The Thick of It: Series 4, Episode 4 (2012)

 

Oh, Malcolm.  He’s been plotting and scheming, carefully lining everything up to suit his purposes, and the day has finally come.  As he says, he’s been making a bomb, and today he lights the fuse.

 

Along with Malcolm’s shadowy dealings, we again see how truly, desperately devoted he is to his party.  His opinions on the individuals within that party are highly changeable, and he’ll gladly turn on someone for what he believes to be the greater good, but he’ll do anything in aid of his party.  In light of that, it’s no wonder his party-loyalty tends to go hand in hand with his most nefarious acts.

 

At this point, it seems it’d be far better for Malcolm to get out and let things lie; he’s aged so much between seasons 3 and 4, and it’s clear the job has taken a toll on him.  But he can’t do it.  Malcom + his party = that famous line from Brokeback Mountain.  No matter what, he’ll just go deeper and darker, offering everything he has to give.

 

All that sounds a bit serious.  There’s also Nicola trapped on a train with the insufferable, wholly unhelpful John Duggan in the midst of a political maelstrom.  Plus, not even appendicitis can get Ollie a day off from Malcolm’s browbeating; Malcolm shows up at the hospital for the express purposes of barking orders at Ollie, stealing Ollie’s grapes, and leaving with the flowers he brought for Ollie.  Malcolm Tucker:  bedside manner of a velociraptor.

 

Series 4 actually introduces a handful of new characters, which I supposes makes sense.  Three years have passed since series 3, and it’s only logical that there’d be some new faces on the political map.  One of them is Helen Hatley, Nicola’s number two.  Helen is a hard worker, but she doesn’t have great instincts – her attempts to prevent a press-conference disaster are pitiful.  Plus, she has more than a bit of contempt for Nicola, and she doesn’t make much of an effort to hide it.  Clearly, Nicola wants none but the best on her team.