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llywelaReviewed for Prosfanfic
"Four-five and three-seven, you are clear for the weekend," says the radio operator as the episode opens. "Thank you, darling," Doyle replies, and continues to wax lyrical about the delights of having a whole weekend off. One presumes this is not a regular occurrence. Bodie remains straight-faced, but joins in the banter – until he spots a woman in a passing car, and changes direction at once. Doyle asks where they're going, but half-heartedly, and I find myself wondering if the scene might have been more effective if Bodie had been more enthusiastic about the weekend off before spotting the woman. If we are shown the partnership and friendship in full swing before Bodie switches to brood mode, it would be more hard-hitting – as it is, Bodie already seemed distracted and sombre even before spotting the woman and sliding into this deep funk.
The woman, named Marikka, is driven to a posh hotel and greeted by a crowd of luvvies, fêted and generally made a fuss of, and Bodie very slowly drives past giving her his best Intense look. On spotting him, she is similarly transfixed…
But then Doyle breaks the spell by yelling at Bodie to watch his driving as he comes within a whisker of hitting another car. Marikka goes into her hotel, Bodie drives on, and Doyle grumbles about his driving and doesn't seem to have noticed that anything's wrong.
Not the most promising teaser ever – feels kind of half-hearted.
Next up, outside a trendy wine bar, and – heck, what are they wearing? Awful. Doyle is fretting about not being able to use the phone, while a still very sombre Bodie sits reading a newspaper. So Doyle asks Bodie to give him cover – Bodie promptly lifts the newspaper to hide the fact that Doyle is using his R/T to make a private call – getting the radio operator to call the girls they are meant to be meeting and give them the arrangements. Double date, apparently – don't they see enough of each other on the job?! The girl grumbles, but complies.
Doyle: "I'll make it up to you."
Operator: "You're all mouth and trousers, four-five."
Doyle: "But I'm licensed to thrill."
Operator (all sardonic, like): "Ha ha."
LOL! Doyle's in an incredibly good mood so far this episode, unlike Bodie, and sits giggling at his own jokes and just being in general high spirits – one can only presume that this girl that the operator 'wouldn't like at all' must be the reason. Lucky girl! Bodie, meanwhile, broods over an article in the paper and is oblivious, and Doyle doesn't seem too concerned about his mood. Something about them feels off – Bodie doesn't usually brood like this, and I can't help feeling that Doyle isn't usually so insensitive to his partner's moods. If Bodie is so obviously brooding over something, it feels like Doyle should be more aware of it. Maybe he is and just doesn't like to ask, hopes he'll snap out of it.
Cut to…later. Double date must be off, as Bodie sits brooding in another bar, this time at Marikka's hotel. Marikka is very smooth, approaching Bodie without speaking to him and using the bartender to get his phone number off him rather than being seen talking to him directly by anyone else in her party. It's all very covert.
Next day, back at the wine bar – what is this? Trendy wine bars? What happened to propping up the bar at the local? Anyway, Doyle and Bodie are hanging out randomly again despite it being their day off, Doyle trying to find out where Bodie got to the previous night, and rattling on generally about what a fantastic night he had himself, while Bodie remains close-mouthed and broody. Finally Doyle realises he isn't getting anywhere and changes tack.
Doyle (mock official accent): "Where were you on Saturday night?"
Bodie (joining in with the fun and games now): "Had an urgent meeting with my psychiatrist."
Doyle: "Oh. Well the head needs shrinking."
Doyle grins. Bodie grins back, and the distance created by Bodie's broodiness is suddenly gone, but before he can say yay or nay to Doyle's offer of joining him with the lovely Christine and her mate Frankie again that night, the barmaid breaks in to tell him he has a phone call.
Bodie: "Thanks, princess."
Barmaid: "You call me that again and I'll crown you."
Gotta love the banter coming from all quarters.
Bodie's phone call is from Marikka's publicist, Kurt Kreiber. Marikka is an actress, it seems, and extremely busy during her stay in London, leading quite the high life. But Kurt arranges to meet Bodie, to set up a meeting with Marikka. And I'm relieved that Bodie seems so suspicious about all the cloak-and-dagger because he really should be.
Doyle drives him to his meet, and tries again to get him to go out with him and the girls later. "We'll be there till 8 and if you're not there by then I shall formally announce my ménage a trois."
Doyle really is in a fantastic mood so far this episode, in contrast to Bodie's glumness. Kind of makes me long to meet Christine on-screen, if this is the effect she has on him.
