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I am watching this because I like Hugh Laurie. Hopefully Forman and Cuddy will make appearances. The depiction of Laurie as a high profile philanthropist super villain seems cartoonish, but I will give it some time.
List of things I am confused about:
1. Why spend so much of the first episode on his working as the night manager in Eygyt, and why name the show the night manager, when it has little to do with the Roper plot? Perhaps the arms guy will make a reappearance.
2. Did the plan to catch Roper begin before or after Pine met Roper in the Alps?
3. Why did Pine/Jack London need to bully that guy in the machine shop in Ireland?
4. What exactly did he do in Ireland to become an international fugitive? Or is the international fugitive story something the Spys constructed? If it is something the spys made up, then why live in Ireland?
5.
1. I guess just setting up the story.
2. After he saw Roper in Zermatt.
3. The handler lady told him to stir up trouble and create a criminal record for himself. He needs to appear to be a criminal so Roper will trust him
4. I think they embedded this part into his backstory, but not 100% sure.
I'm a bit confused as well, but MI6 had to create a backstory for Tom HIddleston so that when Roper's people ran a background check, he'd come up as a shady person running from the law who'd be an awesome member of the crew because of his lack of ethics. Something like that. Roper already likes Pine, so he needs proof that he's not a goody-two shoes.
This helps clarify. I was wondering why Pine had turned into such an a**, such a thug.
List of things I am confused about:
1. Why spend so much of the first episode on his working as the night manager in Eygyt, and why name the show the night manager, when it has little to do with the Roper plot? Perhaps the arms guy will make a reappearance.
Because the character needed motivation to go under cover and collect evidence on Roper. It had everything to do with the Roper plot - Sophie was informing on Roper and Freddie in Egypt and that was the reason she was brutally murdered. Her murder was what gave Pine the motivation to go after Roper and avenge her.
It's called the Night Manager because the main character, Johnathan Pine, is a night manager. True, he is only a night manager in the first episode, but it was being a night manager which landed him in the situation he was. Also, the series was based on the book, also called The Night Manager, so they simply kept the name.
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2. Did the plan to catch Roper begin before or after Pine met Roper in the Alps?
My impression was that after Egypt, Pine was working on his own to hopefully come across Roper's path and hopefully collect some evidence against him if he did. He found out Roper used to visit the hotel in the Alps regularly so he got a job there, leaving out any mention of Egypt on his resume, because he didn't want any connection between him and the incident with Sophie. After the Alps, MI6 realized Pine was in an ideal position to infiltrate Roper's operation (because he'd erased his background in Egypt, he was just some night manager Roper met in the Alps, nothing more - and more importantly, Roper seemed to like him) and provided the resources to do so.
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3. Why did Pine/Jack London need to bully that guy in the machine shop in Ireland?
I don't recall him being in Ireland.... do you mean in Devon, England when Pine was creating his back story and aliases? He was pretending to be a drug dealer, so yeah, he kind of needed to be a bully.
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4. What exactly did he do in Ireland to become an international fugitive? Or is the international fugitive story something the Spys constructed? If it is something the spys made up, then why live in Ireland?
They created the story that Pine had stolen money from his job in the Alps and since then has been on the run, using aliases and making money however he can, even criminally, and this is how he wound up as a chef in a Mallorca restaurant instead of his usual night manager job. A criminal background helped establish him as someone who would fit nicely into Roper's organization.
Because the character needed motivation to go under cover and collect evidence on Roper. It had everything to do with the Roper plot - Sophie was informing on Roper and Freddie in Egypt and that was the reason she was brutally murdered. Her murder was what gave Pine the motivation to go after Roper and avenge her.
Thanks. I missed that part about Roper being on the other end of the arms sale. That is the kind of thing that probably is easier to follow in the book. But Roper had nothing to do with killing Sophie so the motivation to "catch" Roper seems weak to me, and Pine's behavior in the Alps was not at all indicative that he was seeking revenge against Roper.
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Originally Posted by PA2UK
They created the story that Pine had stolen money from his job in the Alps and since then has been on the run, using aliases and making money however he can, even criminally, and this is how he wound up as a chef in a Mallorca restaurant instead of his usual night manager job. A criminal background helped establish him as someone who would fit nicely into Roper's organization.
