Line #4 YMMV/Spooks


1	* AccidentalAesop: If you're a spy, don't fall in love, don't get married, and ''especially'' don't have children. At best, you'll scare away your lover because of your job and ruin your love life, as well as theirs. At worst, [[spoiler:you'll end up getting killed and turning your lover into a widow or widower, or you'll turn your child into an orphan]].
2	* AlasPoorScrappy:
3	** [[spoiler:Andrew Lawrence]] was a poor replacement for long-time recurring character Nicholas Blake, especially for not having the balls to take risks and for being somewhat gullible. Nevertheless, nothing he did warranted [[spoiler:being drugged and left to die in an explosion--which is made all the more worse when Lawrence begs for Ros to leave him to save herself]].
4	** [[spoiler:Maya]]. Fans didn't like her for being some random new love interest for Lucas who got way too much CharacterShilling, despite the fact the viewers didn't know a thing about her, which led to them questioning [[WhatDoesHeSeeInHer why Lucas really cared that much for her]]. Nevertheless, [[spoiler:Maya dying right beside him after he threw his entire life down the toilet just to be with her was pretty damn harsh]].
5	** No one really liked [[spoiler:Tariq Masood]] for being a boring ReplacementScrappy for Malcolm. But watching as he's [[spoiler:poisoned by some "vagrant" he bumps into, and then crying in the back of a taxi cab upon realizing this shortly before he collapses on the sidewalk and dies in front of Calum]] is a horrible and anticlimactic way to go. It certainly didn't help that he was ''finally'' starting to get CharacterDevelopment in the episode he died in.
6	* Sugarwiki/AwesomeMusic: Fans enjoyed the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBqYC48JlsI show's OP]] by Jeannie Musket.
7	* BaseBreakingCharacter: Beth Bailey. Quite a few fans and many critics praised her addition to the show, given that Beth was a no-nonsense ActionGirl who wasn't afraid to commit morally-ambiguous actions and didn't care what other people thought about her and her criminal past. Others wrote Beth off as nothing more than an inferior replacement for Ros who had nowhere near as much character development. And then there are some people who do like Beth, but were frustrated that she was PutOnABus and replaced with Erin Watts in Series 10, who was also a very divisive character.
8	* BrokenBase: The revelation in Series 9 that Lucas North [[spoiler:was EvilAllAlong and pretending to be a hero]]. Many fans and critics praise this twist, claiming that it seriously shook up the status quo and was a new development that the show needed (especially given that some people see Lucas as being a recycled Adam Carter). Others, however, say the opposite, stating that this revelation ruined Lucas' character and was only put in the show ''because'' the writers had no other ideas. This, combined with [[spoiler:Lucas North's suicide in the finale]], resulted in some fans dropping the show altogether [[FanonDiscontinuity and pretending that this series never happened]].
9	* CompleteMonster:
10	** "Looking After Our Own": [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Robert Osbourne]] is a far-right white supremacist planning a series of race riots to force Parliament to crack down on immigration. Alongside [[RabbleRouser instigating riots]], Osbourne is also connected to a [[HumanTraffickers human smuggling]] operation so he can choke off asylum centers; said smugglers frequently have people thrown overboard from ships and drowned. When Osbourne realizes one of his contacts betrayed him for MI-5, Osbourne has him murdered, and later tortures agent Helen Flynn by [[CruelAndUnusualDeath forcing her hand and head into a deep fat fryer]].
11	** "Nest of Angels": [[TheFundamentalist Mohammed Rachid]] is a radical mullah who has taken over a mosque in Birmingham, England, replacing the kind and moderate imam who founded the mosque. Rachid hates all Westerners and uses the Mosque as a recruitment ground to convince disaffected Muslim teenagers to become [[SuicideAttack suicide bombers]]. When Rachid discovers one of his young followers is [[TheMole a mole]] for MI-5, he has the young man beaten with sticks and thrown out a window. Rachid sees his suicide bombers as disposable [[ThePawn pawns]] in his mission against the West and [[{{Hypocrite}} has no intention of endangering his own life for that mission]]. Rachid's ultimate target for his suicide bombers is [[WouldHurtAChild a playground full of children]].