Kurt Kreiber amuses me intensely by challenging Bodie to play at shooting in the arcade they meet in before imparting any information. The banter in this episode is on good form on all sides so far. Kurt has arranged a meeting between Bodie and Marikka, but it must be kept top secret because her husband is very jealous.
Curiouser and curiouser, and we still don't know how Bodie and Marikka know each other, as they so clearly do.
Doyle sees Bodie and Kurt leave the arcade together. And also sees a couple of shifty looking characters go in after them and remove the gun attachment of the game Bodie was playing moments earlier.
So, Bodie heads off to his meet with Marikka, and they are friendly, a little stiff and formal at first, and clearly go back a long way – long before her marriage. One-time lovers, walking hand in hand. "Are you still fighting those obscure little wars that never made it into the papers?" Marikka asks. Bodie's past as a mercenary soldier is one aspect of the canon that never changes, although it is only alluded to very rarely. Marikka asks what he does now, and he evades the question, and she instantly realises he doesn't want to talk about it and drops the subject. I like her – she's very on the ball. And describes her own films as terrible, which endears her to me even more.
They talk only vaguely of their past together, speaking of having some great times together, of being unable to stay together: sketching out a hazy image for the audience but not colouring it in.
They are photographed together. And Kurt goes to see Marikka's husband to tell him that 'it worked'.
The plot thickens.
Worse still, the photographs of Bodie and Marikka together are shown to Cowley by Willis of Special Branch – it seems her husband is a German spy. Marikka's status is unknown, but Bodie is now under suspicion by association… He cannot be sent on assignment, and Cowley cannot tell him of these suspicions. Cowley does not like it, and heads straight around to Doyle's place. Which is clearly a relatively new place, since it is still full of packing crates – only just moved in.
Cowley: "Have you been seeing much of Bodie, socially, these days?"
Way to casually raise the subject, George!
Doyle: "Not my idea of a date."
ROFL
And then Cowley just launches into it, telling him about Bodie's secret meeting with a suspected East German agent, and that's the end of the pleasantries. He assigns Doyle to watch Bodie, a task made all the harder by the fact that Willis's lot will also have him under surveillance. The distaste both men have for this whole thing is written all across their faces, but Doyle seems resigned to his fate.
Doyle: "Well, you've got to hand it to the lad. If he was going to the electric chair he'd have Miss Universe pulling the switch."
So, Doyle sets about his assigned task, and he clearly isn't happy about it, but gets on with it regardless. Professional, see. He joins Bodie in propping up the bar at that wine bar of theirs again. The subject of what Bodie got up to the previous night is smoothly raised via more Christine-and-Frankie talk, but instantly evaded by a timely phone call for Bodie. A woman.
"Liebchen, I have been very naughty," is Marikka's opening gambit. She has booked them two adjoining rooms in the hotel opposite, since she doesn't have to go to her husband's reception that afternoon. And I'm suddenly remembering Doyle in Hunter, Hunted, so vehement about married women being way too much trouble to go anywhere near. Bodie, clearly, doesn't feel the same way.
Bodie heads off, with Doyle very covertly in pursuit – and no sign of any other surveillance on him. Bodie buys flowers…and then thinks better of it and hands them to the next person he sees, a rather delighted little old lady. LOL. Being a rather enterprising little old lady, she promptly flogs them to Doyle as he passes for a pound, making a net profit on the day! ROFL
Doyle is totally bemused by Bodie's behaviour. "He's in love…. He's Bodie, he can't be…. There's a man acting suspiciously, standing in the middle of the street holding a bunch of roses and talking to himself."
Doyle really does hate this assignment.
Bodie joins Marikka at the hotel, and makes himself comfortable, and they are just adorable together. Aww, bless. Bodie is relaxed and happy – until he spots Doyle hanging around outside, at which point he becomes thoughtful, but doesn't let it spoil his fun.
And while they are engrossed in one another, a man (a random diplomat?) is shot outside the hotel opposite, Doyle stands there helpless to do anything, and agents rush to the hotel room that the shots came from, finding therein a rifle. Next up, they burst in next door, rudely interrupting Bodie and Marikka. Caught. And – they were so wrapped up in each other that they didn't hear the shot? The timing of all this is sort of confusing and hard to follow.
Marikka has diplomatic immunity, but the ID-less Bodie is arrested, and Cowley instructs Doyle to stay with Marikka rather than follow his partner. That Bodie has been set up is instantly clear.
