It doesn't seem like you were concentrating very well then. I found that unlike a lot of modern dramas with complex plots, The State Wtihin actually made an effort to help the audience keep up with the story. At no point did I find myself getting lost or forgetting characters, which can often happen in multi-stranded plots with multiple characters.
Dear Buddha, please send me a pony and a plastic rocket.
That bothered me a lot. The average shot lasts about a second. Add to that the jiggling hand-held camerawork and it's almost intolerable to concentrate on the screen for any length of time. You're positively punished if you pay too close attention. This sort of camerawork and editing are tolerable in 30 second commercials, but they're far too frantic for full-length dramas. No doubt the vogue for this will pass, but not before ruining a lot of otherwise fine shows.
yes! agree! short camera shots mean the director and writer are SCARED and HIDING the story behind MTV type editing. no substance is correct. compare this with Jason statham in "the bank job". equal skullduggery, but not gimmicky, indeed watchable time and again (thanks to cable lol).
"But who were all those other people?" That was my problem too: too many men were the same age, same hairdo, dress, mimick, I had to ask myself: "Wait, was this blond guy kissing the gay bloke, or the other one?" This never happened to me with Spooks.