12	** "The Seventh Division": [[TheDon Rafael "Rafa" Morientes]] is the leader of [[TheCartel the Colombian Chala Cartel]]. As cartel leader, Rafa would frequently deal drugs, money, and {{arms\|Dealer}} with terrorists around the world. Rafa also ordered terrorist attacks as well, such as setting off a bomb in a Spanish club, and killed anyone who stood in his way before taking keepsakes from his victims. One of his victims was Mariela Hernandez, whose [[FamilyExtermination entire family was slaughtered]] when she was fifteen before Rafa [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty forced her to be his lover]]. When Customs & Excise start investigating Rafa, he has eight of their officers mutilated and murdered as a warning to back off. Later on, after he discovers Mariela betrayed him to assist MI-5, Rafa stabs Mariela several times and leaves her to slowly bleed to death.
13	** "The Special" two-parter: [[MadBomber Owen Forster]] is the leader of the EcoTerrorist cell called Shining Dawn. Unlike many other Shining Dawn members who genuinely believe humanity must be culled to save the world, [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Owen]] only cares about [[PsychoForHire exploiting the terrorists' goals to fuel his bomb-making obsession]]. In an attempt to compel law enforcement to release their leader, Michael Munroe, Owen and his cell detonate a bomb in a public venue, killing a few dozen civilians. They later plant bombs inside of a subway station and an apartment complex; when both bombs are defused, Owen continues his vendetta, ordering his men to attack a hospital next and [[WhyAmITicking strapping the final bomb to an innocent woman]] so she can't escape. Even after he's arrested, Owen stubbornly refuses to give up the password to defuse the bomb, fully willing to let hundreds of innocents die out of spite.
14	** "World Trade": [[PresidentEvil Gabriel Sekoa]] is the corrupt leader of [[{{Bulungi}} West Monrassa]]. After journalist George Kadala tries to publish that Sekoa was siphoning hundreds of millions of dollars from the government, Sekoa [[HeKnowsTooMuch has his plane shot down]] and [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident made it look like a plane crash]]. Several years later, after Sekoa gained more political power, he used his resources to drive thousands of villagers into a shantytown so he could [[FinalSolution use biological agents to gas the whole town and neighboring cities]]. Knowing other countries would attempt to stop the genocide, Sekoa agrees to sign the Havensworth trade agreement solely so he'll be free to massacre anyone he wants without any other countries interfering.
15	* FanonDiscontinuity: See BrokenBase above. To some fans, [[spoiler:Lucas North is ''not'' evil. He did ''not'' bomb an embassy that killed seventeen people. His real name is ''not'' John Bateman. And he did ''not'' kill himself]].
16	* FranchiseOriginalSin: Series 9 and 10 were criticized for introducing new characters after killing off or writing off almost every other long-running character in the series, sans Harry and Ruth. Thing is, ''Spooks'' has ''always'' done this; Series 3, in particular, got rid of Tom, Zoe, ''and'' Danny--all of whom were considered the main protagonists. The reason why this worked so well before is because their replacements (Adam, Fiona, Zaf, etc.) were introduced very early on and were fleshed out before the old characters left, so the audience was able to grow attached to them. The newcomers in Series 9 and 10 were introduced ''in'' Series 9 and 10 after the old characters left, giving no time for the audience to know them or see them as anything else except for poor replacements to their well-written predecessors. And by the time some of these characters got some development, the show was premiering its final episodes.
17	* HarsherInHindsight:
18	** Early on in Series 4, Fiona tells Adam that it was stupid or selfish to have a child, considering they could inadvertently put Wes, their son, in danger from terrorists or end up dying and leaving him alone. [[spoiler:Fiona dies later on this series, and Adam dies in the Series 7 premiere, leaving Wes as an orphan]].
19	** One of the subplots in the series 5 opening two-parter concerns oil prices soaring under cover of an attack on their pipeline causing supply problems. Today, the same thing is happening as Russian oil supplies are restricted in the wake of events in Ukraine. The only difference is the cause shifting from the Russian mafia, to its government.
20	** When Adam has a panic attack in "Agenda," Malcolm tells Adam to stop hesitating and to get up and move or else terrorists will kill him and [[spoiler:turn Wes into an orphan. In the Series 7 premiere, Adam is killed by a terrorist--in large part because he hesitated while staring at Ros--and Wes becomes an orphan]].