Cowley (to Willis): "There's a dead rat somewhere under the floorboards, and the smell is coming from your department."
Gotta love Cowley's metaphors.
At a random police station, the Special Branch boys roll in with Bodie and their evidence, and attempt to take over. My heart instantly warms to the unfortunate plod on the desk who takes exception to this and tries his hardest to enforce Bodie's rights to be formally arrested and have his one phone call, etc.
Cowley, meanwhile, is on the case – putting out a call to have all local police stations checked for prisoners fitting Bodie's description, and also sending a team to lock down Bodie's flat and prevent any Special Branch boys getting in and interfering with anything. Go Cowley! And Doyle is sent to nab Marikka and take her to his flat – oh, how Bodie would not like that.
Cowley: "Can you handle it?"
Doyle: "The heavy, yes. The girl, maybe."
Hehe. Doyle really is having to work alone on this one. The Lads are so much better as a team. His abduction of Marikka is pretty smooth, though. Back at his flat, he starts questioning her, taking a pretty hard line against both her and Bodie but beneath that grimness lies determination – to find a way of getting to the truth that will get his partner out of this very sticky situation.
"Don't you trust Bodie?" Marikka asks. But Doyle has his game face firmly in place and doesn't let it slip for a second. The room bookings were made through Kreiber, Marikka tells him, so he must be the one that set them up. Then she explodes with anger – she will stand up in court and support Bodie even against Kreiber, her husband, the secret police – everyone.
Doyle gives a wry little smile, and picks up the fake mic he'd used to pretend it was a genuine interview. "Sorry, Bodie, but I had to be sure."
As hard as this is for Bodie, being set up like that, it's also hard for Doyle to have all this suddenly landed on him, wanting to believe in his partner's innocence without having any way of really knowing, one way or the other, and having a bigger duty to uphold. With no access to Bodie himself, all he can do is his job and hope to get his partner out of this mess that way.
There's nothing quite like the Cow when he's on the warpath – nothing can stand in his way. "You made a big mistake when you set up one of my men," he growls at Willis down the telephone, incensed. And he's ruthless, too – quite prepared to use Marikka as a pawn.
After all his bluster, Willis tamely trots along to meet Cowley as requested (make that commanded). And he explains – the man who was shot, Bierman, was some kind of bigwig, and his assassination was jointly engineered by both his own people and Special Branch in a joint operation. The plan is to replace him with Schumann – Marikka's husband, as a double agent. The politics behind all this go pretty much over my head, but the upshot is that Bodie has been well and truly set up, and Cowley refuses to sacrifice him like that. "Bodie will not go to jail," he insists.
Willis says he doesn't have to, he could escape (be allowed to escape, rather, in exchange for Marikka) – and I've got alarm bells ringing at once. Because, honestly, what good would that be? Exchange a life in prison for a life on the run? He could hardly just return to his job with that hanging over his head. And why the hell did they choose Bodie? Because he was convenient once he'd spotted and made contact with Marikka? Or deliberately, long beforehand? I mean, imagine if they'd been in the middle of a case when all this blew up?
Bodie finally gets his phone call, and contacts Cowley. "How's Doyle?" is practically the first thing he says. "He's a lousy chaperone."
In the midst of all this turmoil, foremost on Bodie's mind is the perceived betrayal of his partner.
"He saved your hide," Cowley counters, before getting down to business, and I'm deeply amused that Cowley goes along with Bodie's 'cowboys' metaphor! Heh. Bodie and the head cowboy are both instructed that Bodie is to be allowed to escape, and Bodie looks about as happy about it all as could be expected, being used as a sacrificial lamb in this way.
But then the head cowboy gets another, more secret instruction – Bodie is to be eliminated during the escape. And the tension cranks up another notch.
So, Bodie does his action man thing and escapes, even managing to elude attempts to 'eliminate' him. Because Cowley trains his men well. But the fact that said attempts are made does not go down well, and can only add to his inner turmoil that must exist, but isn't that well portrayed in terms of direction in this scene. There was potential there for a lot more emotional content – not just in this scene, but in a lot of others.
Cowley refuses to hand Marikka over until Bodie has called in when he reaches a safe house. Bodie does so, but is fuming about being betrayed during the escape, and refuses the orders he is given, leaving the R/T behind as he takes off again – a real loose canon.
"He didn't sound too happy," says the operator, nervously. Understatement of the year, that. "No," Cowley agrees. "Neither am I."
