2.2: "Nest of angels"
New character!
Ruth Evershed, who will go on to be one of Harry's most trusted operatives and allies ––– and friends ––– is introduced here for the first time, being seconded from GCHQ. She is recruited as the new intelligence analyst.
Danny waits outside a Birmingham mosque for his contact to join him, however the young man man's treachery has been discovered by the mullah of the mosque, who is even now interviewing (interrogating) him. Danny eventually is reunited with him after all, as the young boy is thrown out of a top floor window, smashing down onto the roof of the van in which Danny is sitting. Their operation, quite obviously, has been blown ––– and the young man has almost paid for it with his life. Harry observes that the mosque in Birmingham is believed to have been infiltrated by Islamic extremists, chief among them the Mullah, Mohammed Rashid. Now that the mole has been discovered and exposed ––– to say nothing of the fact that he is in hospital, barely alive! ––– Harry directs the team to find another agent. They can't close down the mosque ––– not in this racially sensitive environment ––– without proper, concrete proof of extremism being conducted there. Meanwhile a man arrives on the Channel Tunnel train, claiming to be an agent from North Africa.
Tom visits Johnny, his erstwhile mole, and is told that the mosque is training youths to be suicide bombers. They call the operation "the nest of angels" ––– a name Tom has heard before: it's what Hamas call their school for suicide bombers. Unfortunately, before he can give any specific details, the boy suffers a brain haemorrhage. Tom is forced to go directly to the source. He is allowed into the mosque, but only after he's been checked to make sure he is not wired up, or carrying any weapon. He doesn't of course go as an MI5 agent: he presents himself as a Home Office immigration service official, with the necessary paperwork to back up his identity. A simple thing for any spook.It quickly becomes apparent however who he really is: Rashid is no fool, and probably can smell a government agent or a policeman from a long way off. No doubt he's had plenty of experience of them. He smiles when Tom says they're going to throw him out of the country: he knows there is nothing they can do without proper evidence, and the one who had been gathering them their evidence has been dealt with, the method of his punishment making it unlikely that anyone else will offer their services to MI5.
Making no headway recruiting a new agent ––– not surprisingly: what happened to Johnny must have gone around the mosque, and other mosques, and the whole Muslim community by now ––– Tom is forced to seek the help of the disgraced Tessa. Harry doesn't like it, but they've been backed into a corner, and although most of her agents didn't even exist, the ones that did were very good indeed. If anyone can suggest a decent agent that they can use for this operation it will be her. The problem is, Tessa, not surprisingly, is less than happy to help. Although she was hardly treated unfairly by the services ––– she should really be in jail, Harry opines, rather than running her own private security business ––– she believed she was railroaded. Strange really, considering that nobody forced her to pocket all that money. Nevertheless, she is unwilling to help, and when Tom tells her that it's a matter of national security and that they are trying to foil a terrorist plot, her reply is a cold "I hope you all get your heads blown off!"
Their salvation however comes from an unlikely quarter. Remember that train passenger from France? Ruth figures out that he is in fact an Algerian agent ––– and a very good one ––– called Muhammed Ibhn Khaldun and he has been betrayed by the French secret services, so is ready to work for the British. Tom meets him, and he advises he will help them, if they can provide him with a British passport. As a token of good faith, he tells Tom what he, Harry and the rest of them have been waiting to learn, but been unable to prove: that Rashid is part of an Algerian jihadists extremist group. As Khaldun's debriefing progresses, Tom worries that they may in fact be dealing with a double agent, who is trying to infiltrate their organisation. It's always a worry. Spy and counterspy, agent, double agent, triple agent, friend and betrayer, ally and enemy ––– this is part and parcel of the intelligence service. Unless you really know somebody ––– and sometimes, even then ––– you can never be entirely sure who to trust, who is working with you, and who is working against you. In a world of half-truths and cover stories and daily smokescreens, it's often very hard to work out who is friend, and who is foe. But MI5 have little option: it's this man or nothing. So they decide to take the chance, and bring him into the fold.
They ask him to infiltrate the Birmingham mosque. Coming as he does from Algeria, he will not be suspected. However, it was the Algerian secret services who killed his family, in a car bomb meant for him, so this will not be easy. Tom, meanwhile, goes undercover himself, but at the University of West Midlands, the better to keep an eye on potential recruits for Rashid's terror cell. He meets the CIA liaison to the UK, Christine Dale, who is not happy that MI5 have a supposedly trustworthy Islamic agent that they are using, and won't, in her words, share. Tom pretends he doesn't know what she's talking about
: the last thing he needs is the Americans taking away ––– or taking over ––– his one viable asset, MI5's one chance to expose the Birmingham mosque and Rashid.
