[spooks] Code 9 - My Review - Ep6

Episode 6: 

So the last episode - Episode 6.  Spoilers ahead!!

And mightily good this episode was too, despite all the shenagigans in the reviews (see my closing rant...er...speech).  Only the one guest actor this week - and we saw him last week - Philip Arditti as Abid Malik, the scientist who made the bombs.  Turns out in the end that he was being used (by MI5) to make them under the false pretences of being undercover and manipulated by the MI5 double-agent......who turned out to be Yates.  Ok, so we might have seen the plot and the culprit coming a mile off (actually it took me about 15 mins!) and it's an old, old story, but again, I thought it was well executed and well acted.  Certainly no qualms about anyone's acting this week - even the character of Charlie (Liam Boyle) - whom I have mentioned in past reviews was a bit "cardboard-y", was a bit more "normal" than of late, the look of sheer bewilderment on his face when Rachel was telling him that they "had to have a talk when he got back" was absolutely priceless.

A little bit Kylie-light this episode, as the plotline dictated really.  Another golden moment from her though, when the trap to snare the camp Doctor was laid....and it turned out that the camp Doctor was......well......camp!  Gorgeous bit of acting there from Georgia and very well executed, as we expect from our favourite actress! 

Speaking of family-friendly, not a great deal of swearing this week - although there was some...but in context again. (No nighclubs for the second week running either...I'm beginning to miss the nightclubs!    ).

Back to the episode then - it was another 50 minutes of gripping action too!  The rescue was well executed (and well thought out by the writers) and of course Andrew Knott (Rob) had the best part this week as the spurned (and maybe jealous?) would-be\has-been (?) boyfriend of Rachel.  Loved the dialogue in the car on the way down to London between Rob and Charlie ("Do I really have to spell it out?") and, of course, at the end attempting to revive the stricken Rachel (nice one from Ruta Gedmintas again).

So, although we were all good this week, I do have just the one niggle.  Well, OK, maybe two then.  One is that I wasn't really (and never have been) convinced by Lorraine Burroughs as Yates.  I knew I'd seen her somewheres before (but couldn't place her) - it was in Doctor Who! (Fires of Pompeii).  I didn't think her performace was all that strong - and I thought that the character needed a very strong and convincing performance to pull it off.  Not saying that she couldn't have done the job (she did do a good job really) it's just that I had expectations of something different.  I've probably watched too much Gene Hunt, I suspect.  The final scenes where she shot Rachel and gave the speech were good enough, however, as I said I wasn't really convinced.

That brings me to my second niggle - which isn't really a niggle.....more of a comment and a bit of hope!  The ongoing plotlines.....Rob and the College Doctor, the MI5 mole, the blossoming romance between Charlie and Rachel.  Only one of those plotlines was resolved!!  There are a lot of loose ends left, which leads me to believe that the makers of the show believe that a second series will be made (see my rant...er...comments).  There are too many questions left - such as Kylie's radiation poisoning, will Rachel survive, what was Rob's involvement in the shooting of the College Doctor, not to mention the fallout from Yates' suicide and of course the biggest question.......was the bomb defused!!??  All of which lends hope that the makers will take no notice whatsoever of the reviews by the "in-cognoscenti" and make series two!!  At least just to tie up the loose ends and help me sleep at night!

I for one, have already bought the DVD.