Bodie goes to Doyle's place, neatly shimming over the wall – freeze frame moment for the BBs among us, there – sees Doyle and Marikka talking in the kitchen, and glowers. Inside, Marikka and Doyle are both fretting. Doyle's tension levels are rising and rising because he knows exactly how Bodie's fingerprints ended up on that rifle butt, and blames Marikka for that, and is worried about Bodie. And is also worried about Bodie's state of mind, after all this betrayal and perceived betrayal. He's even more worried when Cowley tells him Bodie saw him outside the hotel – that wasn't very stealthy of him, it has to be said.
I do enjoy watching Doyle fret. He's so good at it. But it's a shame that good mood he was in earlier has been so utterly destroyed. I find myself wondering if he bothered to call Christine to let her know their night out was off.
Some other random agent is sent to escort Marikka away, while Doyle is sent off on another assignment, Bodie in pursuit. At the safe house, Marikka despairs – and then spots the tumult of activity on the rooftops nearby. Bodie is clambering around with a rifle, and so are numerous Special Branch agents, and goodness knows who else. It is getting very hard to pin down exactly who works for what agency. She shrieks a warning to Bodie that the other men are there, before being hauled back inside by her random chaperone (agent 2.8, apparently). So Bodie lays down covering fire for himself while dashing for cover, and it's open warfare around the back alleys of a London warehouse district! Another obscure little war for Bodie to fight, and one that will certainly not make any front pages.
Agent 2.8 calls in to let Cowley know that they've got all hell breaking loose with Bodie on the rampage.
Doyle's assignment, meanwhile, is to retrieve all that evidence that has been planted to frame Bodie – to make it disappear. Doyle, of course, knows his way around police stations like the back of his hand, and carries this off with the utmost ease.
Bodie, at this stage, can be forgiven for feeling completely deserted and completely desperate and helpless – he's alone, with Special Branch agents chasing him down, shooting at him – his own people have set him up and abandoned him (or so it must feel) and he's been left to carry the can alone. Talk about a desperate last stand. Heading up, leaving his back undefended, probably not his brightest idea ever, but luckily the other agents are really poor shots. Reaching the top, he is at the end of his tether and running out of ammo with more artillery being brought out against him. Doyle and Cowley arrive, but what can they do?
Talk, is what they can do – Cowley demands that Willis call off his men. He's slipped up, the evidence is gone, and CI5 still has Marikka, who he now sends Doyle to collect. Willis caves and calls his men off, which is kind of an anti-climax. Cowley then tries to talk Bodie down, but he's in no mood to listen, suspecting betrayal at every turn, now, and who can blame him?
Marikka comes and joins the shouting match, and Bodie turns his anger on her, suspecting that it was her that framed him, but she insists that they were *both* framed by Kreiber and her husband. "That's twice in my life I've trusted you, now you've made me the biggest sucker of all times," he yells, and I long to hear more of the backstory of their history together. There's so much depth being hinted at here, without ever fulfilling the emotional potential to its utmost.
The shouting continues. And then Kreiber apparently decides enough is enough and shoots Marikka dead. Just like that. "You bastards," Doyle growls at the Germans as they withdraw, quite serene and happy with their day's work. And Bodie comes rushing down at last.
"You've got your scapegoat after all," Cowley tells Willis, in deep distaste, and Willis cheerfully agrees.
Bodie stalks away without speaking to either Doyle or Cowley, and Doyle's bitterness at the whole sorry saga shines through. "Still want me to follow him?"
"You make sure your own house is in order, four-five," says Cowley, and what the heck does he mean by that?
And that's the end – a very downbeat end to a very complicated episode, and I long for episodic continuity because I’d have loved to see the repercussions of all this spilling over into future episodes. Bodie ends this episode disillusioned and not knowing who to trust, having been set up and betrayed so callously, and for no good reason. I want to see him and Doyle working through the issues raised in this episode, struggling to get past Bodie's feeling of having been betrayed, and Doyle's guilt over being set on his own partner – how do they restore their working relationship and friendship after something like this? Yet in the next episode the reset button is pressed, as if it had never happened. Imagine the possibilities if the fallout of these events could have been explored over a period of several episodes…
Still. We must be happy with what we can get, and the banter in parts of this episode is amazing. Getting a peek into the deeper levels of Bodie is also great, if short-lived due to that darn reset button. I'm not so fond of seeing the Lads split up for quite so long, though.
