Not one of the funnier episodes, but a powerful one. The scene between Hacker and the party whip gave me chills. And Hacker's "moral vacuum" discussion with Humphrey, and his "if you carry on like that, you will go to hell," said in all seriousness, and Humphrey's snake smile reaction--perfection. America badly needs a similar show.
shareI agree, this is one of the most powerful episodes on the series. It truly shows the ethical dilemma faced by so many civil servants (even though in this case it is faced by Hacker). It also shows how many civil servants think (Appleby's explaining to Bernard that a civil servant can never follow a party's wishes or they'd turn schizophrenic. Simply brilliant!
shareStill, in this episode Humphrey makes a valid point, "Government isn't about good or evil, it's about Order or Chaos."
share
It is an excellent point.
I fight for the users! -- TRON
The attempt to impose order creates chaos.
Marlon, Claudia & Dimby the cats 1989-2010. Clio the cat, July 1997 - 1 May 2016.
I have been a fan of the show for years, but for some reason had never seen this episode. I think my father never had the video of this series. I watched the episode from your comment on IMDb.
You are completely correct; it is heart rending to watch Hacker go from his principles (which are the same as any right thinking person) to being bullied by the chief whip and eventually to deciding to do nothing....except to the whisky.
Mrs. Hacker's denouncement is bittersweet, telling Hacker that he's not so bad because when he does the wrong thing, he's still able to recognize it for what it is, even if he still does the wrong thing in the end.
shareAmerica badly needs a similar show.
[deleted]
[deleted]
The way the episode underlines why governments often (if not always) overlook and override moral implications for profit and power, stability, supporting or establishing power structures and so forth.
They actually let people be murdered by british weapons to maintain status quo and to rake in profit and power. Human lives are a secondary concern to the powerful, when it SHOULD be a priority.
This episode is chilling in its realism and poignancy, and for the fact that things have definitely NOT gone any better since then, but considerably worse. The powerful are more powerful now, the rich are more wealthy now, people are killed even more by weapons created in wealthy countries.
There used to be a scary youtube video floating around, where Bush actually ADMITS that to the psychopathic 'elite', 'sometimes profit is more important than human life', or something to that effect (can't remember the exact wording, but it's chilling).
This is definitely one of the most realistic, chilling and eye-opening episodes of any TV show ever, it really shows how it all works, or at least how it all probably works (although I suspect reality is way more sinister).
Btilliant show, scary episode.