21	** In "The Criminal," Adam places his back against Richard Dempsey's body to protect him from Jo and Zaf. Jo is warned not to shoot Dempsey because the bullet could go through and kill Adam. In the third episode of Series 8, [[spoiler:Jo dies after she grabs a terrorist to stop him from detonating a bomb and Ros is forced to shoot through him while Jo is still holding him]].
22	** In "Series 8, Episode 5," Ros triggers a bomb inside of a building and just ''barely'' escapes being blown to pieces by it. [[spoiler:Ros isn't so lucky when she finds herself in a similar situation in the Series 8 finale...]]
23	** Towards the end of Series 9, Ruth tells Harry that people like them aren't capable of mourning their loves ones properly if they die because their jobs have hardened them and made them estranged. In the Series 10 finale, [[spoiler:Harry chooses to continue working for [=MI-5=] instead of properly mourning Ruth or resigning from the service altogether]].
24	** In Series 10, Erin Watts is revealed to have a loving family, and she genuinely believes that it's possible to work for [=MI-5=] and still remain optimistic. This optimism is crushed in ''The Greater Good'' when [[spoiler:Erin, while working undercover in a terrorist cell, ends up getting killed when her cover is blown]].
25	* HesJustHiding: Some fans genuinely thought that [[spoiler:Lucas North]] didn't die in the Series 9 finale, especially since we never see his body, and this wasn't the first time show "killed" a main character in the finale and then reveal they were alive in the next series premiere. The Series 10 premiere confirms that [[spoiler:Lucas did kill himself]].
26	* HilariousInHindsight:
27	** [[spoiler: Connie's [[RunningGag apparent inability to remember the current name of the Russian security service]] becomes ''really'' ironic when she turns out to be the Russian mole.]]
28	** In Series 7, Lucas decorates his new home with William Blake's "The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun". A few years later, Creator/RichardArmitage would play Francis Dolarhyde on the TV series ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'', a man who believes he is possessed by the Red Dragon.
29	* IronWoobie: [[spoiler: Harry. Specifically; having friends and colleagues frequently die, repeatedly being rejected by Ruth, having certain close friends and trusted allies betray him (and in one case having to kill them - Series 9 episode 1). Yes, Peter Firth is the master of sad and tired expressions.]]
30	* ItWasHisSled: Helen gets her face dunked in a deep-fryer and then gets shot in the head early on in the show.
31	* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: [[SubvertedTrope Most of the times they do]]. But there have been a few occasions where they pull a DisneyDeath or RedHerring.
32	** The Series 1 finale ends with a bomb going off inside of Tom's flat with Ellie and Maisie still inside, and Tom standing helpless outside the house. In the Series 2 premiere, a bomb ''does'' go off, but it kills the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
33	** Series 2 ends with [[spoiler:Tom walking into the sea and seemingly killing himself]]. The Series 3 premiere reveals he survived.
34	** In the Series 4 finale, [[spoiler:Adam]] is shot by a sniper and left to bleed out on the sidewalk. He survives his injuries in the next series.
35	** Subverted twice in Series 6 with [[spoiler:Zaf]]. He gets shot in the series premiere and is kidnapped by terrorists. The next episode reveals that [[spoiler:he was burned to death alongside the mercenaries who kidnapped him]]. In the Series 6 finale, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Zaf was tortured to death and his body was mutilated]]. Lots of fans suspected the writers were pulling their leg again, but no. [[spoiler:Zaf was actually ''KilledOffScreen'']].
36	** In the Series 6 finale, Adam supposedly killed [[spoiler:Jo]] so she wouldn't be raped and tortured by her kidnappers. The Series 7 premiere reveals that [[spoiler:he didn't go through with it. He just told her to play dead so they could fool their kidnappers and escape]].
37	** There's even an InUniverse example in the Series 8 premiere, where Harry Pearce is allegedly executed onscreen in a video recording. Almost none of the characters buy that the execution is real, and the episode wastes little time revealing that Harry's still alive.
38	* MagnificentBastard: See [[MagnificentBastard/{{Spooks}} here]].