"Four-five and three-seven, you are clear for the weekend," says the radio operator as the episode opens. "Thank you, darling," Doyle replies, and continues to wax lyrical about the delights of having a whole weekend off. One presumes this is not a regular occurrence. Bodie remains straight-faced, but joins in the banter – until he spots a woman in a passing car, and changes direction at once. Doyle asks where they're going, but half-heartedly, and I find myself wondering if the scene might have been more effective if Bodie had been more enthusiastic about the weekend off before spotting the woman. If we are shown the partnership and friendship in full swing before Bodie switches to brood mode, it would be more hard-hitting – as it is, Bodie already seemed distracted and sombre even before spotting the woman and sliding into this deep funk.
The woman, named Marikka, is driven to a posh hotel and greeted by a crowd of luvvies, fêted and generally made a fuss of, and Bodie very slowly drives past giving her his best Intense look. On spotting him, she is similarly transfixed…
But then Doyle breaks the spell by yelling at Bodie to watch his driving as he comes within a whisker of hitting another car. Marikka goes into her hotel, Bodie drives on, and Doyle grumbles about his driving and doesn't seem to have noticed that anything's wrong.
Not the most promising teaser ever – feels kind of half-hearted.
Next up, outside a trendy wine bar, and – heck, what are they wearing? Awful. Doyle is fretting about not being able to use the phone, while a still very sombre Bodie sits reading a newspaper. So Doyle asks Bodie to give him cover – Bodie promptly lifts the newspaper to hide the fact that Doyle is using his R/T to make a private call – getting the radio operator to call the girls they are meant to be meeting and give them the arrangements. Double date, apparently – don't they see enough of each other on the job?! The girl grumbles, but complies.
Doyle: "I'll make it up to you."
Operator: "You're all mouth and trousers, four-five."
Doyle: "But I'm licensed to thrill."
Operator (all sardonic, like): "Ha ha."
LOL! Doyle's in an incredibly good mood so far this episode, unlike Bodie, and sits giggling at his own jokes and just being in general high spirits – one can only presume that this girl that the operator 'wouldn't like at all' must be the reason. Lucky girl! Bodie, meanwhile, broods over an article in the paper and is oblivious, and Doyle doesn't seem too concerned about his mood. Something about them feels off – Bodie doesn't usually brood like this, and I can't help feeling that Doyle isn't usually so insensitive to his partner's moods. If Bodie is so obviously brooding over something, it feels like Doyle should be more aware of it. Maybe he is and just doesn't like to ask, hopes he'll snap out of it.
Cut to…later. Double date must be off, as Bodie sits brooding in another bar, this time at Marikka's hotel. Marikka is very smooth, approaching Bodie without speaking to him and using the bartender to get his phone number off him rather than being seen talking to him directly by anyone else in her party. It's all very covert.
Next day, back at the wine bar – what is this? Trendy wine bars? What happened to propping up the bar at the local? Anyway, Doyle and Bodie are hanging out randomly again despite it being their day off, Doyle trying to find out where Bodie got to the previous night, and rattling on generally about what a fantastic night he had himself, while Bodie remains close-mouthed and broody. Finally Doyle realises he isn't getting anywhere and changes tack.
Doyle (mock official accent): "Where were you on Saturday night?"
Bodie (joining in with the fun and games now): "Had an urgent meeting with my psychiatrist."
Doyle: "Oh. Well the head needs shrinking."
Doyle grins. Bodie grins back, and the distance created by Bodie's broodiness is suddenly gone, but before he can say yay or nay to Doyle's offer of joining him with the lovely Christine and her mate Frankie again that night, the barmaid breaks in to tell him he has a phone call.
Bodie: "Thanks, princess."
Barmaid: "You call me that again and I'll crown you."
Gotta love the banter coming from all quarters.
Bodie's phone call is from Marikka's publicist, Kurt Kreiber. Marikka is an actress, it seems, and extremely busy during her stay in London, leading quite the high life. But Kurt arranges to meet Bodie, to set up a meeting with Marikka. And I'm relieved that Bodie seems so suspicious about all the cloak-and-dagger because he really should be.
Doyle drives him to his meet, and tries again to get him to go out with him and the girls later. "We'll be there till 8 and if you're not there by then I shall formally announce my ménage a trois."
Doyle really is in a fantastic mood so far this episode, in contrast to Bodie's glumness. Kind of makes me long to meet Christine on-screen, if this is the effect she has on him.
