I liked Meres the moment we met him, but The Worst Soldier I Ever Saw was my DING DING DING Callan/Meres shipping moment. All that teasing, and that little 'darling', cor. Super flirty! Like you say, it's pigtail-pulling.
It's interesting that after Meres was so relentlessly antagonistic towards Callan in the first series and there genuinely seems no love lost between the two, in Series 2 relations thaw considerably. You're right about those episodes, and of course Death of a Hunter is just brilliant. Series 1!Meres would have been more angry than anguished; but by this point Meres' feelings towards Callan have changed, exemplified by that scene in Heir Apparent when he suggests a night on the tiles and seems to be trying to connect with Callan. Not bad when Series 2 began with Meres reaffirming that he detests Callan!
The Contract is so good for married couple bickering. I can't think why they have Meres turn up just in the nick of time except for dramatic effect. I suppose he might reasonably have worried that the house was crawling with opposition? Seems unlikely, though. Still, his delay probably contributes towards the (unusually!) happy conclusion of the episode.
I too interpret that line of Richmond's as referring to sexual sadomasochism! It's one reason I like Death of a Friend so much; everything between Meres and Latour is gold. A pretty boy to menace for work and pleasure, how delightful. I'm sure Meres' Section file has all of this, especially since he'll have had to be evaluated by Snell. I also interpret the 'accidental' death of the guardsman when Meres was an officer in the Coldstream as erotic asphyxiation or other rough play gone wrong; and Hunter knows that, too. 'Meres' must be a pseudonym, like 'Callan', because otherwise he'd be a blackmail risk to his family. Callan and no doubt some of the other agents have deduced Meres' little peccadilloes too; Callan is mildly contemptuous, but appreciates Meres' dedication to extracting information through methods most agents would baulk at.
In my outline thus far, Hunter knows all the details and assigns Meres and Callan to investigate together; he's not bothered about Meres' 'extracurricular' activities (because they're already known, so nobody can try to blackmail him by threatening to expose him to the Section), but he is bothered that somebody's figured out that Meres is in Intelligence and is trying to access secrets of national importance.
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Date: 2019-07-16 04:37 pm (UTC)It's interesting that after Meres was so relentlessly antagonistic towards Callan in the first series and there genuinely seems no love lost between the two, in Series 2 relations thaw considerably. You're right about those episodes, and of course Death of a Hunter is just brilliant. Series 1!Meres would have been more angry than anguished; but by this point Meres' feelings towards Callan have changed, exemplified by that scene in Heir Apparent when he suggests a night on the tiles and seems to be trying to connect with Callan. Not bad when Series 2 began with Meres reaffirming that he detests Callan!
The Contract is so good for married couple bickering. I can't think why they have Meres turn up just in the nick of time except for dramatic effect. I suppose he might reasonably have worried that the house was crawling with opposition? Seems unlikely, though. Still, his delay probably contributes towards the (unusually!) happy conclusion of the episode.
I too interpret that line of Richmond's as referring to sexual sadomasochism! It's one reason I like Death of a Friend so much; everything between Meres and Latour is gold. A pretty boy to menace for work and pleasure, how delightful. I'm sure Meres' Section file has all of this, especially since he'll have had to be evaluated by Snell. I also interpret the 'accidental' death of the guardsman when Meres was an officer in the Coldstream as erotic asphyxiation or other rough play gone wrong; and Hunter knows that, too. 'Meres' must be a pseudonym, like 'Callan', because otherwise he'd be a blackmail risk to his family. Callan and no doubt some of the other agents have deduced Meres' little peccadilloes too; Callan is mildly contemptuous, but appreciates Meres' dedication to extracting information through methods most agents would baulk at.
In my outline thus far, Hunter knows all the details and assigns Meres and Callan to investigate together; he's not bothered about Meres' 'extracurricular' activities (because they're already known, so nobody can try to blackmail him by threatening to expose him to the Section), but he is bothered that somebody's figured out that Meres is in Intelligence and is trying to access secrets of national importance.
I might well take you up on that offer!