The Revenge Effect

DVD, BUGS S3 (The Revenge Effect)

Part two, then. And I have to say, it didn't seem as much like a second part of a single story as I'd thought. It carries across various plots such as Channing, Jan strong-arming the team into joining her, the new character of Alex (still unnamed, going by either her own monicker of Beckett's personal assistant, or Beckett's putdown: the file clerk), Ed's injury and stint in hospital, and most of all, Kitty McHaig's status as villain-at-large. But gone is the storyline of Andrew McHaig, the bad Father, Beckett's financial problems aren't at the forefront, and Kitty's plan seems to be merely to disappear now, rather than take down her Father's construction empire. I can see why those elements have been moved on from, the main one being that Andrew would surely have become an enemy if he knew our team had murdered his daughter, no matter how estranged she was. He did survive, didn't he? The last I remember of him was being in a hospital bed and Kitty getting his pulse rate up to dangerous levels, but I think he was left alive. Knowing him from that one episode I could just as easily imagine him admitting with heavy regret that Kitty deserved what she brought upon herself, so though he'd no doubt grieve for the lost little girl she'd been, I think his pragmatic business mind would have accepted her explosive fate if he'd been told. It might have been interesting to see his reaction to losing both children in such a short space of time. Or it may have dragged the episode down in morbidity, which wasn't what the series was going for as it's light, throwaway brand of entertainment decreed upbeat optimism.

Regarding Beckett's position, I was under the impression he kept it from Ros for much of the season (along with his secret affection for her), but Jan just blurts it out as another tool to lure Ros in. And she had said she could take care of the problem, so presumably he's solvent now, isn't he? Ed is naturally in a different position from last time in that he can no longer play action man with impunity, though he does his best, limping around the Duchess of Fortezza's country estate mansion while being hunted by the villainous vixen, Kitty McHaig, apparently as much for sport as for the purpose of extracting the passcode to all her riches. The one random element in the mix, which made things a lot more fun than a straight search and capture story, was Zak's turning face and tail, and giving our heroes a lead to be able to stop her (they should have got him to work for the Bureau!). The hints that Zak was more decent than destroyer first came in 'Blaze of Glory' when he shows concern that they're not following safety procedures upon entering the chemical weapons cache, and Kitty shoots his worries down. It's clear he didn't want to be shot down for real next time! He, perhaps naively, thought the plan was to create a disaster for the history books where no one died, and when Kitty kills one of her own allies (a solicitor or some kind of official working for her?), after he's given her the means to escape into hiding under a false name, was the last straw for a man you sensed had one foot out the door already. He's not of such high conscience that he'll give up the secret to the team, fully selling out his ex-boss, but he'll give them enough to keep Kitty busy.

I'm not sure why he didn't want her to simply be caught and locked up forever, other than fearing for his life, but it could also be that he'd be looking at a sentence as an associate and rather than trust to plea-bargaining or whatever, he'd rather take his chances on his own initiative, and assuages any conscience in a quite novel way. He's the sort of character I'd have liked see return, but never did. I don't know whether it's because I've been listening to a podcast reviewing Season 1 of 'BUGS' ('Fusion Patrol'), and one which is very critical and not always fairly, especially considering the aims of the series as a fun romp rather than a sophisticated drama series, but I did find myself questioning things a lot more, almost as if anticipating the issues they were going to have with this episode. I always like to nitpick and consider why this or that didn't make sense, but there were glaring problems in this one. The biggest being the bank account itself - you'd think it would immediately have been frozen by the authorities, you'd think it would require more than an internet connection to transfer all that money into a new account, you'd think they'd be able to trace what account the money had been transferred to, and you'd think Alex would have to provide much more proof of identity when trying to set up an account in the name of Ros Henderson than… saying she's Ros Henderson! At least the manager noted she'd managed to keep well out of the public eye, and there were no facilities in those days to bring up pictures of people online as there are now. In terms of the setting up of the passcode by Zak, he may have been hacking in to that secure client access, I'm not sure.

