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Strike - Lethal White - New Series

221 replies

Hels20 · 30/08/2020 04:53

Is anyone else watching tonight? Caught up with series 1 to 3 as part of my Lockdown binge and found it got better as the series progressed. Really like Tom Burke and think he has great chemistry with Holliday Grainger.

Looking forward to this series! And pleased episode 2 is on Monday!

OP posts:
The80sweregreat · 31/08/2020 10:09

Matt is horrible.
I didn't like him from book one. Strike had his number from the get go !

The80sweregreat · 31/08/2020 10:15

The back story with Robin is she dropped out of uni as she was raped. She was studying physiology.
She went back to her mum's and dads place and he taught her how to do her advanced driving course. Matt couldn't handle her being so upset and traumatized and had a fling with Sarah an old school friend who they both know.

She wasn't aware of this happening until much later on in book 3.
They moved down to London with Matt's job and that's when she went to work for Strike. They were engaged but the marriage was put off as Matt's mum died.
She didn't marry him till start of book 4.

The80sweregreat · 31/08/2020 10:17

That's meant to be psychology I think ?
Blooming phone!

sallyshirt · 31/08/2020 10:26

That wedding dress though....she looked amazing!

The80sweregreat · 31/08/2020 10:32

She is gorgeous. That poison green dress strike buys her is stunning and that wedding dress was also beautiful and really suited her !
She looks exactly as I imagined her in the books : him not so much as it's the wrong hair!

tribpot · 31/08/2020 10:33

Glad to see them back and, yes, I could also have done with a recap. I was trying to get all the previous books re-read before the new ones come out but am now working forwards and backwards at the same time - re-reading The Silkworm and re-watching Career of Evil.

The80sweregreat · 31/08/2020 10:42

It's hinted that Matthew was Robin's first love from school and they went out together from about 16 or 17 and she has never slept with anyone else. Maybe if she had dumped him years ago she would have found out she could have done better but being attacked at uni and dropping out stopped her progressing and led to panic attacks and a feeling of not being good enough ( as it would do) so she hung on to him , I think , as he was safe. She was going to dump him on the honey moon but he became really ill so she worked through it. Her family had paid for the wedding so she felt obliged to go through with that too despite finding out that he'd had a fling with the awful Sarah!
So different to how Strike dealt with losing his leg and becoming a reluctant hero of sorts in Iraq , although he has flash backs sometimes. He deals with things better I think. Had a much harder early life too.

colouringindoors · 31/08/2020 11:10

i wonder if JK has drawn on her personal experience of an abusive relationship in some of the interaction between Robin and Matthew. It's totally convincing.

The80sweregreat · 31/08/2020 12:28

It is very convincing that Robin would have stayed with Matthew because he was the safer option and she tends to brush off his behavior towards her and the things he says. She really loves him , but later on pressure from her mum and dad to settle down becomes clear and they are not completely happy with job either ( especially as she is harmed in book 3 which makes her panic attacks worse) so they tend to take his side a bit which is also believable as they have known him a long time. I bet J K R has drawn on her own experiences of a controlling relationship!

Mycatismadeofstringcheese · 31/08/2020 15:38

Just watched it. Spent the hour annoying DH by saying, “That person’s hair is wrong”, “Billy doesn’t carve the white horse in Strike’s office, he carves it somewhere else”, “They don’t find the pink blanket so early on”...
But actually really enjoyed it! Even though they’ve changed a few things around, they’ve captured the feel of it.
I really enjoyed seeing Jimmy Knight’s meeting.

Samcro · 31/08/2020 15:46

i am enjoying it. BUT omg that mans(the politician) hair is awful.

The80sweregreat · 31/08/2020 15:54

The meetings in the pub were in East Ham (in the book ) where dh was brought up.
A few things have been changed and I'm glad the wedding bits were shorter as that goes on for a while in the opening chapter.
Although I don't like Matthew and him deliberately not telling her that Strike wanted her back at work ( after sacking her ) was terrible ( he deleted the texts etc) I can imagine some other guests must have been puzzled how much time she spent running about after Corm and not her new husband!.. 😀
The actor playing Billy was good I thought.

stumbledin · 31/08/2020 16:06

RaggieDolls - thanks! I am so bad at remembering details. I sort of just go with the flow of the plot. Blush And wasn't there also something bad (rape?) happen to her at university, so she left and never finished and that's why she ended up temping.