Khaldun makes the breakthrough: he is invited to meet with Rashid, and MI5 tool him up with listening devices, secret cameras etc. However we now must doubt his loyalty, as we see him walk by a canal and dump all the equipment into the water. Has he another plan in mind? Or has he just betrayed MI5? Indeed, we see this may very well be the case. As soon as he meets Rashid, he immediately blows his cover, telling the mullah that he is working for the British Secret Service, but then affirming that he is in fact a messenger from the Algerian jihadist group, confirming this by giving Rashid a secret password, and telling him that, as both he and Rashid know, the leader of the group, believed dead, is in fact alive and well. He then hands over the money that MI5 gave him, but now we are not sure; wasn't this part of the plan anyway? Perhaps he's just playing it safe: if he pretended not to be working for MI5 Rashid might suspect –––
would suspect ––– and would investigate him, certainly would not trust him. If he pretends to be betraying them, he is more likely to earn that trust. Whatever, it works: Rashid welcomes him into the group.
But Khaldun has missed the last three meetings he was supposed to have with Tom, and although the MI5 man accepts that his mole might be just trying to protect his cover, it is worrying. It's always been a gamble: could they trust this man, who they have never met before? And if they can't trust him, has the entire operation been blown apart? And if that happens, will they be able to stop this terrorist plot before it claims innocent lives? As his suspicion grows ––– and that of his comrades ––– he wonders if he should just send in Special Forces into the mosque now? But if he does that, then he, not Khaldun will have blown their chance to shut this whole thing down. Torn by indecision, he decides to wait another twenty-four hours. He is not disappointed: Khaldun appears in his bedroom to report that the cell is about to carry out its plan: a suicide attack in the centre of Birmingham. He tells Tom they are more than prepared, and more than capable. They have chosen a sixteen-year-old boy –-– after first offering the suicide vest to Khaldun, who accepted it, but was told he was too valuable ––– and the attack is tomorrow, with Khaldun chaperoning the boy and taking him to his target. When Tom asks what that target is, Khaldun tells him he does not know: he will not be told until the very last moment, tomorrow. Tom wants to pull him out, but Khaldun says he must remain: he must try to save the boy.
Rashid is arrested but by now the boy is on his way to carry out his mission, with Khaldun. Shooting the other cell members as the kid prepares for martyrdom, Khaldun tries to explain to him that he is being used, but the boy, his mind poisoned by the words of Rashid and his twisting of the Koran, fights him off and runs away. As he enters a children's playground, he considers activating the vest, but something stops him and he runs off, Khaldun in pursuit. The police are now also on the scene, as well as of course MI5. Khaldun talks to the boy, tries to show him how wrong this is, and tells MI5 to stand back while he tries to empathise with the young suicide bomber. But in the end it is for nothing: confused, angry, possibly embarrassed, the boy pulls the pin as Khaldun hugs him, shielding the others from the blast, and the two of them are blown to kingdom come. There are no other casualties, though the CIA are angry: they have just lost what could have been a very valuable asset.
Harry's world
Harry comments "We let a Wolf into the fold", observing that the British government, in allowing Rashid to stay in the UK, has in effect, to a degree, created a rod for its own back, as Rashid is now gathering supporters and extremist followers to carry out his plans for martyrdom.
The mind of a terrorist
Rashid jeers the impotence of MI5, smiling that they are powerless, compared to the secret police of "other countries". He lists the many ways those organisations can put pressure on people ––– arresting them, interrogating them, torturing them, even if necessary killing them ––– but MI5 he says can do nothing, except make empty threats. To a degree, he's right: when you live in a democracy can't just walk in and arrest somebody because their beliefs don't coincide with yours. And even if they are involved in criminal enterprises, you can't arrest them on suspicion of this without evidence. This is what separates democracies and dictatorships, although you would have to think that at times the odds favour the latter.
It's also quite interesting that Rashid is quite prepared to send young men to their deaths ––– martyrs for Islam, suicide bombers in Mohammed's name ––– but he doesn't contemplate doing so himself. This man who will do anything for his cause is not prepared to die for it himself. He probably sees himself as more a facilitator; without him around to recruit more martyrs where would that cause be? Like the generals in the tents high above the battle, he believes his cause is better served through his own survival. The ultimate hypocrisy.
And yet, the dichotomy between the beliefs of a terrorist and their religion shows when Rashid upbraids one of the young men for "swearing in the house of God", and also tells him it is not for him to judge his father. We know (or at least we are told) that loyalty to the family ––– especially the father ––– is one of the principal tenets of the Muslim religion. Although Rashid is likely grooming this young man for martyrdom, paradoxically he does not want to drive a wedge between him and his father, as that would be wrong. It's okay to blow yourself up and take many people with you ––– most, if not all, totally innocent ––– but it's not okay to defy your father! Rashid tells the young would-be martyr that one day, all of England will be the house of Islam. When the boy asks how this can be, his reply is chilling, the more so because it is delivered with a smile which is both gentle and completely lacking in doubt: "By the blood of martyrs", he says.
