Oh my God, YES the Meres/Latour scene is an absolute treasure! The way Meres approaches with a sweet and charming smile, his description of Latour as "very pretty" while Latour crouches and sobs, how he cups Latour's chin and murmurs in that soft, menacing voice, then grins and pats Latour's cheek when Latour calls him evil ... oh, Meres was totally getting a sexual thrill out of it. Probably looking forward to "interrogating" Latour back at HQ using his well-honed skills in sadomasochism.
I'd never thought of erotic asphyxiation as the real cause of the Coldstream scandal. That's brilliant! Even better, what if Meres deliberately murdered someone, then tried to pass it off as rough play gone wrong. Either way, it makes total sense that Meres's father pulled strings to avoid a court martial of his son - the scandal would destroy his blue-blooded family's reputation. I suspect Leslie was involved in the cover-up. He saw potential in Meres and figured he could harness Meres's particular talents for the Section. Turned out to be a good choice.
I would love to know what Snell wrote in Meres's file. I bet it wasn't complimentary. Psychiatry of that era had a poor view of homosexuality and sexual sadomasochism. The former isn't such a big deal so long as Meres keeps his private life private, but the latter could threaten the Section's goals if it got out of hand, and Snell probably warned Leslie that these characteristics are often linked to other character defects. However, Leslie proposed to control Meres by exploiting (what I see as) Meres's submission to authority figures - a consequence of his childhood upbringing? - and I think it was very effective. You'll notice that Meres obeys orders even when it goes against his personal interests.
Anyway, I bet a big part of the reason Meres displays so much animosity tinged with fear of Snell is because he knows Snell sees through him to the real reasons behind his "bizarre" tastes.
I only wonder what Callan will think when he finds out, hehehe...
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I'd never thought of erotic asphyxiation as the real cause of the Coldstream scandal. That's brilliant! Even better, what if Meres deliberately murdered someone, then tried to pass it off as rough play gone wrong. Either way, it makes total sense that Meres's father pulled strings to avoid a court martial of his son - the scandal would destroy his blue-blooded family's reputation. I suspect Leslie was involved in the cover-up. He saw potential in Meres and figured he could harness Meres's particular talents for the Section. Turned out to be a good choice.
I would love to know what Snell wrote in Meres's file. I bet it wasn't complimentary. Psychiatry of that era had a poor view of homosexuality and sexual sadomasochism. The former isn't such a big deal so long as Meres keeps his private life private, but the latter could threaten the Section's goals if it got out of hand, and Snell probably warned Leslie that these characteristics are often linked to other character defects. However, Leslie proposed to control Meres by exploiting (what I see as) Meres's submission to authority figures - a consequence of his childhood upbringing? - and I think it was very effective. You'll notice that Meres obeys orders even when it goes against his personal interests.
Anyway, I bet a big part of the reason Meres displays so much animosity tinged with fear of Snell is because he knows Snell sees through him to the real reasons behind his "bizarre" tastes.
I only wonder what Callan will think when he finds out, hehehe...