Why did they:
1. Set up Danny then let him go?
2. Give him HIV?
3. Kill Scottie, but allow him to make a call?
4. What was in the note?
5. What did Clare mean by "I will be here when you're ready"?
6. If they knew Danny had the USB on his person, why didn't they take it?
I'm sure there's more.
I've really liked this, but I'm a bit disappointed that it seems like half a series!
7. Who was the American and what was the purpose of his inclusion?
8. Why kill Scottie but let everyone else go?
9. How were they expecting the lie detector to work on a man who was locked in a chest. He was panicked, terrified, could barely think and was desperate to get out. His own mother who'd abused him for years "betrayed" him. But he lied because his pulls dilated? That's he only reason they'd dilate?
10. Why were they so reluctant to kill Danny, to the point of going to insanely extreme lengths to discredit him, yet so quick to kill Alex, a genius who was extremely beneficial to them?
11. Who not just blackmail Alex to keep working for them by threatening to kill Danny should he turn on them?
12. Why not kill Danny after they'd wiped the memory stick?
13. Danny never wanted revenge and it's highly unlikely he and Frances will actually succeed in bringing down MI5/MI6, so what's the point of this show?
14. After years of abusing her son, we're supposed to think it's cool that Frances joined Danny when by all logic, Danny should hate her and want nothing to do with her?
15. Why was Scottie so shady?
16. Alex was working on a super secret project which could cost him his life... in his apartment given to him by his superiors who'd clergy bugged it. And he's supposed to be a genius.
Part of me wonders if so many questions were left unanswered because we might get a season 2. But it's probably just *beep* writing.
@Shireenbamfatheon, you put down in writing what's bothering me, too--particularly #7, #11, & #14. I'm scratching my head bald! :)
share17. Why didn't anyone in the editing process point out that the tone of the final scene (music and characterisation) was completely at odds with the rest of the episode?
shareI think the writer should've been asked these questions before publishing. All very good questions to which I'd like to see answers.
shareThe annoying thing was that there actually was sufficient time in five episodes to answer most of these questions. They either chose not to or were completely incompetent.
I feel sad so much potential was unrealised. Whishaw ended up carrying us over the finish line with regards to emotions, and Rampling & Broadbent added fine characters, but the plotting was subpar.
Agree with the above. Ended in a bit of a mess which is sad as i really liked the first four episodes. It seems like they had material for 8 or 9 eps and then were told edit it and cram it into 5, leaving loads of half done stuff. A shame, a great shame.
sharelol, let's not leave it all to the writers. I'm sure we can all come up with our own reasons. Try it, it's fun.
[1] To scare him into silence.
[2] To scare him some more. He didn't get scared enough the first time.
[3] It was being tracked. They wanted to know who else knew about Project RME. But it turned out to only be Danny. (phew! one less person to give gonorrhea to. So, they asked themselves... what else did they know? What would she reveal in her sweet, sweet, final moments? The colonel's secret recipe?
https://www.google.com/search?num=50&q=the+colonel%27s+secret+recipe&oq=the+colonel%27s+secret+recipe&gs_l=serp.3..0j0i30j0i7i5i30.11589.13105.0.14341.10.10.0.0.0.0.134.1023.6j4.10.0....0...1c.1.64.serp..3.7.686.Ojg7d7SMyhI.
Who did let the dogs out?
https://www.google.com/search?num=50&q=who+let+the+dogs+out%3F&oq=who+let+the+dogs+out%3F&gs_l=serp.3..0l6j0i46j46l2j0.447125.450117.0.450441.21.15.0.3.3.0.286.1996.3j3j5.11.0....0...1c.1.64.serp..7.14.2006.qeVfT5frG70
Why was he so shady? ...
[4] Scottie wanted to subtly tell Danny how he thought he would be killed. (framed suicide)<-- ("suicide note")<--("there'll be a note") or... He didn't want the spy agency to write his farewell letter. It would be discovered by the police and passed on to his friends/family.
[5] Offered him college entrance. "much ambition but no conviction"
[6] By the time they found out, he could have made copies.
[7] The candy man!
https://www.google.com/search?q=the+candy+man&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
I would have thought it was obvious. To give Danny ....... c a n d y. That, or he was the CIA and they wanted to scare Danny some more, because they didn't trust MI5 to do it properly.
[8] Scottie had history. They thought he was the "oomph" behind the operations. So did the college lady. Also, it would send a message to the other three: We can take away your club privileges.... As evidenced by the black guy withdrawing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGxwbhkDjZM
[9] Apparently, someone didn't read their maths.
http://buzz.bournemouth.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/math-formula-chalkboard.jpg
http://rlv.zcache.com/what_part_dont_you_understand_funny_math_whiz_mouse_pad-rda132f428b5242bca904c0725e2748ba_x7ef8_1024.jpg?rlvnet=1
It's all there. Pupils, chests, evil fake mothers. All is accounted for.
[10]
[*]Danny became too high-profile, thanks to the newspaper article. Earlier, they thought they could just scare him into silence. That didn't go as planned. Besides, nothing's too insane for MI6.