Evenstar - she always seemed to end up doing what her family expected of her rather than what she felt she wanted. I wonder how many end up getting married for reasons like that.

Any how looking forward to tonight.

And yes a quick recap would be great.

Sometimes when watching a series I want to pause and be able to click on an icon of a character and get a wikki type entry. Smile

The80sweregreat · 31/08/2020 16:11

Watch 'career of evil ' on I player.
It gives a bit more background. I think that this one was meant to follow on straight away on tv last year , but they put it back.
(Maybe because book five is due out soon ?)
Dh was confused a bit too , but as I've read the books I was bit more up to date.

Mycatismadeofstringcheese · 31/08/2020 19:40

Jasper Chiswell (the politician) is described in the book has having dreadful hair that sticks out which is a gift for political cartoonists. So I think they’ve got the hair exactly right.

Or as DH said, “how on Earth is he married to Big Suze?”

PenguindreamsofDraco · 31/08/2020 19:55

@The80sweregreat

Rafe is meant to be so good looking in the book. I bet her new book gets bad reviews because of all the press about J K and her views on trans women. There will be a backlash no doubt. As much as I like the books they do have the same sort of characters : posh and upper class and the very poor feature a lot. It's the dynamic between those two that I love the most which keeps me reading them though.
It's not her views on TW. She barely mentions them (the horror!) and when she does, it's with empathy. It's her views on protection of women and children. Such protections are directly in conflict with the demands made by trans rights activists and that's what attracts ire. If you haven't already, do read what she has been saying, it's well worth it. Last night was good but agree they found the pink blanket way too easily Grin
The80sweregreat · 31/08/2020 20:15

Ive not read what she has written , but I will do. I think she is amazing!

BitOfFun · 31/08/2020 21:45

Holliday Grainger really is Queen Of The Trenchcoat, isn't she?

BitOfFun · 31/08/2020 21:50

I've been on a few of these anti-capitalist protest as a youngster, and there's no way that activists would laugh at a stranger being knocked painfully down some stairs. They are meant to be fighting for a kinder world, after all.

motorcyclenumptiness · 31/08/2020 22:00

that mans(the politician) hair is awful
It's part Michael Heseltine, part Michael Fabricant

cariadlet · 31/08/2020 22:02

Agree with the anticapitalists being total caricatures. But so are the posh ones. Cormorant and Robin seem the only really rounded characters.

Original poster
Hels20 · 31/08/2020 22:05

Much stronger episode tonight I thought. Painful when Lorelei says “I love you” and he can’t say it back.

OP posts:
RaggieDolls · 31/08/2020 22:42

Maybe it's just my interpretation of the books but I feel as though there is a lot more chemistry between Strike and Robin on screen??

CarinaClaws · 31/08/2020 22:57

I thought they had loads of chemistry in the books! She's good at the 'will they won't they' suspense. That said, I thought this episode was an even bigger departure from the original story than last night. I still liked it though! (And I still think Rafe and his side parting unsexy Grin)

stumbledin · 31/08/2020 23:17

Enjoyed tonight's episode. Finding the plotting interesting.

One of the problems in there have been so many tv shows and real life events that it is hard to come up with something new. Plus the facts that people really dont change that much.

I think that on some levels (or at least in this series may not be in the books) JKR comes over as quite conservative. ie armed forces are not just written off as being all violent macho nut jobs. But equally more left politics are usually shown as being supported by those who are extreme in some way. I thought the laughing was more to do with Jimmy being a bit of a leader and Strike had already made himself unpopular with the group. And of course not all activists are good. How many demos with good intention have ended up with small groups of men resorting to violence. Some make it seem they only join a march with the hope of it ending is some sort of brawl.

I think one of the reasons I like it is that even though technically the lead is the male character the women are all well written, even if they are not very nice, and come over as real people.

(Just to add that earlier on I didn't see posts higher up explaining Robin's back story so must have come over as an idea saying I thought I had worked it out!)

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