The Shock Factor
As I mentioned before, one of the things which made “Spooks” such a groundbreaking series was the fact that there was not always a happy ending. In fact, there very often is a tragic conclusion, as here, where we see Khaldun talk to the young suicide bomber, share some common ground with him, and we assume everything is going to be okay. But it isn't. At the last moment, Tom realises the boy is going to go through it, and while he moves away (as you would expect anyone to), Khaldun hugs the boy to him, having made a promise that he will not leave his side until the end. In the final analysis, he keeps his word even though it means losing his life. You could argue of course that Khaldun has lost his family, and has very little left to live for, but that makes his sacrifice no less heroic. Nevertheless, it is a shock to see everything fall apart right at the end, almost before the credits are due to roll.
The reverse shock factor
Well, not really: it's like back in the first episode, when we were led to believe that it was Tom's house that had exploded, when in fact it was another one. We were given the facts, shown a scene, and left to draw our own conclusions, which ended up being incorrect. It's the same here. We see a news report about a suicide bombing outside a nightclub, and we assume that the worst has happened. But Harry turns away from the TV and says "If we don't do something this will be happening in our country too." It's a clever little bit of misdirection, something Spooks excels at.
Rivalries
Although the competition will always exist between MI5 and MI6, they will often band together against what would be seen as the common enemy ––– or if not enemy, at least the outsider ––– the Americans. Unwilling to share their information about Khaldun with the CIA, MI5 pretend they don't even know who he is, and when he is killed in the course of the operation, the Americans are furious. This will have far-reaching consequences for the relationship between the two agencies. The CIA can't believe that the British have let slip through their fingers one of the most valuable assets they could ever have hoped to have found: a trusted Islamic agent. There will surely be repercussions from this, and the level of trust between the two agencies, never very high, will plunge to new lows. It's even possible that this will reach to the very top, the Prime Minister being berated by the US president, or possibly a somewhat lower but still important official, like the Home Secretary or the British ambassador in the US. One thing of which you can be certain: heads will roll. And the next time MI5 want any help from the Americans ––– particularly the CIA ––– they may whistle for it.
Laughing in the face of death
This is something I touched on in my review of the movie "The Seventh Seal": just about every series has some sort of lighter side to it, moments of comic relief, or at least times where the drama is less serious. I can really only think of one series that had no humour in it whatsoever (although of course there could be plenty more) and that was "Millennium", which to my mind suffered from the lack of humour ––– the total lack of humour ––– and came across as a very dark, drab, bleak show. There was very little to enjoy it, at least for me. Spooks is not a funny show ––– there are rarely elements of humour in it ––– which is not really surprising, when you consider that the guys are constantly battling terrorists, foiling plots and basically ensuring the defence of the realm. Not too much time for laughs there. But occasionally there will be lighter moments, and when that happens I will be detailing them here.
It's left to Alexander Siddig to provide humour for this episode, and he really steals the show. He asks Tom "Is this how you see my country: dusky maidens in tents, tempting you with dates?" When asked how he escaped from Algeria, he grins and says "I escaped disguised as a camel". And when he's talking to the young suicide bomber at the very end, even though he knows his life is very much on the line ––– which turns out to be the case ––– he uses humour to try to defuse the situation, commenting on the young boy's Aston Villa shirt. "Suicide is a little extreme", he tells him, "even for a Villa fan." (The way they've been playing this season, I wouldn't be so sure about that mate!) :-)
There's also a moment of comedy with the new girl. Ruth is struggling with trying to assemble a desk lamp, which is resisting all her attempts. She finally loses her temper and throws it on the floor. It's perhaps telling here that nobody goes over to try to help. She is, after all, the new girl, and you would think somebody would want to lend a hand, make her feel welcome. The thing can't be that hard to assemble, and even if it is, surely she would welcome somebody just at least trying, but nobody does.
Hard to believe?
Although it's not a major part of the plotline, there seems to be no explanation for why, when Tom goes to the Imam's house, although he himself does not share Rashid's views, his daughter apparently does. It is she who passes on his message to Rashid at the start, and she who, with some "persuasion" from her father, reveals the location where the suicide bomber is being prepared for his mission. But she is an educated woman: she is at university, studying to be a doctor, and does not seem to believe the traditional Sharia law tenet that holds that women should be uneducated, stay at home and make babies. So why is she helping the cell? Why is she helping people who, were there aims actually achieved, would ensure that she could never go to school, or hold a job? Why is she helping people who, generally, look down on women and see them as second-class citizens? Is she having a relationship with Rashid, one of the other members of the cell? That's never made clear, or even referred to. Is she afraid of them? Again, we're not told. Perhaps if it had been established that Rashid (or any of the other cell members) have fathered a child with her, such dishonour might mean that she would have to join the cell, but even at that it's a stretch. This is a very open part of the plot, and it's never resolved. There seems to be no reason why this woman ––– who has no affiliation to or relationship with the mosque, other than being a Muslim and going there to pray ––– would be in any way involved with the terror cell and its plots. It just doesn't make sense. And that annoys me.
And isn't that…?
Mohammed Khaldun, the Algerian agent who successfully infiltrates the mosque on behalf of MI5, is none other than Alexander Siddig, Dr Bashir from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.