"Come and see the bloody penguins, then!"
Now that's how you end a miniseries. We see our shoestring heroes struggle to regain control of the complex situation and get the drugs where they need to be, with an incredible amount of risk to Guy. We see Eddie getting caught by Carter's thugs... and fighting his way out.
But, despite the tension of this long final episode as everything draws to its exciting conclusion, it's about the little character moments, too, such as Guy and Bailey reconciling. It's about Bailey's clever and successful solicitor impression. And it's about that one chilling scene between Carter and his awful, evil mother where we get to see why he is how he is. And it's about all of them getting their comeuppance, Hakan very much included.
Yet it's also about political betrayal in the shade of Thatcher's downfall. The team have Blake, an honourable man, to speak for them, but this oily Home Secretary (not named, but it would have been David Waddington) takes resources from the team when they need them most, and takes the credit for their success.
The heart of it all, though, is when Don, knowing how deep in he is, suspends Guy, who goes home... and is unable to adjust, being sent back out by his very understanding wife. And Don, who's been there himself, relents in what is both an extraordinarily written scene and a tour de force of acting by Steve Coogan. We learn what happened to Don, and how much he lost. And the parallels with Guy are clear.
The perfect conclusion to a gripping series.
Steve Coogan's talk on the raft was beautifully acted.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the final scene where Guy hears a car engine starting up one night and goes to the widow to see it leave and he just stands there watching into the dawn is strong storytelling; maybe the car contained dodgy people, maybe it didn't and it was just a normal bystander on their way to work. But it is one of the signs of how life has changed. It is not easy to be paranoid of strange noises at night and looking over your shoulder every minute.