Spooks and the Character Assassination

I have rarely had time for authors or writers who feel the need to suddenly and without any real prior warning, assassinate their leading character's personality. To pull it off convincingly you have to had it in mind from the beginning and rarely is this the case. I am a huge fan of BBC Spy Drama Spooks and believe it has been some of the best written and most suspenseful drama certainly in the U.K in the last 10 years.

Spooks spoilers follow. If you have not seen up to series 9 do not read on

Since then we have seen the demise of Tom, the demise and unrelated heroic death of Adam and now clearly it is the turn of Lucas / John. Spooks has more reason to kill off characters than most series and we have been shocked, saddened and stunned by what is ultimately a justifiably ruthless series. Last night's episode was brilliantly acted and the side storyline involving Ruth was perfectly executed, but the writing of what has become the main plot reads only as if it has been created to excuse Richard Armitage, so he could go in search of a shiny crystal instead.

The plot with Vaughn and Maya had seem forced throughout but last night it all came to a fore as John's involvement with them became clear. When John confesses to Harry, it was a little far fetched but also believable and you could see how the ultimately clueless and suggestible John had been caught up in something much bigger than himself. It was a good lie and Vaughn was an easy fall guy, leading to a semi satisfactory conclusion where John, with the help of the others would have to deal with the threat to Albany and stave off the Chinese. It was clear that John would not be able to rejoin as section chief, but he could be retired, much in the same way that Tom was.

Then came the scene, "The Big Reveal", flashbacks to the moment we realised Connie was a traitor in Season 7, as it turns out John was responsible for the civilian bombing, murdered his best friend and was ultimately a very nasty piece of work. Vaughn died, and his actual role in everything was left hanging. John was shown to be unreliable narrator and as such we were left with nothing. Vaughn remains a mystery and having died, seems incredibly like a loose plot end, designed for one purpose.

The problem was it didn't fit. It didn't make sense. As a spy, who has on several occasions killed, it is fine that the character may have a dark side but it has just has not been given much development. Lucas was a well written character and I actually preferred him to Adam, and now from the preview it seems he takes Ruth hostage, threatens Harry, the others and no doubt is shot by people he would have called friends. For what, a relationship with a character introduced this season, whose attachment to him is totally unexplained.

There are in the end ways to write characters out of a show. Actors move on and sometimes characters are even removed for plot based reasons. Death in a show like spooks is a common one and given Adam died heroically it was inevitable that John had to die a traitor. My issue arises when series or even books kill or destroy characters for reasons other than it fits with the character and the events, and on this I am disappointed to say Spooks has totally failed.