Kurt Kreiber amuses me intensely by challenging Bodie to play at shooting in the arcade they meet in before imparting any information. The banter in this episode is on good form on all sides so far. Kurt has arranged a meeting between Bodie and Marikka, but it must be kept top secret because her husband is very jealous.
Curiouser and curiouser, and we still don't know how Bodie and Marikka know each other, as they so clearly do.
Doyle sees Bodie and Kurt leave the arcade together. And also sees a couple of shifty looking characters go in after them and remove the gun attachment of the game Bodie was playing moments earlier.
So, Bodie heads off to his meet with Marikka, and they are friendly, a little stiff and formal at first, and clearly go back a long way – long before her marriage. One-time lovers, walking hand in hand. "Are you still fighting those obscure little wars that never made it into the papers?" Marikka asks. Bodie's past as a mercenary soldier is one aspect of the canon that never changes, although it is only alluded to very rarely. Marikka asks what he does now, and he evades the question, and she instantly realises he doesn't want to talk about it and drops the subject. I like her – she's very on the ball. And describes her own films as terrible, which endears her to me even more.
They talk only vaguely of their past together, speaking of having some great times together, of being unable to stay together: sketching out a hazy image for the audience but not colouring it in.
They are photographed together. And Kurt goes to see Marikka's husband to tell him that 'it worked'.
The plot thickens.
Worse still, the photographs of Bodie and Marikka together are shown to Cowley by Willis of Special Branch – it seems her husband is a German spy. Marikka's status is unknown, but Bodie is now under suspicion by association… He cannot be sent on assignment, and Cowley cannot tell him of these suspicions. Cowley does not like it, and heads straight around to Doyle's place. Which is clearly a relatively new place, since it is still full of packing crates – only just moved in.
Cowley: "Have you been seeing much of Bodie, socially, these days?"
Way to casually raise the subject, George!
Doyle: "Not my idea of a date."
ROFL
And then Cowley just launches into it, telling him about Bodie's secret meeting with a suspected East German agent, and that's the end of the pleasantries. He assigns Doyle to watch Bodie, a task made all the harder by the fact that Willis's lot will also have him under surveillance. The distaste both men have for this whole thing is written all across their faces, but Doyle seems resigned to his fate.
Doyle: "Well, you've got to hand it to the lad. If he was going to the electric chair he'd have Miss Universe pulling the switch."
So, Doyle sets about his assigned task, and he clearly isn't happy about it, but gets on with it regardless. Professional, see. He joins Bodie in propping up the bar at that wine bar of theirs again. The subject of what Bodie got up to the previous night is smoothly raised via more Christine-and-Frankie talk, but instantly evaded by a timely phone call for Bodie. A woman.
"Liebchen, I have been very naughty," is Marikka's opening gambit. She has booked them two adjoining rooms in the hotel opposite, since she doesn't have to go to her husband's reception that afternoon. And I'm suddenly remembering Doyle in Hunter, Hunted, so vehement about married women being way too much trouble to go anywhere near. Bodie, clearly, doesn't feel the same way.
Bodie heads off, with Doyle very covertly in pursuit – and no sign of any other surveillance on him. Bodie buys flowers…and then thinks better of it and hands them to the next person he sees, a rather delighted little old lady. LOL. Being a rather enterprising little old lady, she promptly flogs them to Doyle as he passes for a pound, making a net profit on the day! ROFL
Doyle is totally bemused by Bodie's behaviour. "He's in love…. He's Bodie, he can't be…. There's a man acting suspiciously, standing in the middle of the street holding a bunch of roses and talking to himself."
Doyle really does hate this assignment.
Bodie joins Marikka at the hotel, and makes himself comfortable, and they are just adorable together. Aww, bless. Bodie is relaxed and happy – until he spots Doyle hanging around outside, at which point he becomes thoughtful, but doesn't let it spoil his fun.
And while they are engrossed in one another, a man (a random diplomat?) is shot outside the hotel opposite, Doyle stands there helpless to do anything, and agents rush to the hotel room that the shots came from, finding therein a rifle. Next up, they burst in next door, rudely interrupting Bodie and Marikka. Caught. And – they were so wrapped up in each other that they didn't hear the shot? The timing of all this is sort of confusing and hard to follow.
Marikka has diplomatic immunity, but the ID-less Bodie is arrested, and Cowley instructs Doyle to stay with Marikka rather than follow his partner. That Bodie has been set up is instantly clear.