[*] Alex was too valuable, ergo risky. His genius was already being used by MI5. If they let him live, that tech. could leak to other gov.
[*] There seems to be a pattern: If you were a spy, u die.
[11]The lie detector showed that Alex would continue to work on the project, even when his life was at stake:a suicidally bold type of defiance. The stakes were too high here.
[12] Too high-profile.
[13] To entertain.
[14] Emotions cloud judgment. ex. Maze + Fire + 'Me still in it' = Not Logical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cyk7utV_D2I]
[15] We'll never know.
[16] He was a smart fool. Smart, sexy, fool. Genius does not equate to wisdom.
Since some of this the writer needed you to work out for yourself here's my theory
1. Set up Danny then let him go? This was to scare Danny a way of making him stop
2. Give him HIV? They did this to discredit Danny's version of events also scare him
3. Kill Scottie, but allow him to make a call? Scottie would of just got in the cab only once inside realizing like Danny was he was trapped inside no time to take his phone off him and they would of wanted Danny to find his body
4. What was in the note? Fake suicide note so it didn't look like murder
5. What did Clare mean by "I will be here when you're ready"? Scottie had sent her Danny's notebook to read she men't she would enroll him at her college when he was ready
6. If they knew Danny had the USB on his person, why didn't they take it? They didn't need to take it wiping removed all the research and prob easier to do. if they wanted rid of Alex's research for good
7. Who was the American and what was the purpose of his inclusion? Working for the CIA who were part of the conspiracy to murder Alex
8. Why kill Scottie but let everyone else go? Scottie had used his Whitehall connections to help Danny including blackmail. He was ultimately responsible for helping Danny understand the contents of the cylinder he knew Claire who could get Marcus's help. Also only person left in Danny's life he loved another way to scare him
9. How were they expecting the lie detector to work on a man who was locked in a chest. He was panicked, terrified, could barely think and was desperate to get out. His own mother who'd abused him for years "betrayed" him. But he lied because his pulls dilated? That's he only reason they'd dilate? Think they were always going to kill Alex that just men't they had so vague evidence to justify it
10. Why were they so reluctant to kill Danny, to the point of going to insanely extreme lengths to discredit him, yet so quick to kill Alex, a genius who was extremely beneficial to them? He had been in the papers killing him would of drawn to much attention he was less of a hassle alive than dead also they underestimated just how capable and willing he would be at finding the truth.
11. Who not just blackmail Alex to keep working for them by threatening to kill Danny should he turn on them? Killing him guarantied his silence and research stopped. They were going to blackmail him with the escort but couldn't get enough to do so and that plan failed
12. Why not kill Danny after they'd wiped the memory stick? same as 10
13. Danny never wanted revenge and it's highly unlikely he and Frances will actually succeed in bringing down MI5/MI6, so what's the point of this show? To find out the truth about Alex he was the mystery
14. After years of abusing her son, we're supposed to think it's cool that Frances joined Danny when by all logic, Danny should hate her and want nothing to do with her? He might hate her but he is out of all other options they made it impossible for anyone to believe Danny.
15. Why was Scottie so shady? This came from the way the story was told Danny mistrusted Scottie so the audience did
16. Alex was working on a super secret project which could cost him his life... in his apartment given to him by his superiors who'd clergy bugged it. And he's supposed to be a genius. Might of thought he had covered his tracks beside even geniuses get thing wrong also might of not of been using his laptop in the apartment
Good surmises.
17. How did Danny know where to find Scotties body?
18. If all the Secret Service agencies want Danny eradicated, how can they not come up with a plan to kill him 'accidently'?
19. If he was killed 'accidently', why can't they come up with a way of hushing it up? After all, they managed to stop news getting to the press via Danny.
20. Those who have had a stab at answering the questions - do you think this is a complete story, or are you as baffled as the rest of us?
17. How did Danny know where to find Scotties body? In episode 2 Scottie takes Danny to the woods by his house and tells him the story of how his career as a spy ended. That was the place where he thought about committing suicide 30 years earlier he points out that branch to Danny as where he was going to hang himself
18. If all the Secret Service agencies want Danny eradicated, how can they not come up with a plan to kill him 'accidently'?
19. If he was killed 'accidently', why can't they come up with a way of hushing it up? After all, they managed to stop news getting to the press via Danny. They probably did have a plan and could hush it up but then we wouldn't have a show if they killed Danny
20. Those who have had a stab at answering the questions - do you think this is a complete story, or are you as baffled as the rest of us? I'm not baffled by it there was a complete story. The show has been about the mystery of Alex and the characters not who was behind everything or why Alex was killed that was always going to be slightly implausible and honestly wasn't expecting the answers to be just handed to us most things were answered and implied as we went along. If one of the spies had told Danny the truth instead of Francis then things would of been clearer but a lot less intriguing and really there was no need or sense for one of them to admit anything to Danny. Think the very end could of been handled better the scene in the car with Francis was unnecessary when this was always intended as mini series and a second season seems very unlikely of happening. Having Danny find out the truth accepted he has done all he can for the man he loved and move on like he nearly did would of made more sense than trying to get justice against basically a faceless global organisation which is clearly a hopeless cause.