The old 'BUGS' charm never dies, however, and I enjoyed all the subverted expectations that were thrown in such as Ros suggesting they use the car to get into the mansion (I can understand Beckett's surprise - he was probably remembering her telling him how she got into Computer Recall by slamming an HGV through the reception area in 'Pulse'!), this bright red Ferrari she earlier described as 'road jewellery' to Channing who'd given it to her to demonstrate his dedication to their partnership. Their 'business' partnership, since it celebrates the Korean licences coming through for her patents. We'll see just how much he cares after she's had to report its loss to him… The big moment is all for Alex as she adapts on the fly and shows her worth when the team's original plan to infiltrate the bank goes wrong. She'd already shown she was quick-witted when she's the one to instantly see the passcode on Ed's cast, 'Miranda 2001' the only sequence that will fit the number of passcode characters available. I'm not sure where we're supposed to assume she gained all this initiative or training, but we already learned she's resourceful in that she's obviously quite young (I think the actress was nineteen at the time!), yet is already at the level of martial arts where she can teach. It doesn't quite fit with the humble position she's in as a mere file clerk, even for such an important organisation as The Bureau of Weapons Technology, but there are clearly hidden depths to this character. Sadly, I don't think we ever found out that much about her, it's just one of those things you have to accept and move on (like there being no police in the series, though in this case we do see airport security helping to restrain Ben as he strolls nonchalantly to the exit).

It is great fun to see her literally let her hair down and leap into a role in order to show what she's capable of, instead of giving up after the predetermined path comes to an end, especially as Beckett is so exasperated with her. This actually works to help get Ros on side, after she'd shown great opposition to giving up the team's independence, enjoying the joke on him and being impressed with Alex. Ed is easily dealt with in that his recent brush with death has made him less cocky and sure of himself, uncertain he wants to keep doing this stuff without a safety net, as he puts it (he'd rather watch an Australian soap to take his mind off it all - was it one he was in, or just made up?). That doesn't sound like the Ed we used to know, but then he is a bit older now, and has gone through a lot - you often notice he's pushed to the limit, so it's no surprise that the cumulative effect would be to blunt his youthful joy at risking life and limb every day. I'd have thought he'd always have been an easy sell since he's usually so laid back and happy for the other two to take the lead, so this is just a further development along that path for him. Ros on the other hand, you can completely understand not being happy to bend to Jan's will. For one thing she's a woman, so she's immediately going to push in the opposite direction to what Beckett wants her to do (even though she's usually a lot more logical and realistic), but even more than the position she's been put in, she's also just made it in the business world so it would be a hard thing when she's just ensured the team's future with her deals that she should suddenly have to reign it all in and kowtow after being her own boss!

I love the way we see how those on the inside react to her - Alex is an eager puppy asking if she's joining them and babbling a bit, while Jan tries to be honest, even about the fact she manipulated Beckett, to win her over. I think the biggest thing that makes her change her mind is that Beckett's been won over, and she trusts his judgement, I think. That he was in this need that she could have helped with has thrown her good fortune into disarray. She could have prevented this if Beckett hadn't been so pigheaded and asked her for help. She's uncharacteristically emotional after seeing Ed so depressed in hospital, so perhaps Channing's influence at making her feel more like a 'normal person,' if we can say that, may be having an effect on her usually controlled personality. In reality it was all part of the new look, a moment of rare vulnerability to try and make the characters a touch more human rather than entirely ITC characters made of rubber that always bounce back with a witty quip. Maybe the biggest factor that seals her deal as regards the Bureau, is that she ends up blowing Kitty to bits - even though it wasn't on purpose, she was hoping to take out a tire, that would surely be murder. It's not like we haven't seen the team kill villains before, but now might be a good time to have the weight of Jan behind them as Ros might need to access that level of protection? We see Jan showing trepidation at the requisitions invoice Ros has submitted, but you can tell she views it as the fish caught on the line, smiling to herself when she realises Ros is aboard. This was a test from her to see if she could push Jan, because she obviously isn't in need of the money personally, she could buy it all with her own funds, but it completed the 'sale' of freedom, as it were.

