they point out that it's his only hope to avoid prison, so he does it. Lame-dash-o. They still don't know who nicked the laptop in the first place. Harry is on the phoen to Ruth and asks her how she's getting on with investigating Coaver - she says she needs more to go on, but he just says 'I have faith in you' and hangs up. Harry, now you're acting like a douche. STOP IT. Ruth is looking through Coaver's file, then turns to another personnel file - Harry's. Dun dun duuuuuuunnn!!

Harry tells Erin that he believe's Elliot's story about Iraq, but that they'll sit on it for now. At which point Gavrik pulls up in a limo beside them and asks about Martha. He tells Harry to tie up the loose ends, which basically means get rid of Martha. Erin therefore goes back to the safehouse, but Martha isn't there. She calls in to have them search for her, but Martha comes in behind her - she had gone back for the USB stick. Erin explains that Martha can't go back to her old life, because the Russians still suspect her, and gives her money to go on the run. Martha gets pissed at her for not giving her any protection when she's spying for them for years and for lying to her. Poor Martha is left distraught as Erin walks out on her. Although she isn't cold about it, to be fair to her.

It's night, and Harry meets Coaver on the south bank opposite Westminster. Harry asks Coaver for help identifying the laptop thieves, but Coaver tells him that intelligence sharing between the US and UK is 'under review' because of the partnership with Russia.

I will continue to use this pic for references to CIA man Coaver. Because it is teh awesumz.

 

Back at the grid, Tariq is still trying to find out who stole the laptop by running face recognition on a bunch of computers. On his way home to continue searching from there, Calum finds a sarky way to ask if he wants to go for a drink, and Tariq sarks back in a way that suggests they're all mates now. Pity. I preferred it when Calum was a douche. I don't want to have to get to like him or anything. Though his face makes that fairly unlikely, so I think I'm good for now.

Erin is upset about burning Martha, and Harry gives her a pep talk about sacrificing others. Calum walks through the office, and Harry seems to look at him oddly through his window. It's a bit weird, but I can't tell if it was just a weird directing choice or not. Erin talks some shit about having a normal family life, whatever, I don't care. I guess her whole thing is going to be about how hard she is, and if she can really be cold and detached enough. Although you'd honestly think that would've been taken care of long before she rose to this position within MI5, but whatevs.

More qualified than Erin.

We see Tariq arrive home and set up a secure connection to Thames House to continue searching. Sasha is in BW's hotel room, clearing everything out as he's making it look like BW did a runner. Tariq is getting sleepy but he finds something on the CCTV footage - the handoff of the laptop from the hoods who mugged Calum to someone else, and another handover to someone else. Tariq makes a hurried call to Harry but there's a breach in his security and he realises that there's a bug in his router (which is the same as mine, fyi). He strips his phone, grabs the bug and runs out of his flat.

Harry gets a call that Tariq was trying to make an emergency contact to him, and Harry sends a team out to his house. But as Tariq is trying to make his way into Thames House, he bumps into someone, then winces in pain a few moments later in the taxi - it seems he's been injected with something. OH SHIT THEY BETTER NOT KILL TARIQ!!!!

Sasha, meanwhile, is dumping BW's stuff and car, but I could give a shit about that. Tariq stumbles out of the taxi at Thames House, struggling to breathe and falls to the ground. Calum is just leaving and finds him. Oh shit, he is gonna die, isn't he? After that speech he made to Calum earlier about how hard he had to work to get taken seriously and everything and them making up. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. STOP KILLING OFF THE GOOD ONES!! Calum starts doing CPR but it's in vain. Tariq is taty bread.*sniff*

FUCK THAT SHIT. Srsly, I'm well pissed right now. They couldn't keep him alive more than two episodes? FFS. BASTARDS. I'm pure raging. There's some shit about what happens next week, but who the hell cares.