S01.E01: Episode One

[Quilt Fairy]

While we're on WTF moments, WHY was there a bathtub out in the middle of a ... hotel room? Is bathing in mixed company a normal Switzerland thing? That whole scene was so weird. 

Not just in the middle of a hotel room, but on a platform as well. The men  weren't looking down at the woman, their heads were about even with the top of the tub.

[Amethyst]

I kept looking for a "miniseries" forum, not realizing this show had its own, lol.  I'm really enjoying it, plot holes and all.  The biggest surprise is the cinematography,  particularly with Zermatt.  Simply gorgeous.

 

I liked Sophie, but ia that she was pretty dumb at times.  There was no reason she couldn't have made the copies herself; it wasn't like Hamid was with her every moment.  She had several opportunities to get away and mail the letter anonymously.  I got the impression that she had been shadowing Pine for a while.  She had to have been, because just giving him the letter could have been her worst move yet.  Pine could have blackmailed her, been a lackey for Hamid, run straight to the press...she was lucky that he actually wanted to help.  Granted, Sophie was still murdered, but I think she knew that would happen.

 

That said, I didn't get the feeling that she and Pine were meant to be true love, but rather a mutual attraction of kindred spirits.  As for Pine himself, I think he's meant to be a bit naive.  He was genuinely shocked that a fellow countryman would be a willing arms dealer, especially since he witnessed the horrors they could cause during his stint in Iraq.  He'll learn that it's not as black and white as he thinks. 

 

I was sure that Youssef and Sophie's dog would end up dead.

 

Acting wise, Hiddleston is definitely selling it, and I'm looking forward to seeing how his character gets darker.  Can't wait to see more of Olivia Colman, considering I only know her from Hot Fuzz.  

[dubbel zout]

While we're on WTF moments, WHY was there a bathtub out in the middle of a ... hotel room?

 

That was the updated spa bathroom that Jonathan mentioned when he was describing how the hotel had changed since Roper had last been there. It was a separate room, but the doors were open.

 

I don't know why every gathered in there, though, unless they wanted to see the improvements for themselves? Heh.

Edited April 21, 2016 by dubbel zout

[mledawn]

Acting wise, Hiddleston is definitely selling it, and I'm looking forward to seeing how his character gets darker.  Can't wait to see more of Olivia Colman, considering I only know her from Hot Fuzz.  

 

Amethyst, I would encourage you to watch Broadchurch, because she is fantastic in that as well.

[Texasmom1970]

Amethyst, I would encourage you to watch Broadchurch, because she is fantastic in that as well.

I agree with both of ya'll. She was hilarious in "Hot Fuzz" and brilliant in "Broadchurch", so talented. Right now her Tom and Hugh are why I am watching. I hope the story line begins to make more sense and is more interesting to me. I know this sounds awful but I am glad the offed the mistress Sophie did not like her a bit.

[Margherita Erdman]

I was sure that Youssef and Sophie's dog would end up dead.

While I am a sucker for spy stories in general, and for Le Carré, Hiddleston, Laurie, and Colman in particular — and therefore all in for this series — it is probably not a good sign that I was totally distracted right up until the end of the episode wondering what had happened to Youssuf and to Sophie's dog. Here's hoping the concierge gave the dog a good home.

Frankly I found the image of the sad little dog smeared with blood much more haunting than dead Sophie/Samira.

[sjohnson]

I don't think it was romantic. I'm saying that it felt like they were trying to convey it that way (by the way it was presented) when it wasn't.  

 

Edited to add: If they were going for the "haunted" angle then his visions/flashbacks of her should have been of her bruised face or bloodied body. Instead he "sees" her with a soft willowy white lit background looking all seductive. 

The thing is, this is the sort of thing directors like to try to do, add their vision. If writers try to put directions in for what the camera shot should be, directors tend to get kind of pissy. Then, the producers, operating on the time-honored adage that they don't want it good, they want it Tuesday (Wednesday costs more money!) they can be stuck with what the director did. On the other hand, LeCarre and sons have producer credits. But nowadays I'm pretty sure that having a producer credit has more to do with money (for making the moving, or greenlighting it, or getting a cut of the gross) than actual decision making. The auteur theory I think has led some producers to try to pick a hotshot director and delegate all creative decisions to him. Well, or at least a director with a reputation for staying under budget.

[dubbel zout]

Frankly I found the image of the sad little dog smeared with blood much more haunting than dead Sophie/Samira.

 

Same here, and I was impressed by this attention to detail.