Still unanswered - Why kill Scottie?
Answers to 18 and 19 - So, you agree it's crap?
I got why Alex was killed. But, not why Danny was allowed to live, after they had eradicated the evidence.
If there is no second series, then the whole thing was convoluted b0llocks!
No I don't agree it was a load of crap I thought it was a clever story, beautifully shoot and expertly acted. Its a television show a piece of fiction you can't expect everything to be perfect and realistic. Danny was the main character the story took place from only his perspective that's why Danny got to live because its a TV show if it was real life they never would of had Danny find the body in the trunk in the first place there must of been easier ways for Alex to have died without anyone even questioning how. As for killing Scottie there were multiple reasons to kill him he blackmailed the guy at the club for information into Alex's death which clearly would of pissed off some important people he had his membership revoked straight after. Apart from Scottie Danny knew no one else who could help him or was willing too. Scottie knew Claire who just happened to work at the same college Alex went to and could introduce him to Marcus. Marcus was the one to break the contents of the cylinder and explain Alex's work to them. But killing Scottie was a warning to them all it made Marcus destroy his copy of Alex's research. The least number of questions would be asked from making a depressive look like he had committed suicide rather than killing Claire or Marcus. Lastly Scottie was the final thing they could take away from Danny he was his support the only person he loved left only killing Scottie would hurt Danny which nearly everything that happened was designed too. The more he investigated and questioned the more they hurt him since obviously Danny was the one character who couldn't die.
As somebody else said on this board this wasn't a spy thriller it was just dressed up as one most of these questions are irrelevant to the real story we have all been watching. Most of these were answered if you paid close enough attention. Tom Rob Smith wasn't just going get one of the characters to neatly explain everything to you somethings you had to work out for yourself the clues were there. Not everything has a solid answer, not every question was answered but not a single TV show, film or book has answers for every single little thing. The big question threw out was Alex and that was what got solved.
It's a bit like James Bond; no-one ever just pops a bullet through his brain. But, then we wouldn't have any James Bond and I really like JB. OK. But, I was looking for, and thought I'd found, something gritty and realistic. I thoroughly enjoyed the story; the acting was top drawer. However, the fact of the matter is, Danny, in the real world, would have been the first to be bumped off after Alex. As soon as they knew about the USB, it would have been removed from his slit neck!
For me, there were too many characters going down too many blind paths. Hey, I'm all for not being spoon-fed; I don't mind filling in the blanks, every now and again, but this took the biscuit!
The search for the truth about what happened and why, was revealed well. Yes, Danny solved that. Now what? Have I got to make that up too? Let's see... I'm going for a Thelma and Louise rampage with Alex's mother! Because, it's as good an idea as any.
I agree with most of these answers. One I'll add, though this may just add to the confusion:
"7. Who was the American and what was the purpose of his inclusion? Working for the CIA who were part of the conspiracy to murder Alex "
Didn't he end up giving him the blue pill? Which he said might save his life or something? And then his roomie (the relationship with the roomies kinda did bug me--yeah they were mostly into partying but did seem to care about Danny and yet were oblivious, when they were even shown) FOUND the blue pill and somehow (looked it up? Why didn't Danny?) realized it was HIV related medication which led Danny to then get the HIV test since the pill had been given to him with that cryptic message. They could have made that clearer, but I think that's it.
Overall I did really enjoy the show, just some things...
I'll add my own--how come no one in the HIV support group even gave Danny a funny look when he told his whole spy story? I mean I know it's not nice to laugh or not believe something revealed in such groups but... C'mon. (I did get that they showed the younger HIV poz guy with his supporting parents coming to get him as a way to contrast with Danny's lame parents.)
Someone did give a funny look - but, the cameraman didn't catch it.
I think they were just being polite.
Funny, I thought the younger HIV poz guy was a spy. At this point of the story, I was paranoid. "What are you going to do about it?" - "nothing" (Danny).
I thought this because of fbi spies back in 1971: Did something similar.
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/1971/
k, so i went through ur list. Gritty & realistic? I would try Game of thrones, and u gave rome a 9, so i would try any HBO, lol. U like bbc as well. sherlock?!?! I would try Wallander http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1178618/ and I would try The Fall http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294189/?ref_=ttep_ep_tt, stay away from the second season - at least till season 3 comes out. A 5! for starwars(1977)?!?!? lol what were u thinking?!?!
Marmite? sounds like molasses, yuck!
I'm sure there must be a directors cut of this. One where it runs to seven episodes and all the sub-plots are fleshed out properly and the shortcomings are fulfilled. I have read and remain unconvinced by Emmas impassioned defence. There was more wrong than just the holes. There was the whole rhythm of the thing that went awry.
Quite sad really as I loved 1-4 and now it just joins other promising Beeb dramas that have fallen at the final hurdle.
The radio times called London Spy the most marmite TV show of 2015 think that's one thing we can all agree on.
shareTell you what. It was liking having marmite on toast, coffee by your side, feet up, in a nice warm quiet house. Happily munching away with only a corner left, only to discover a bit of mould on the crust.
share