39	* {{Narm}}:
40	** Paul Rhys' [[HamAndCheese incredibly hammy]] performance as Alexis Meynell in "On the Brink." Especially during his '''"WHERE ARE ALL YOUR BAAAAAWWWWWLSSS?!"''' speech, and the part where he randomly snarls and shakes a handrail upon discovering that [[spoiler:Ros works for MI-5]].
41	** The sixth episode of Series 8 involves a banker targeted by a conspiracy, which [[spoiler: murders his girlfriend and her son when they break into their flat]]. The team keeps this secret from him until he learns the truth from a news report and [[https://i.imgur.com/oUoxB4J.png makes the most hilarious face ever seen on television]] which undermines an otherwise very dramatic scene.
42	** In "Accidental Discovery," MI-5 comes across a dead paparazzi's photograph depicting a diplomat arguing with someone. Said photo in question shows the man with his arms raised, eyes wide, and gritting his teeth with his mouth open, [[https://i.imgur.com/t3Q92cd.png making it appear like he's pulling off an aggressive duck lips expression]].
43	** Ashur sobbing in episode 10.04 can come off as this since he sounded more like a dying animal moaning. Given the situation, it's NarmCharm for some.
44	* NarmCharm: Lucas' BigNo while he's [[spoiler:cradling Maya's body]] in the Series 9 finale. It's overly dramatic and unnecessary, but Richard Armitage's acting makes it work and shows just how anguished Lucas truly is.
45	* ReplacementScrappy: Usually averted. Most of the new characters introduced were clearly meant to replace older characters after they're killed off or their actors/actresses chose to leave the show. But there are some characters hated for being inferior to their predecessors.
46	** Vicky serves as a replacement for Tom's love interest in Series 2. Unlike Ellie, Vicky is very selfish and doesn't take Tom's job seriously, even going as far as nearly having a vocal fit in public if Tom didn't go on a trip with her to Egypt. It's no surprise Tom inevitably breaks up with her.
47	** Andrew Lawrence replaces former Home Secretary Nicholas Blake and was hated by everyone--even the characters within the show. Unlike Blake, Lawrence is unable to make tough calls and he comes across as being very naive and incapable of doing his job. On top of this, it's heavily implied that he's a Nightingale operative. [[IntendedAudienceReaction This was arguably intentional]], because the Series 8 finale reveals that [[spoiler:Lawrence was GoodAllAlong, and the poor man dies in a bombing alongside Ros, even after he told her to save herself and to leave him]].
48	** Dimitri, especially in Series 10 after [[spoiler:Lucas dies]]. Unlike Tom, Adam, or Lucas, Dimitri had little personality, little backstory, and was panned by some critics for Max Brown's dull performance. While his character did grow somewhat in Series 10, some fans and critics felt it was too little too late, and just wrote him off as a very bland replacement for Tom/Adam/Lucas.
49	** Maya Lahan replaces Lucas North's LoveInterest in Series 9. Unlike Sarah Caulfield (who could also qualify as this, but became more plot-relevant halfway into Series 8), Maya serves no purpose except to be in love with Lucas. And also to throw Lucas into DespairEventHorizon after [[spoiler:she's inadvertently killed in the finale]].
50	** Tariq Masood is the replacement for Malcolm after he leaves in Series 8. Unlike Malcolm, he has little character besides being TheSmartGuy in Section D and being YoungerAndHipper compared to Malcolm. They did start developing his character in Series 10, [[spoiler:but unfortunately, the writers decided to kill him not long afterwards]].
51	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap:
52	** Ben Kaplan wasn't much of a likeable character for being a {{Jerkass}} and a cliché journalist who only cared about his personal career. Come Series 7, he TookALevelInBadass and has become more fleshed out, and he took his job as an MI-5 agent more seriously.
53	** Dimitri wasn't well-liked for being a boring agent randomly thrown into the show for the sake of having more characters. But after his DayInTheLimelight in episode 10.03, fans got to know more about his personality, and his role in the show became much more important.
54	** Erin Watts, who was a ReplacementScrappy for BaseBreakingCharacter Beth. Like Dimitri, fans warmed up to her halfway into Series 10 when [[ADayInTheLimelight she had an episode that focused a lot on her]]. It certainly didn't hurt when it was revealed that she thinks people can work at MI-5 and still have a family, or that she began to realize [[BeingGoodSucks how horrible it is to work as an agent]].