For whatever reason, on this viewing I did feel the story was somewhat anticlimactic compared to the setup in the first part, Kitty more a catalyst to get them under the wing of Jan's Bureau, and her rationale being they're a way to deal with the unorthodox enemies, and even those within (which they'd be doing later in the season). Stephen Gallagher sets the pieces up for other writers to knock down, and he did a fine job, I just don't feel this two-parter was quite up to his usual standards, especially coming right after the killer two-part finale for Season 2. Kitty was a good villain, and I sense there was even some Jean-Daniel DNA in there, whether it was intended or not: her weapon of choice is a bazooka, as favoured by the Frenchman, and one of her lackeys, Ben, even wears a chauffeur's uniform when picking up the Duchess. Not that these were that strange, but taken together, and considering Gallagher used them both in his introduction of JD, I can't help but see some parallel there. I do like that he manages to corral all the forces at their disposal, so there's the Code Red file, Alex is helping them out, and even Channing lends a hand with his business contacts to find out as much as he can, both the official line and the unofficial. We get a glimpse of the kind of good Kitty could have been responsible for when we learn her destructive art does have some real world practical applications, such as the Battle Wagon model used to clear minefields. Where she's only done this to make herself richer, she could have turned from crime and been a real force for good.

My usual insistence of noting the outfits and colours the team wear doesn't have quite so much import now as we see things are a lot more real world than they had been. Beckett continues to don his green shirt and tie under a smart suit, while Ros is in neutral grey and black, still smart, but it could denote her nature between personal/business freedom, and life under a boss. Ed is the least himself, in jogging bottoms and a jumper while held captive by Kitty, though by the end he's improved his condition so he has a yellow t-shirt under jogging outfit. But we aren't getting the leather jacket which would represent his full confidence, so maybe he's left that behind as this new, more careful Ed? The settings continue to remind us that this is far from the sci-fi version of Season 2 - there are no tasers, and there are few of the traditional shiny steel and glass buildings that we recognise as the series' staple backdrops. We still get that in the form of the Bureau HQ, high in some presumably government office block with its gleaming facade. But even the bank they attack isn't quite the usual look, and only when we get deep inside, to the dedicated password room where a single computer sits in the dark with strobing lights playing around it, is there a sense of the 'BUGS' of old. Instead, we have the beautiful surroundings of the countryside around the manor house, full of servants' passageways, wood panelling and, best of all, a confrontation on the roof, as well as more views of Ros' fancy place, both outside and in (we can see it was shot in Autumn by the colourful leaves strewing the ground).

Kitty's unhinged nature shows itself in her attitude to Ed - she's shrewd in the sense that she tries to trick him into escaping and phoning his friends to give them the passcode, but he's shrewder, and after that she relies on trying to kill him, which isn't going to get her her money! The point is to scare him into giving up, but she could have just pointed a gun at his head rather than chase him round the mansion, again showing her twisted nature - she seemed to suggest her art is merely a way of making money from morons, but perhaps this was actually a kind of performance art for her, the thrill of the hunt, the manipulation of this man she'd previously lured in. Maybe Ed should simply have told her a fake passcode, but then, as he said, he still wouldn't have been getting out alive, and at least while she was coming for him he'd have a chance. It is a shame she had to die, but that was the way of the series, and there wasn't going to be any question about her body never being found, or any ambiguity, because she's blown up in a fireball right in front of the team's eyes. Mind you, we did see someone escape from an exploding car once before (Zito in 'What Goes Up…'), but in that case he'd planned it and was in control, Kitty was simply trying to escape. There is only one major problem with the episode, for me, that stands out a lot more than banking security: Ed knew Zak had used a red marker pen to write the code on the back of the cast so all he had to do was ask Yasmine the nurse to tell him all the names and numbers in red, because there weren't many!

It's good to get to the state where our team are at the Bureau, all together, even though Ros is in her own private glass office surrounded by the latest computers, it's got the team to the point of transition, and for all the back and forth, and unhappiness, it's gone relatively smoothly to get the series into this new groove. We even end on a triumphant note as Beckett fist-pumps at the thought of Channing's face as Ros explains the loss of the Ferrari to him on the phone, so it has that traditional feel of the series even though it's going to be a bit different from now on. Would I have preferred the series to carry on as it had been and not have to worry about an overlord directing their operations? Maybe, but that's the good thing about a (relatively), long-running series: it can change and adapt, grow in new ways and explore new territory while still retaining the original style, breaking the template but also throwing new shapes, and with the cast all there and new characters in the mix it was an exciting time. And we now have a new way of getting clients or putting the team into more important situations than before, so it was probably for the best. I would question what the revenge of the title was: it couldn't be Ros because although she was distraught at Ed's situation, she didn't mean to blow up Kitty. And Kitty had already had her revenge on her Father, so…

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