When a
journalist prints a slew of unflattering remarks about Hugh, Malcolm prepares
to let slip the dogs of war. Assuring
Hugh that the prime minister is behind him all the way, the man behind the
Number 10 media curtain arranges retaliatory press pieces and does everything
in his power to make the hopelessly-out-of-touch Hugh seem “clued up.” Of course, Hugh and his team decide to do
their part to combat the article as well.
It’s only a matter of time before they’ve made the situation infinitely
worse.
The Thick of It, however, doesn’t
divide its characters neatly according to competence. The pilot gave the impression that the show
would be “the terrifying, always-right Malcolm cleans up everyone else’s
messes,” and don’t get me wrong, that will be some well-trod territory by the
time we’re done here. But Malcolm gets
his own share of the screw-ups in episode 2, and it’s not exactly inconsequential. I like that; he’s much smarter than most of
the people he interacts with, and he often comes out on top, but he’s not
bulletproof. It’s an important shade to
his character.
This is
a good episode for PC. Malcolm is
terrific as he quizzes Hugh on modern pop culture, getting more and more
incredulous as Hugh reveals the depths of his cluelessness. And I love the moment when Malcolm realizes
how badly he’s stepped in it – you get the sense that, in his head, he’s giving
himself the same sort of abusive tirade he regularly uses on cabinet ministers
and their staff.
This is
also the episode that cements my undying approval of Hugh as a character. I suppose, in a way, he’s similar to Toby
from The Office, or even Ted from Scrubs – a dully lugubrious sad-sack. It’s done so subtly and slyly, though. One of my favorite Hugh moments ever is when
he tells a colleague that he didn’t go to bed because he didn’t think it was
worth taking his trousers off. He’s just
such a defeated Eeyore of a man, and I love it.
Plus,
he references Mr. Gradgrind from Hard
Times! (On a side note, how great is
British comedy?) In an episode about how
behind-the-times he is, pop-culture-wise, references to lesser-known Dickens
characters are that much more apt.
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