[SPK] Without Incident

TV Programme: Spooks
Season: 2
Episode: 6
Date I watched this episode: 14/09/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 6 days.

I'm afraid this was probably the weakest episode of the season so far. There were multiple stages to the episode, which described the visit of the US President. That in itself is kinda cool, but the episode felt a bit like a list. And nothing actually really happened, it was all just paranoia about what might happen, together with the (quite appropriate at this time) al-Megrahi connection.

The ep was at least partially redeemed by the Tom/Vicki/Christine love triangle. Tom and Christine make a much better and more believable couple than Tom and Vicki, as evidenced by the beautifully atmospheric and tense final scene. Vicki does have some right to be upset as Tom did treat her badly in the last episode (though we the audience know that his state of mind was not great at the time). However her somewhat insane antics are completely over-the-top (but nevertheless quite funny). The scene with her and Christine against each other was great, and really showed the strength of the Christine Dale character in general, and also the extent to which she wants to be with Tom!

The other side-story was with the counsellor who came in to interview everyone. This was very much a time-filler, and we never did get to find out what Danny and Zoe said about each other. The only good thing which came of this was the way Sam reacted to the whole thing; I suppose deepening her character by showing how much more she embraced the concept than did her colleagues. I can imagine myself reacting the same way if put in that situation.

The episode in general though was driven by Tom; hardly anyone else had much of a part to play. His storyline just about managed to carry the episode by the skin of its teeth, but altogether this was not well-constructed and a bit of a disappointment.