I remember a scene where he took money out of a safe, and concluded that they had him really rob the hotel in the Alps, but that was far from clear, and it is really not important.
The point I was trying to make was that the spys are powerful/resourceful enough to create fake identities for Pine and tap phone lines, so they should also be powerful/resourceful enough to create a fake criminal history for him, thus the entire drama in England renting that shack and acting the thug seemed needlessly complicated.
Thanks. I missed that part about Roper being on the other end of the arms sale. That is the kind of thing that probably is easier to follow in the book. But Roper had nothing to do with killing Sophie so the motivation to "catch" Roper seems weak to me, and Pine's behavior in the Alps was not at all indicative that he was seeking revenge against Roper.
I didn't read the book, I got all this from watching the show.
Roper was the man in charge of the arms dealing that Sophie was informing on, so the implication was that Roper may have ordered Sophie's murder. At the very least, Pine probably wanted to finish what Sophie started - ie, providing enough evidence on Roper to stop him and bring him to justice. It really wasn't about Freddie, it was all about Roper. Also, Pine was ex-military and therefore for moral reasons too, he also wanted to see Roper stopped. So the beginning in Egypt had everything to do with Roper, even if he wasn't there. It was setting the entire premise for the plot.
Pine couldn't exactly go into Roper's room in the Alps and start shooting - he wanted evidence. And he couldn't exactly be rude to or angry with Roper either, that would give him away and get him fired. He was playing a part so of course he didn't seem to want revenge. I think his own goal was to potentially gather evidence whenever Roper was in the Alps - not necessarily on that visit but in the future. It looked to me like Pine was scoping out the situation while Roper was there, and establishing a relationship with Roper so he might trust him, and then trying to collect the evidence on future visits, since he knew Roper used to go there regularly. If I recall correctly, I even remember Roper saying something like "I used to come here every year but haven't been here in a while, maybe we need to start coming again." The implication was that this is exactly what Pine was hoping for. But then, after Roper left, MI6 stepped in and said "we actually want to send you in deeper than that, here's what we're going to do".
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I remember a scene where he took money out of a safe, and concluded that they had him really rob the hotel in the Alps, but that was far from clear, and it is really not important.
Yes, he did actually take the money, it was all a part of building his cover story and making it as real as possible.
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The point I was trying to make was that the spys are powerful/resourceful enough to create fake identities for Pine and tap phone lines, so they should also be powerful/resourceful enough to create a fake criminal history for him, thus the entire drama in England renting that shack and acting the thug seemed needlessly complicated.
But Roper's vetting was thorough - did you not notice how they tracked down where he had been (in Devon) and asked around about him? If I recall correctly, they even sought out the person who created his fake IDs to confirm his story. Without this supporting evidence of his backstory, they would have been even more suspicious of where he got the fake IDs and where he'd been between the Alps and then. He needed real people who would tell his cover story for him because they needed his cover story to be as real as possible, to pass Roper's vetting. MI6 needed to be as little involved as possible or it would risk it being obvious they were helping him.
I'm finely getting into this series , last one was good , I like Tom Hiddllston too, apparently he's quite a good singer , he sings county western , also he might be up for the next James Bond
So far, I really like this series. The one thing that does bug me is how Pine (or whomever) doesn't think he is being watched at all times around Roper's house. My first thought when hearing about Roper's secret office would be that there are going to be camera's everywhere. Heck, knowing the house has armed guards, I would expect there to be cameras throughout the house.
So far, I really like this series. The one thing that does bug me is how Pine (or whomever) doesn't think he is being watched at all times around Roper's house. My first thought when hearing about Roper's secret office would be that there are going to be camera's everywhere. Heck, knowing the house has armed guards, I would expect there to be cameras throughout the house.
Did Pine rat on the couple that was sent to bring him back and they were both killed ...guessing he didn't know it
Did Pine rat on the couple that was sent to bring him back and they were both killed ...guessing he didn't know it
Do you mean that bloody bedroom scene? Bearded guy signed his own death warrant when he showed the docs to Pamela that Burr told him to not show to anyone.
Do you mean that bloody bedroom scene? Bearded guy signed his own death warrant when he showed the docs to Pamela that Burr told him to not show to anyone.
Yes weren't they sent to bring him back ...I'm not sure. Oh! Now I see who you mean , is Pamela a spy for the Ropers team. I'll have to watch it again
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