Cowley (to Willis): "There's a dead rat somewhere under the floorboards, and the smell is coming from your department."
Gotta love Cowley's metaphors.
At a random police station, the Special Branch boys roll in with Bodie and their evidence, and attempt to take over. My heart instantly warms to the unfortunate plod on the desk who takes exception to this and tries his hardest to enforce Bodie's rights to be formally arrested and have his one phone call, etc.
Cowley, meanwhile, is on the case – putting out a call to have all local police stations checked for prisoners fitting Bodie's description, and also sending a team to lock down Bodie's flat and prevent any Special Branch boys getting in and interfering with anything. Go Cowley! And Doyle is sent to nab Marikka and take her to his flat – oh, how Bodie would not like that.
Cowley: "Can you handle it?"
Doyle: "The heavy, yes. The girl, maybe."
Hehe. Doyle really is having to work alone on this one. The Lads are so much better as a team. His abduction of Marikka is pretty smooth, though. Back at his flat, he starts questioning her, taking a pretty hard line against both her and Bodie but beneath that grimness lies determination – to find a way of getting to the truth that will get his partner out of this very sticky situation.
"Don't you trust Bodie?" Marikka asks. But Doyle has his game face firmly in place and doesn't let it slip for a second. The room bookings were made through Kreiber, Marikka tells him, so he must be the one that set them up. Then she explodes with anger – she will stand up in court and support Bodie even against Kreiber, her husband, the secret police – everyone.
Doyle gives a wry little smile, and picks up the fake mic he'd used to pretend it was a genuine interview. "Sorry, Bodie, but I had to be sure."
As hard as this is for Bodie, being set up like that, it's also hard for Doyle to have all this suddenly landed on him, wanting to believe in his partner's innocence without having any way of really knowing, one way or the other, and having a bigger duty to uphold. With no access to Bodie himself, all he can do is his job and hope to get his partner out of this mess that way.
There's nothing quite like the Cow when he's on the warpath – nothing can stand in his way. "You made a big mistake when you set up one of my men," he growls at Willis down the telephone, incensed. And he's ruthless, too – quite prepared to use Marikka as a pawn.
After all his bluster, Willis tamely trots along to meet Cowley as requested (make that commanded). And he explains – the man who was shot, Bierman, was some kind of bigwig, and his assassination was jointly engineered by both his own people and Special Branch in a joint operation. The plan is to replace him with Schumann – Marikka's husband, as a double agent. The politics behind all this go pretty much over my head, but the upshot is that Bodie has been well and truly set up, and Cowley refuses to sacrifice him like that. "Bodie will not go to jail," he insists.
Willis says he doesn't have to, he could escape (be allowed to escape, rather, in exchange for Marikka) – and I've got alarm bells ringing at once. Because, honestly, what good would that be? Exchange a life in prison for a life on the run? He could hardly just return to his job with that hanging over his head. And why the hell did they choose Bodie? Because he was convenient once he'd spotted and made contact with Marikka? Or deliberately, long beforehand? I mean, imagine if they'd been in the middle of a case when all this blew up?
Bodie finally gets his phone call, and contacts Cowley. "How's Doyle?" is practically the first thing he says. "He's a lousy chaperone."
In the midst of all this turmoil, foremost on Bodie's mind is the perceived betrayal of his partner.
"He saved your hide," Cowley counters, before getting down to business, and I'm deeply amused that Cowley goes along with Bodie's 'cowboys' metaphor! Heh. Bodie and the head cowboy are both instructed that Bodie is to be allowed to escape, and Bodie looks about as happy about it all as could be expected, being used as a sacrificial lamb in this way.
But then the head cowboy gets another, more secret instruction – Bodie is to be eliminated during the escape. And the tension cranks up another notch.
So, Bodie does his action man thing and escapes, even managing to elude attempts to 'eliminate' him. Because Cowley trains his men well. But the fact that said attempts are made does not go down well, and can only add to his inner turmoil that must exist, but isn't that well portrayed in terms of direction in this scene. There was potential there for a lot more emotional content – not just in this scene, but in a lot of others.
Cowley refuses to hand Marikka over until Bodie has called in when he reaches a safe house. Bodie does so, but is fuming about being betrayed during the escape, and refuses the orders he is given, leaving the R/T behind as he takes off again – a real loose canon.
"He didn't sound too happy," says the operator, nervously. Understatement of the year, that. "No," Cowley agrees. "Neither am I."