[attica]

Statistics bear out that violently abusive men will harm the pets of their women, so I didn't necessarily think it realistic that the pooch would survive that scene. But I also know that few directors/producers want to incur the ire of viewers who feel more upset for the fictional pet than the fictional person if they can avoid it. And since there are a number of ways to fanwank the survival of the doggie, I'm ultimately okay with it.

 

In other news, my bucket list contains the line item 'wake up one morning with an Alp outside your window' which this show is feeding rather keenly. Why don't budgets match bucket lists?!

[kieyra]

A TV-enthusiast friend of mine told me that he loved the pilot.

 

When I questioned him more closely, it turned out he was confused about every single thing I was, and still isn't convinced that Loki wasn't already an operative at the very beginning.

 

I suppose the main difference is, he didn't mind being confused. 

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Should You Indulge In The Night Manager's Top Secret Amenities?
The British miniseries adapts a John le Carré spy novel, but does it crack the code?

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I find Pine hopelessly romantic.  His speech to the lady to whom he gave the Roper info at the end was just beyond ignorance.  

 

Hearing Laurie closer to his true voice is fun, though.

[wanderingstar]

I was...underwhelmed. That makes me sad, because I really wanted to like this show.

 

The pretty of Tom Hiddleston will keep me watching, tho. #shallow

 

I know we needed a compelling reason for Pine to go after Roper, but man, Jonathan was dumb. What the fuck did he think was going to happen? Freddy was going to be all forgive and forget? Sophie was his problem and Roper and his family obviously expected him to clean it up.

Jonathan's stupid burned my eyes. I wanted Simon to slap the dumb out of him.

Edited April 25, 2016 by Gillian Rosh

[Irlandesa]

While we're on WTF moments, WHY was there a bathtub out in the middle of a ... hotel room? Is bathing in mixed company a normal Switzerland thing? That whole scene was so weird. 

I found that believable.  I've seen quite a few B&Bs thathave the tub/whirlpool tub in the middle of the bedroom both in the US and abroad.  And I've seen it in US hotels too where the large "soaker" or whirlpool tub is in a room just off of the main room.  There was a door that she could have closed but chose not to.

 

Statistics bear out that violently abusive men will harm the pets of their women, so I didn't necessarily think it realistic that the pooch would survive that scene.

 

I see this as a different kind of abuse.  We don't even know if her boyfriend was the one who actually killed her, do we? Couldn't he have just ordered the hit.  His abuse of her is only domestic because of the role she plays in his life. I could see him hitting or killing anyone else who "works" for him. 

[scrb]

Some of the details in moving the story to near present day seems off. First the manifests seems like something out of the Cold War era, before widespread use of personal computers. Not sure why an illegal arms deal would have such a paper trail in the first place.

The Arab Spring, particularly the revolt in Egypt which ended up ousting Mubarak, was notable for the use of social media to organize the protests. Seems like Pine would have taken pics with a cell phone and transmitted electronically or at least use fax instead of sending a courier, which sounds more likely in the days of sending cables.

Then in Zermatt, Pine has an iPhone but keeps a slip of the MI6 lady's phone number that he'd written down by hand. He only uses the iPhone to make the call. And he writes down the SIM card numbers by hand rather than take pics of them.

Is Le Carre only carrying a flip phone these days?

Edited April 24, 2016 by scrb

[dubbel zout]

It's like in Rubicon, where the intelligence analysts went through everything by hand, and did computer searches only when they were stuck. 

[pancake bacon]

I finally got to see the first episode of the series! 

I think Sophia gave the files to Pine NOT to directly send them to the British embassy, but rather particularly mentioned that IF something happened to her, Pine could do what he wanted with the files then. Guess she wanted to do something right in the end.

But as revealed in the last scene of the episode, Pine has high ideals for his country. That's what led Pine to send the files to his friend Ogilvy (even though nothing happened to Sophia yet). 

So Pine's OWN actions led to Sophia being in danger, then eventually killed. That's the guilt he's living with. He could've held to the papers, and Sophia might still be alive in the present. From Tom Hiddleston's performance, you can still see he's still haunted by it, even before the nervy flashback. 

[RustbeltWriter]

I liked this episode but as everyone has pointed out, a shipping manifest listing enough weaponry (by name) to start your own army was a mammoth plot device but that's okay, something had to get the ball rolling.

I think Pine just feels responsible for the death of Sophia and given his background as a soldier in Iraq, he probably has an inbred dislike of someone like Roper making a living dealing in misery and death. I did like that Roper had to re-enter Pine's life by coincidence and that the wasn't on some mad vengeance kick.

I would also like to point out that Pine is more competent and professional than any hotel night manager I've encountered at places like the Red Roof Inn or Best Western.