The series may have been disappointing in terms of its female characters, but it capably - if predictably - wraps up its storylines
Spoiler alert: Do not read any further if you haven't watched the fifth episode of The Hour. For a review of episode five, click here.
Cometh The Hour
There is a moment at the very beginning of this final episode that succinctly sums up the main problem with The Hour. While Lix (Anna Chancellor) and Freddie (Ben Wishaw) are busy preparing for the biggest moment of their professional lives, producer Bel (Romola Garai), who is supposed to be in charge, is putting on her lipstick. It's incidental, clearly, but it's a sign of how disappointing this has been in terms of its female characters, other than Lix. Its attempts at addressing how men and women behaved and were treated in 1956 have been clumsy at best, and Bel, who really should have been the heroine of this piece, and who gets the applause at the end, simply doesn't deserve it.
That said, The Hour capably, if a little predictably, wrapped up its storylines. Hector, who is not a spy as I had suspected, decides he is in love with Bel after all, but she doesn't want to be his wife because she's got a career. Eventually, he bottles the big interview with Lord Elms and goes back to his wife, to his father-in-law, and to his own career. "Ambition over integrity," sneers Bel in a moment of clarity, before considering her options with Freddie once again. I still don't believe in the romance between those two, so I was glad they ended it on love pretending to be hate, rather than anything like a kiss.
Freddie finally got his answers regarding Ruth Elms, though again I thought it was a shame that Ruth had turned against her country for the love of a man ? a point which was made again and again ? rather than for any sort of political cause or belief. Lix discovers that Peter Darrell and Thomas Kish had planned to assassinate Nasser, attempting to bribe his dentist into poisoning him. And Ruth was the willing bait. Freddie uses this information to push Lord Elms into a more personal interview on the show, ultimately condemning the government for their actions in Egypt: "Liars and murderers that they are." Of course, the lurking McCain is furious at this betrayal of the government, despite his threats and warnings, and insists the show is shut down. Clarence makes a half-hearted attempt to do it. He heads over to the studio, but delays bringing down the lights for reasons that soon become clear.
Because Clarence is, of course, the Soviet agent. I had dismissed it as being too obvious, but as a double-bluff, it sort of worked. He was feeding Freddie information to attempt to get him to accuse the government of trying to kill Nasser ? "the bigger story". But Freddie finally joins the dots. Clarence says he did it because he wanted to act upon what he believed in, and he did not, until now, believe there was another way. But had The Hour been around for him then, he could have avoided treason completely by way of television news! "Hope at the last hour," he says, then tells Freddie to expose him. Freddie and Bel go off to write the story, and that's that.
Notes and observations
? Hector and Freddie's bromance, full of bickering rivalry and mutual respect, has been very touching. If there is a second series, I'd like to see them re-enact the episode of The Sopranos in which Christopher and Paulie get lost in the woods.
? "Don't be wet." It's the second time Lix has said something like that to Bel, and it was as welcome as the first time.
? Trouble in the Middle East, a BBC/government face-off, fighting in the streets and journalists bribing policemen? How do they come up with this stuff?
? Here's a letter from writer Abi Morgan holding her hands up regarding the linguistic anachronisms.
? And for those wondering if this has been picked up for a second series, the BBC say nothing is in place at the moment, though Morgan has mentioned her ideas for a second series, so read into that what you will.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/aug/23/the-hour-season-one-episode-six
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