55	* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/BenedictCumberbatch has a bit part in the first episode of series two.
56	* TheScrappy:
57	** Maya, Lucas' love interest in Series 9. Hardly anyone likes her for being a FlatCharacter who got no CharacterDevelopment whatsoever. The fact that [[CharacterShilling Lucas continued to praise how wonderful and special she is]], despite the viewers knowing nothing about her personal history, was even more annoying.
58	** Calum is arguably the most hated MI-5 officer in the whole show for being a [[DeadpanSnarker snide]] {{Jerkass}} who whines at times and thinks his sarcastic behavior is actually funny. While he did become a bit nicer after [[spoiler:Tariq's death]], his snarky attitude still remained.
59	* SeasonalRot: Very evident by series nine as the show drifted away from its commitment to grounding the episodes in reality (one episode featured a woman with ''explosive blood'', natch) and to plausibly tying the characters' personal lives into the plots. Several replacements for dead LongRunners in the cast were felt to be [[FlatCharacter sorely underdeveloped compared to their predecessors]] because of this shift in focus. Series ten -- the final one -- attempted to course-correct for the prior series' overblown melodrama by crafting a small-scale, intimate, grounded story focusing on Harry Pierce and the collision of his personal and professional life, much closer to the spirit of the first half of the show.
60	* SoOkayItsAverage: The 2015 film, ''The Greater Good'', is little more than an overlong episode of the television series, without the scope or grandeur of a feature film. In fact, several of the show's two-parters -- such as the series four premiere -- are ''more'' cinematic than its actual cinematic outing. Also, its subject matter about a Muslim terrorist cell operating in London has already been explored numerous times in the series itself, so the story isn't particularly compelling either.
61	* SpecialEffectsFailure: The rushing water depicted in the Series 5 finale when the Thames Barrier floods is obviously CGI and not real water.
62	* TakeThatScrappy: In ''The Greater Good'', Calum is not only DemotedToExtra and given little screentime, but [[spoiler:he's also shot in the head without warning towards the end of the film. It's almost as if they deliberately brought him back ''just'' to kill him]].
63	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
64	** Ben Kaplan was introduced as nothing more than a self-serving journalist who cared more about his news stories and less about serving his country. After being recruited by MI-5, Ben became more heroic and selfless, but at the same time, got pushed off to the side in favor of the other major characters (with the sole exception being his role as an undercover agent in [[ADayInTheLimelight "The Tip-Off"]]), and it got to a point where Ben felt like the TokenMinority and not much else. In the penultimate episode of Series 7, [[spoiler:Ben has his throat slashed by Connie very abruptly and ignominiously. This is even lampshaded in-universe with Malcolm, Ros, and Jo all shocked at how senseless his death was, and Jo telling Connie that Ben was "worth more than that."]]
65	** Beth Bailey. Similar to Ben, Beth went through loads of character development very early on after she was introduced. Many also saw Beth as being a suitable replacement for Ros (both were [[LadyOfWar Ladies of War]] and had shady, arguably villainous pasts they redeemed themselves from) without being a direct ''copy'' of Ros (unlike Ros, Beth was more emotional and caring). However, halfway in Series 9, the writers pushed Beth to the side in favor of developing Lucas North and the new subplot focusing on him. Just when it seemed like they were going to do more with Beth, we find out in Series 10 that [[PutOnABus she got decommissioned]].
66	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Lucas North was introduced in the first episode of series 7 pretending to be a double agent for the Russian Federation with his Russian ex-wife Elizaveta as his handler. All in all, an interesting and shady change of pace from relative boy scout Adam Carter. An early episode even revolved around Lucas and Elizaveta being murdered as traitors by Russia if MI-5 acted on intel he got from the Federation. His precarious life as a triple agent seemed like it would be a recurring plotline for him. It lasted five episodes, not even to the end of series 7, before it was dropped for good and he became basically the new Adam Carter.
67	* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler:Riff]], a knighted rock star played by ''Creator/AndySerkis'' who ends up committing murder-suicide after finding out [[spoiler:his wife inadvertently got their infant son killed]].

Context YMMV / Spooks