Bodie goes to Doyle's place, neatly shimming over the wall – freeze frame moment for the BBs among us, there – sees Doyle and Marikka talking in the kitchen, and glowers. Inside, Marikka and Doyle are both fretting. Doyle's tension levels are rising and rising because he knows exactly how Bodie's fingerprints ended up on that rifle butt, and blames Marikka for that, and is worried about Bodie. And is also worried about Bodie's state of mind, after all this betrayal and perceived betrayal. He's even more worried when Cowley tells him Bodie saw him outside the hotel – that wasn't very stealthy of him, it has to be said.
I do enjoy watching Doyle fret. He's so good at it. But it's a shame that good mood he was in earlier has been so utterly destroyed. I find myself wondering if he bothered to call Christine to let her know their night out was off.
Some other random agent is sent to escort Marikka away, while Doyle is sent off on another assignment, Bodie in pursuit. At the safe house, Marikka despairs – and then spots the tumult of activity on the rooftops nearby. Bodie is clambering around with a rifle, and so are numerous Special Branch agents, and goodness knows who else. It is getting very hard to pin down exactly who works for what agency. She shrieks a warning to Bodie that the other men are there, before being hauled back inside by her random chaperone (agent 2.8, apparently). So Bodie lays down covering fire for himself while dashing for cover, and it's open warfare around the back alleys of a London warehouse district! Another obscure little war for Bodie to fight, and one that will certainly not make any front pages.
Agent 2.8 calls in to let Cowley know that they've got all hell breaking loose with Bodie on the rampage.
Doyle's assignment, meanwhile, is to retrieve all that evidence that has been planted to frame Bodie – to make it disappear. Doyle, of course, knows his way around police stations like the back of his hand, and carries this off with the utmost ease.
Bodie, at this stage, can be forgiven for feeling completely deserted and completely desperate and helpless – he's alone, with Special Branch agents chasing him down, shooting at him – his own people have set him up and abandoned him (or so it must feel) and he's been left to carry the can alone. Talk about a desperate last stand. Heading up, leaving his back undefended, probably not his brightest idea ever, but luckily the other agents are really poor shots. Reaching the top, he is at the end of his tether and running out of ammo with more artillery being brought out against him. Doyle and Cowley arrive, but what can they do?
Talk, is what they can do – Cowley demands that Willis call off his men. He's slipped up, the evidence is gone, and CI5 still has Marikka, who he now sends Doyle to collect. Willis caves and calls his men off, which is kind of an anti-climax. Cowley then tries to talk Bodie down, but he's in no mood to listen, suspecting betrayal at every turn, now, and who can blame him?
Marikka comes and joins the shouting match, and Bodie turns his anger on her, suspecting that it was her that framed him, but she insists that they were *both* framed by Kreiber and her husband. "That's twice in my life I've trusted you, now you've made me the biggest sucker of all times," he yells, and I long to hear more of the backstory of their history together. There's so much depth being hinted at here, without ever fulfilling the emotional potential to its utmost.
The shouting continues. And then Kreiber apparently decides enough is enough and shoots Marikka dead. Just like that. "You bastards," Doyle growls at the Germans as they withdraw, quite serene and happy with their day's work. And Bodie comes rushing down at last.
"You've got your scapegoat after all," Cowley tells Willis, in deep distaste, and Willis cheerfully agrees.
Bodie stalks away without speaking to either Doyle or Cowley, and Doyle's bitterness at the whole sorry saga shines through. "Still want me to follow him?"
"You make sure your own house is in order, four-five," says Cowley, and what the heck does he mean by that?
And that's the end – a very downbeat end to a very complicated episode, and I long for episodic continuity because I’d have loved to see the repercussions of all this spilling over into future episodes. Bodie ends this episode disillusioned and not knowing who to trust, having been set up and betrayed so callously, and for no good reason. I want to see him and Doyle working through the issues raised in this episode, struggling to get past Bodie's feeling of having been betrayed, and Doyle's guilt over being set on his own partner – how do they restore their working relationship and friendship after something like this? Yet in the next episode the reset button is pressed, as if it had never happened. Imagine the possibilities if the fallout of these events could have been explored over a period of several episodes…
Still. We must be happy with what we can get, and the banter in parts of this episode is amazing. Getting a peek into the deeper levels of Bodie is also great, if short-lived due to that darn reset button. I'm not so fond of seeing the Lads split up for quite so long, though.
