RA FRIDAY - HAVE YOU CLOSED YOUR EYES ?

ALERT SPOILERS - IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE EPISODE , MAYBE , IT IS BETTER FOR YOU NOT TO READ!!! 

Have you closed your eyes? Have you closed your eyes and dreamt to be Maya? Don't lie ! Don't cheat! I know what it was like... It happened to me, too!  I was there shivering in the darkness of my bedroom at 1.25 a.m. , staring at any little crinkle, look or smile coming from that blue-eyed , velvety-voiced  charmer. But who can blame any of us ? He really seems to charm her, sort of hypnotize her, and with Maya all of us  who were watching those incandescent 3 final minutes of Spooks 9 ep. 3.

Who could blame a poor helpless woman ? Ehm...our darling husbands maybe , but ... wouldn't they dream of being Lucas/John in order to snog - and not only - dr.  Maya Lahan? So... DRAW! 1-1

Episode 3 of Spooks was another brilliant piece of series 9 jigsaw: lots of action and dramatic moments, twists and surprises, suspence and bitter violence but  we  RA girls (ehm ... girls of any age)  will remember this s09 e03 as  the  "Close your eyes" episode.   That ending was a   rush of adrenalin , a deeply ,  involving sensation of surrender, a terrible  risk for our poor hearts!

We've seen North & South train station kissing scene tens of times  and have dreamt about that  John, Mr Thornton, as our favourite romantic hero. What now? What about this kissing scene with this charming mysterious John ? Is it second to N&S finale? Has it instead  surpassed those moments in your heart?
I'm sure that to me they will be on the same level with the passing of time. But, for now, this tense scene at n.42 of an anonymous modern  London house, is sort of haunting me with its unforgettable refrain: "close your eyes".
 I liked so many things in those 3 minutes !

1. He opens the door in a light blue shirt ( a different colour for once) and welcomes her with a fixed stare, few decisive words ("Ok, come in") underlined by an imperceptible nod of the head which reminded Guy of Gisborne's brusque manners. From his unbuttoned shirt  the notorious Blake tattoo peeps.

2. Once inside, he seems to lose his previous apparent self - confidence. Poor John! He doesn't know where to put his hands. First in his jeans pockets, then he tortures them a bit, then again in his pockets... First part of his confession: "OK. I went to  prison for a year. Is that good enough?"  The camera moves closer, close -up on his sad serious face. Why ? Did you kill someone? she asks. "No",  he says with an impassible look and slighlty shaking his head to deny . "Did you hurt someone, then?" she goes on.

His second "No" is different, ascendent tone + crinkles+ look down to the floor for a while. "So.. were you innocent", she seems almost to state. But his third "No",  lower , deeper and sad confirms her suspects. However, she seems relieved. Now she can be sure he wants to tell the truth, he is trying to be honest. "Why did you decide to turn up now"?

I especially love his reaction here. He has to search inside himself to find the words . A nervous hand on his mouth, then a little tender smile...it is time to confess his feelings: A photo ... of you... all those years I spent trying to forget just fade away... (shakes his head a bit, almost unbelievable to himself?) I had to see you.

When she asks if that is the truth he has got such a raptured expression and his answer ," Every word" cannot be equivocated. He is telling her the truth !
She comes nearer, she knows that can be dangerous but she approaches. Her defying attitude is fading away little by little: "I don't even know you anymore"
And now , my friends, once they are  facing each other and she still tries to resist,  his  masterpiece: he wins her  resistance with very few whispered words and small gestures.

1.   Yeah, you do ( meaning you remember everything like me, I can see it, so you know me!)

2.  When she says, "No, I've forgotten", he tries his best trick: sweetness. "Close your eyes, you'll remember"

3.  She has her eyes into his now but ...too dangerous so she moves her look away from him. He insists, bends his head slightly and  searches to get in touch with her, he tries to capture her eyes and ..."Close your eyes" , he repeats in an almost  imperceptible whisper. 

4. She surrenders , she closes her eyes and... he feels she's there for him now. Maybe she is thinking to similar past moments...intimate , sweet moments in their common past. His face approaches, his lips search  for hers and...

I MUST STOP HERE. 

I suddenly feel an urgent, pressing need to watch the scene again and , meanwhile, I'm looking forward ep. 4. we have already heard something, we've heard of a kitchen table,  of the return of Lucas's tattoos. Anyway, I think the best  has past: the tension of this emotional meeting after all those years has been consumed. Time for their appeased but just re-discovered  passion to burst. But that's another story. Full of different emotions. Ready for those too?

I particularly liked  that bit of Laila Rouass's interview on The Mirror online about the scene between Lucas/John and Maya we are going to see next time: "There’s one scene where we get together in the kitchen and the director was like, ‘Come on, let’s be honest, you haven’t seen each other for years, you’re not going to get all romantic, you’re going to shag her on the table,’ and I must have looked a bit nervous because Richard whisperered, ‘Don’t worry, I’m not really going to shag you on the table, you’ll be fine".

Isn't he lovely?

In the latest interview I read  ( look at how lovely Richard is smiling at the reporter ,  drinking  coffee or laughing out loud with Max Brown), Richard states he has a romance with the show and let us understand that it is because he works too much (really!?!). No time for love. But now he's on a break and he hopes something happens in his life. Fingers crossed for you, Richard.You deserve a real romance, a true reward for the many incredible emotions you've given to all of us so far.

Thanks for reading. Till next Friday. Have a great weekend!

P.S. Many thanks, as usual, to Ali at www.richardarmitagenet.com for her precious screencaps.