llywela: (Judge)
[personal profile] llywela
Hey, the Judge has got a new office. It's very spiffy, with the punching bag and all – how many of his fellows has he imagined it into, I wonder – but it feels really weird having his desk on the opposite side of the room!

Well, so this is the final episode, then. The last ever, I think – I'm sure someone who knows more will confirm or deny that – and I'll admit I'm surprised John's relationship with Jo doesn't seem closer to some kind of resolution. If they are to have a truly happy ending, I might have expected to see them actually trying to make a go of a relationship in this season, finding out once and for all if they can make it work. Instead, they seem further apart than ever – despite falling back into one another's beds on a regular basis. It's just sex; they aren't a couple in any way, and on current evidence are unlikely to ever be so again. If the resolution of this story also brings about reconciliation between John and Jo, on the one hand it will be a very fitting way to end the series – leaving them to carry on exactly as they have from the start, unable to live together, unable to exist apart – but on the other hand it will also feel unsatisfying. We've seen that kind of thing before, so many times. Leaving them in more or less the exact situation they've ended almost every season up till now would be re-hashing old territory. I'd prefer to see something new: either a final dissolution, leaving them both free to go their separate ways at last, or some kind of radical change in both their lives allowing the possibility, at least, that a relationship might work at last. I can't see that happening without one or both of them actually giving up their career and retiring to some kind of countryside seclusion!

At the moment, John and Jo are looking about as far from reconciliation as they've ever been, despite the fact that John is trying to take on this current case for Jo's sake. How much of it is about trying to please Jo, how much about her having struck a nerve when she accused him (more or less) of selling out and not caring about injustice any more, and how much about his concern for the individuals involved? It's hard to say – probably a mixture of all three.

The case itself is as complex as they always are, revolving around the withdrawal of legal aid from soldiers claiming compensation for neurological damage they believe was caused by drugs they were given before going to war. Again, it's topical stuff, and the individuals involved are engaging enough to draw sympathy from the viewers. More importantly, George and Charlie are back. Yay!

Jo's new offices really are downmarket from what she's previously been accustomed to. Is she genuinely happier with her new associates, Radical Lawyers for Justice? Or has she made this change in her life out of desperation and frustration with John?

And how many times now has John involved Charlie in one of his cases, only for her to be endangered by that involvement? The scale of the surveillance John and those around him are under is pretty awesome. Everywhere seems to be bugged, from Jo's home and office to Charlie's place, John's car – everywhere. Possibly even little Mimi, who I wasn't best pleased to see John leaving locked in his car. With his night with Jo shortly prior to agreeing to take the case on having been documented, John seems to be in trouble – even if he gets his way, which at present seems unlikely, it could spell his ruin.

How everything will ultimately shake down, we will find out soon in part two!

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