The Night Manager: Episode 6

"You'd buy that girl for $300 million?"

Wow. I'll be honest: most final episodes of TV miniseries are mildly disappointing. This one is far from that- gripping, full of twist and turns, reversals of fortune and starring roles for everyone. Roper's comeuppance is perfect: yes, Angela and Jonathan get him bang to rights- but he will probably be released in days. But that brief moment of captivity makes him vulnerable and he is killed by a man he has offended with his racism and hubris. 

Hugh Laurie is great at the end and, indeed, throughout, but I have to admire the way the character of Roper has been written: it's a fine line between making him seem too gullible and allowing Pine to fulfil his plot function, a line that is straddled well. And Roper is made here to thoroughly deserve his comeuppance. His treatment of Jed is horrifying.

Angela, too, is a magnificent character, and Olivia Colman a superb actress, finally getting into real danger while heavily pregnant, giving all, probably including her career, to get Roper. And Tom Hiddleston's principled Pine is the still point at the centre of it all, even in his worst moments, a true hero. 

This is an extraordinary finale to asserted that may not have been great from the beginning but certainly became so by its end.

The Night Manager: Episode 5

"They didn't watch the cups, you see."

This penultimate episode sets things up for a tense final episode, with Roper ascendant, Angela in disgrace after being outwitted into crying wolf, and Jonathan seemingly abandoned and trapped inside Roper's inner circle. All this, and they return to Cairo.

Still, Jonathan now has Jed on side after a full disclosure (Will they or won't they? There's a definite spark between them although, of course, there's no guarantee that both will survive.), and the tension between him and Corky has ended with the latter's death, which is a shame: Tom Hollander's performance was enormous fun. But, yet again, Hugh Laurie is extraordinary as the charismatic sociopath, Roper, who sees the chaos and suffering in Syria as a business opportunity.

Meanwhile, Angela gets told that Britain's collusion with Roper is all "in the national interest", and vital for maintaining Britain's place at the top table. I'm sure this will come to the fire in the final episode. The Night Manager has just got better and better after its underwhelm start.

The Night Manager: Episode 4

"To the victor... and to the blind man who can’t see the human bloody hand grenade in front of his bloody eyes,”

This is where things really heat up. Jonathan and Jed finally shag, and about time, too- by this point your practically shouting at them to just get a room. Jonathan finds himself at the very centre of Roper's web and closely implicated in his dealings of not quite fully trusted. He's the coming man, at Corky's expense- and Corky is dangerous, knowing as he does that Jonathan is sleeping with Jed. He's playing a dangerous game.

And it gets more dangerous as Jonathan refuses to abort the mission in spite of the very real risk of being found out, even pointing out to Roper that they're being watched by "cops". All this plus Angela discovers that Roper is supported by corrupt elements within M16.

But the emotional centrepiece of the episode, with an extraordinary performance by Olivia Colman, sees Angela recounting a school sports day in Iran where the children were horribly killed by chemical weapons- and that Roper, psychopath that he is, responded to this by adding said chemical weapons to his stock for sale. For him, this atrocity was just business.

Things are getting serious. Not only is Roper playing with fire by getting involved with Jed but corrupt elements in M16 are getting dangerously close to discovering that there's a mole in Roper's organisation. This is gripping telly and Hugh Laurie continues to be amazing.

The Night Manager: Episode 3

"Becoming a man is realising it’s all rotten. Realising how to celebrate that rottenness – that’s freedom."

This is where it really gets interesting. High Laurie's extraordinary and revelatory performance as psychopath Richard Roper continues to enthrall as Tom Hiddleston's Jonathan Pine cunningly inveigled his way into Roper's organisation at the expense of his rival Corky, whose fondness for the bottle and nubile (is that the right word?) young men is ruthlessly used against him.

Incidentally, Tom Hollander is also superb as Corky, by far the most quotable character and likeable in spite of both his cynical amorality and his right wing proclivities. But this episode is the best so far. Shockingly, it begins with the suicide of an apparently spoiled rich girl on her 16th birthday- raped by Roper?- but it builds into a fascinating game of cat and mouth in which Pine uncovers secrets of, yes, dastardly arms dealing, but also of secrets abounding. Jed and Roper are not getting on and, indeed, I suspect the two of them will grow closer in future episodes. Jed is a sympathetic character, not without a conscience and with a deepening realisation of what a monster her paramour has become: witness the hair that Jonathan finds in Roper's secret study.

But what's this? Dastardly dealings at MI6? Again, a brilliant piece of television.

The Night Manager: Episode 2

"Just remember one thing, honey; you're nothing but a dirty whore."

So this is where it gets good.

Stuff is finally happening and Jonathan gets to be undercover, badass and, at last, likeable. Hugh Laurie is simply amazing as Richard Roper; we've sadly missed out on all the great villains he could have been playing all these years. We also get action, excitement, a bizarre serious role as MI6 top brass for Neil Morrissey of all people, and David Harewood with a decent American accent. This has suddenly become bloody good telly.

We see just how much Jonathan mourns his lost love- prepared not to risk just his own life but to accept frequent violence and the need to abandon his old identity forever. He is magnificent, and I suppose the contrast with the old, obsequious Jonathan is the point.

Olivia Colman is just as electrifying as the tenacious Angela, just likeable enough while having a very hard edge.

That cliffhanger looks ominous, and this serial looks as though it's going to be fun. What a difference a week makes.

The Night Manager: Episode 1

"The most evil man in the world..."

I suppose I should reserve judgement on this. Yes, it's an episode of set-up, but it hasn't really impressed itself on me yet. These are early days, yes, but Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, another Le Carre adaptation from another age, was electrifying from the first scene in a way this is not.

Still, Tom Hiddleston and an unexpectedly Northern-sounding Olivia Colman are great, and Hugh Laurie is a delicious baddie. But there isn't much else to say yet other than reciting the plot. And so far it's just a matter of Jonathan meeting Angela, both of them being very displeased with the mysterious Richard Roper, oozing Bullingdon Club confidence as he deals in weapons and murders those who get in his way. 

Not much to go on yet, then, but I'll keep watching...