MI-5, Volume 2

Rating:
Summary: A Great Show Gets Better
Review: I continue to be riveted by this show. There is no show on television in America that presents a truer picture of what it means to serve your country in the War on Terror. This season ratchets up the suspense and personal angst of the main characters. There were times as I watched this show that I was literally floored by the actions of these men and women, the lengths they were willing to go in order to do their job as they saw it should be done. Matthew MacFadyen once again turns in a bravura performance and by the end of the season you are actually on the edge of your seat to know what happens. This series continues to be one of the most well-acted and well-written spy shows I have ever seen. Should not be missed by anyone who loves great drama and the spy thriller genre.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Drama Series
Review: I have both Volume 1 and Volume 2 of this outstanding series and can't say enough about it. The stories are dramatic and compelling and the DVD's contain both the uncut versions of the episodes as well as an impressive number of quality extras including interviews, stills and documentaries. If you're a fan of the spy genre, this series is a must-have addition to your library.

Rating:
Summary: So BLOODY Brilliant!!
Review: If a show were to capture the actual nature of being a (security service) spy, this is probably it.

Take advantage of bad situations, be morally dispassionate, infiltrate any activist organization, avert or CREATE disaster to suit your political needs, and kill anyone who gets in your way (court proceedings are so messy). There were numerous times I found myself clapping out loud, yelling: "That's EXACTLY what they do!!"

Of course, the best way to kill a Politician is to simply steer their airplane into a mountain (Oh yeah, THAT hasn't happened about a dozen times). And the best place to kill a VIP (or royal) is in a road-tunnel where you control the variables and no one can see what happens (then claim the video is too "Graphic" and would disrespect the family of the victim). And, you'll never see a spy in a courtroom giving testimony (at least not under their real name), it's much easier, and common to simply kill those that cross the service.

This show is way too BLOODY BRILLIANT!!

There's even an episode where a personal friend of the British PM is importing huge amounts of drugs into the U.K. and they don't touch him (of course not, just BUST anybody that uses it, LIKE AMERICA!).

You will bite your nails, sweat your palms, and gain an insight into the trade that the English have mastered for over 500 years. They taught us, even though our Company is far more ruthless. And if you think I'm kidding, go learn how to to read.

Thankyou BBC!!


Rating:
Summary: Blarney Barney's DVD Review
Review: Magnificient reproduction and true to fact of the politics involved in espionage. Gritty, with no punches held back in this, the second feast from Britian's MI5 brigade. Especially fortright in it's portrayal of the civil service's "Yes Minister" attidues and how in fact senior civil servants run government departments and not the figure headed ministers themselves placed in charge. Excellent stuff once again from the BBC. Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: Simply the best show on TV
Review: The BBC nails another one. This is the best show on television. If you like 24, this is better. The writing is more crisp, the plots believable and exciting, and the acting is far better than anything on American tv. You don't get scenery chewing 101, you get real characters with wit and intelligence who occasionally screw up.
This show makes Alias look like Romper Room. These 1-hour versions give you the WHOLE show, not the 44-minute A&E butcher jobs. It's like watching a densely plotted mini movie with continuing characters. Macfadyen, Hawes, and Firth are terrific, etching flawed but believable characters. Wonderful stuff.

Rating:
Summary: You cannot believe your eyes
Review: This second season of MI-5 covers quite a range of activities which may or may not constitute a threat to the state. Unlike some of the more glitzy glamorous shows about the secret services this is a little more gritty and a little more true to like effecting to shine a light into the dark to show some of the creepy crawlies running hither and thither. This is part of the attraction of the show which demonstrates the depths to which public servants will stoop to allow us to continue our daily lies.

The only drawback to this drama is that it is a BBC production which, by it's very nature, exhibits a little schizophrenia - a highly polished production with a gloss and an angle to push.

Having said that, there is more than a little truth which permeates the plotlines such as the constant competition between the different branches of the services and law enforcement within Britain itself as well as a constant competitive process with other foreign agencies throughout the world most notable from the American Security Services. What results is a love-hate relationship on both sides and where trust is a dirty word.

It seems more than a little odd that more is not made of the exploration of the tendencies of the elected political establishment to be recorded and noted and exposed when it suits the services to do so. Given the range of activities included in this season, the exclusion seems stranger still. Similarly the depths to which elected government officials will stoop in following their own agendas is not a central focus her where it really ought to be.

US viwers, seeing the complete episodes for the first time in this collection, will note the relatively open jibes against the Bush administration and it's foreign policy approach which permeate the entire season and are continued on the third, currently showing in truncated form on A&E. Since the show first aired this has been a constant theme and demonstrates a political aspect of the BBC which really has no place given the exclusions mentioned above.

Typically too for a show which sells across the world the season acts as a little tourist guide particularly to London with some exquisite shots of some of the panorama which makes up Britain's capital city.

This series of fictional tales explores the difficult personal lives of the major players involved which typically involves some difficult sacrifices and the consequent tendency to inbreeding with similar types of individuals. Who do you trust and who can you trust?

It seems to me that the notion of the national interest is extremely subjective and much depends on the political outlook in vogue at the time. Many people are often left wondering whether or not these tales reflect actual events but are thinly disguised while others believe they are merely fiction.

It is hard to tell but to any observer of events over the last forty years or so there is more than a grain of truth in each of them.

I highly recommend this season notwithstanding any earlier remarks made about BBC bias. It is certainly a litttle more cerebral than your average spy show but I would like to think that the show's producers intend to make us think about what is done on our behalf in the name of democracy or whatever we prefer to call our system of government. Interestingly enough the whole notion of this show being produced in this form by the BBC in a time where a Labour Government has the watch is enough to set off conspiracy theorists across the world.

A high quality drama, which makes us think, but by the BBC is a good result for the viewing public.

Quis custodies custodiet?