"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Chain: Episode 2 – “Vicky Elliott” (1990)

 
The central mystery of the fraud case, naturally, deepens as we work our way through the miniseries.  To be perfectly honest, I’m not entirely sure what it’s about.  I know there are Swiss bank accounts, gentrification seems to be involved in some way, and now there’s evidence of super-secret exchanges taking place on foreign soil.  First Cassidy and now McRae have received discouragement from their respective hire-ups on their pursuit of the case.  Whether that means their bosses are in on it or just don’t believe them, I don’t know.  McRae seems to lean towards the latter.
 
At the start of the episode, I was a little surprised to find Cassidy prosecuting the eponymous Vicky, a cheerful young criminal who seems out-of-place in the fraud stuff of the previous outing.  Ultimately, though, it makes sense that Cassidy is hearing other cases; it seems that McRae is, more than anything, keeping him on ice for when he needs a prosecutor, rather than treating him like an actual member of the team.  However, we quickly return to the mystery at hand, with even more than money, jobs, and development at stake.
 
McRae proves himself to be a definite big-picture sort.  He comes into conflict with Cassidy here over his behavior – his tunnel-vision focus on cracking the case ignores other’s people’s time, commitments, and safety.  McRae is equally comfortable making outrageous demands on those under him and putting a potential informant in jeopardy, all for the sake of the truth.
 
His behavior seems at odds with his overall manner.  He’s a tireless, one could argue obsessed, investigator, but while he brings the intensity when he’s questioning someone, his default setting is almost languid.    It’s strange; he’s obviously thrown his full attention at the case, and yet the way he speaks and moves is so blasé.  Is he trying to project an image of unflappability?  Does he just think it makes him seem cool or enigmatic?  Who knows?
 
It’s interesting to me, the way the other officers/agents/whoever-they-are kowtow to him.  His accent clearly marks him as “not from these parts,” so he can’t have been there long.  Add to that his youth and the fact that he looks a bit like a teenager in his dad’s suit, and it’s evident that he hasn’t had much time to make a name for himself anywhere.  So why does everyone respect him so much and defer to him?  I wonder if we’ll learn more about his background and how he got where he is.
 
Susan Brown, who guest starred in Torchwood:  “Children of Earth” with PC and recently showed up in Broadchurch, appears in this episode.  Also cropping up is a very young-looking Ian Hart, Professor Quirrell himself.
 
Warnings
 
Add in some sexual content here.

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