Netflix ‘Hostage’

[Nomdemare]

I like Suranne Jones as an actress but I just can’t see past the Bridget Phillippson / Rachel Reeves style pelmet. (Sorry)

I had a few problems with it. One, they kept going rogue: investigating where actually there are services to do that, like MI5. And trusting complete unknowns, like the stepson. How do you know he's trustworthy? You have an intelligence service to suss that out for you! I could go on.

Two, the security around the PM and Downing St was laughable. No spoilers but really?

And three, the script was pretty awful. There was at least one scene where you could see the actors just hating their lives. (The PM and her chief of staff in his garden. "I'll help you." "Thanks." Oh come on! Such low effort from the writers.)

I also had a vague feeling that it was propaganda-lite. There are plenty of people right now who feel that Britons are two steps away from mass public disorder. It certainly seemed to play into that.

On the plus side, I enjoyed seeing a government and staff that wasn't filled to the gunwales with braying white public school twats who wouldn't know a social issue if it slapped them with a breakfast kipper.

I had high hopes and it was utter rubbish. Gave up after the 1st episode.

So many predictable cliches.

It's OK in a mindless way. I've the last episode still to go, so I'm skimming this thread in case there are spoilers.
Suranne Jones is excellent in Gentleman Jack. A tour de force performance and easily her personal best.

I've not seen it, doubt I'll bother now, but BBC is promoting it and Suranne Jones on the lunchtime news. I'm guessing BBC provided full or partial funding, otherwise why give so much air time to a Netflix programme? BBC also partially funded Adolescence.

It’s better filmed than some channel five dramas are. Seems sharper and a bit more real.
I did once read that the bbc give channel 4 money for news and so on ( not sure how much) so I suppose they also fund other shows too.

There have been some brilliant channel 5 dramas, but also some total dross. This definitely had a much better budget!

Got the impression it is meant to be calming the waters here with all the rioting, trying to make people see single issues are rarely single issues and all the workings around fixing them. Nothing black and white, yadda yadda.

I thought the ending was too trite - in the current climate I can imagine someone with the same background planning the same stunts (I mean he's a Farage lapdog if ever you saw one, right?) but the timing is interesting with the Afghanistan leaks. We literally did this and never went back to save them, despite opportunity and a lot of press around it at the time.

Spoilers ;

I admit that when she gave the orders to evacuate I remembered the criticism that Dominic Raab had for being on holiday when the order to evacuate Afghanistan was called in. She was distracted by a family birthday party in this and he happened to be away as it was August time. ( I think I’m correct here )
Now we are aware of the data leaks too.

More spoilers :

Would the man with his laptop as ‘ press ‘ been searched ? What goes on at the big gates of Downing Street if people can get in with a false lanyard.
Plus they seemed too happy to let her husband and daughter go the French man’s house without any kind of security as well. Unless I missed something there ?

No, you didn’t miss anything, they just didn’t write in any sort of security!

Glad that others agree with me about the whiny teenaged daughter. Why, oh why do so many shows lean on that trope? Been there, done that! I can barely stand watching it (2 episodes so far) with all of the glaring anomalies. DH is enjoying it so must endure.

It’s awful isn’t it? They had the same in The Jackal. Unless the drama is actually about said teenager, then it serves no purpose. Maybe they think it makes the characters more ”relatable” or something? But it’s always poorly done and irritates me.

Although weirdly in Happy Valley the side storyline with her grandson did work - but that was a whole other level of brilliance in the writing, acting and directing.

I still laugh at the Netflix one with Rupert Friend and Sienna Miller about the politician accused of rape. In every scene the children were always silent and playing with jigsaws or wholesome wooden toys 😂

Yeah they use a teenager to force action, it moves the plot forward. Except the reality of a sulking teenager is that dealing/coping wastes hours and days and things are usually not different in the end 😂

My teen would have rolled eyes or been asleep for the entire film, probably wouldn't wake up when the alarms all went off and everything, either.
It is always a female character that disrupts in this way though - has an attack of conscience that leads to that delay that causes mayhem. Or just can't decide because we're so naturally fickle. Or maybe chooses her family over the nation, because that's what all "good" women should do.

Other bit I laughed at was the tearing through the house with the phone. I get why but it was a bit, um, you could at least say what you were doing 'weird'.

Spoiler
I couldn’t get over the lack of security at the hospital-he’s the father of the PM and she was able to walk into the ward no questions 🤷🏻‍♀️
Every ward my dad was on we had to be buzzed in at the door (and I’m not PM!)

This series was a terrible advert for any form of security service (spoilers)

husband of pm allowed to go off with no security
her dad left unattended
people wandering round without clearance
phone signal in the operations bunker
tech not checked for traps
cabinet minister easily dragged from car and beaten
guest list for vip event at Downing Street not vetted
and on
and on

The worst thing (ok, not the worst) is how they’ve fucked up London geography. Their CGI Downing Street has odd views of the London Eye, which is actually in an entirely different direction.

Yes! That was one of the good jokes in Paddington!

I’m just not convinced a glamorous French president would ruin her career by it coming out she shagged her equally glam stepson. The French would just shrug their Gallic shrugs and if anything admire her more for it.

I really liked this! And recommended it to others too lol

I thought the House of Commons set/CGI looked odd and wrong.

I felt as if I had watched this scenario before. It was overall quite weak as no real intricate plots. The best bit was looking at the wardrobe of the French President.

I quite enjoyed watching it once I had had a glass of wine or two and could suspend my disbelief at some of the clunkier bits!

Agree with everyone else that the lack of security was ludicrous! As was allowing anyone with a press lanyard in to Downing Street!

The showdown with the mad general was particularly laughable!

As was the way the Catholic priest seemed to have given the French President and her husband communion when there was no mass? Sorry that just would not happen!

It was pleasant pondering the prospect of having two glamorous women in charge for once though!

We turned it off after half an hour. Dismal . And disappointing.

It’s utterly preposterous. I knew I’d hate myself for sticking it out just to see how they’d tie it up with a neat bow. And I do. It gets more and more preposterous as the episodes roll on. It’s the kid of show that the saying “well that X hours of my life I won’t get back” was invented for.