The Hour: "Episode Two"

Who’s The Man?

“It’s not personal, I just don’t like privilege”

-Freddie

 “And the real question is do we live under a democracy, or an illusion of one?”

-Lord Elms

What is The Hour going to be about? The best shows – and this one certainly seems to be aiming for that echelon – are always about something, some big overarching theme, one that’s usually got some sense of universality to it. Mad Men is about the fall of a traditional society, Breaking Bad tries to convince us that there’s always a dark side of ourselves waiting to be unleashed, etc. “Episode Two” would seem to indicate that The Hour is going to be challenging us to ask “Who really holds the power?”. It’s not exactly the most original theme for a show to take on (The Wire was built on that question, and handled it better than this show probably ever will), but by merely having a theme to cling to – and actually sticking with it – the second episode was able to launch itself quite a ways above the first, as all of the various plots connected into a more concrete whole.

For example, when we first see “The Hour” tonight (please note that the program within the show will be put in quotations, while the show itself will be italicized, in an attempt to avoid confusion/over-explanation), the show is a train wreck, as Hector is unable to keep up with the camera changes or even come up with journalistic questions of his own accors. In short, he’s a terrible newsman, and all the papers lay blame for the show’s failure at his feet. Yet behind the scenes, Bel, as the show’s producer, has to fend off the sharks ready to usurp her from power and/or kill her show, all while trying to rein in Hector, quite a challenge considering that he has the upper hand in their quickly budding romantic relationship. But that’s nothing compared to the even more intimate power play that happens between Bel and Freddie, two close friends that have their own power dynamic ill suitable for their professional environment, but one that they can’t given up out of habit and because Freddie won’t let it die.

All of these power plays help us to understand the romantic triangle that is developing a little better. Freddie doesn’t just hate Hector because he knows that the newsman can have his unrequited love; he hates Hector because he represents all of the men who have been able to have Bel in the past. Conversely, Hector may hate Freddie because he acts like a dick all of the time, but Hector must also sense that Freddie is a (rather weak) romantic rival. Bel…well, it’s a bit hard to know what Bel thinks, and that’s part of the narrative problem this triangle represents. Sure, the show had least made sure that it’s connected to the main plot, thus avoiding any sense of superfluousness. But that still doesn’t change the fact that it’s not really explained why Hector and Bel flirt with one another other than the fact that they are two attractive people. That’s a good enough reason in the real world, sure, but it also seems as if the show is setting this up as a star-crossed romance, and that seem tonally excessive given the little they know about each other, and the little we know about them as a pair.

Meanwhile, in the world at large, Egyptian President Nasser has led his people to take over the Suez Canal with violent force from its “proper” owners, the French & British- owned Suez Company. It’s a violent, tense battle for control, and it plays out much like the Cuban Missile Crisis would in America a few years later, and as a historical event it helps to provide the show with a tense air that reflects positively on the small events that each of our characters is going through. As I recall, there were no allusions to the crisis in last week’s episode, something which threw me considering all of the pre-air reviews mentioned the event. (I don’t know all that much about the Suez Canal Crisis – or at least not much as I feel I should, being a history major – mostly because I haven’t really read up on the subject since my sophomore year in high school, but from what I can tell, the events played out here seem mostly correct.) The absence of this plot in the first episode made me fear its eventual inclusion, as it seemed quite possible that it would just slapped down on top of everything else. However, it seems to fit quite nicely with the other plots – but more on that in a bit.

For the immediate time being, the Suez story also helped to further expand on the role of McCain, a character who we met last week, but whose scene was so short that it wasn’t quite clear who he was, or what he meant to this news team. It turns out that he shall serve as the face of network censorship, here concerned about whether the interview on “The Hour” with the Egyptian delegate might became so volatile as to endanger England’s precarious political position. The introduction of a censorship angle could feel a little rote and threaten to overburden the show with yet another plot on top of all the other angles that the show is currently working. The Hour now seems less like three different courses served on one plate, and more like a layered casserole where the combined flavors make for a much more delicious meal.

The last layer of this world comes in the form of the conspiracy plot, the element that was most worrisome last week, but has been magically transformed into the essential element for the show. The key fix was that Abi Morgan decided to lessen the show’s focus on that element, making it more of a skeletal mythology than an actual plot. Sure, things happened this week which advanced the mystery forward, but all of these developments – seeing Freddie’s makeshift evidence board, learning that Peter Darrow created the code-embedded crossword every other week, hearing that Bel’s phone in tapped, Mr. Kish showing up to be the translator for “The Hour” – were all small in detail. What’s more, the plot has found a more natural place in the story, as its believable that Freddie’s curiosity would lead him to investigate the conspiracy, and it’s understandable that being a newsman would put him in a prime position to investigate.

By having these bits of mythology surround the more immediate plotlines of episode, the conspiracy know feels like an entrenched part of the show. By seeing these characters go on with their more or less “normal” lives, all while knowing that conspiratorial parties – it’s strongly hinted that the British government is involved, but there might be other, shadier collaborators as well – are at play gives a new sense of purpose to all we see. If, as it is also implied, the government is behind the Suez Crisis (which I guess would make this show a piece of speculative historical fiction), then that not only ties a stronger knot between “The Hour” and the Crisis, but it also plays back into that recurring theme. If “The Hour” is meant to report and investigate international events that are being controlled by the government, and if the government can silence the news media, then what power does that leave Bel and her plucky news team?

Next Week: The English country side and guns. That should be fun.

Quotes & Other Thoughts:

This episode also gets major points for expanding the world around “The Hour”. We now have a better understanding of what Lix and Isaac contribute to the program, and we even got to meet a new character, Ms. Cooper, who seems set to serve as our weekly reminder of the misogyny of the 50s. (We also met Bels’ mom, but I’m not sure how much that’s worth at this point.)

Also a fun bit of ephemera: The episode of “The Hour” that started the episode included a bit where Hector had to play out a little skit in order to introduce the next taped segment. I don’t know if such moves were hacky or blasé back in the 50s, but the inclusion of this bit of the program helps to sell the fact that the next episode, with the deftly handled interview, marks a major course correction for the program.

OK, so there was one large piece of mythology revealed with the tape that proves that Ruth knew Kish in a more social setting. Yet I’m not sure exactly how Lord Elm knew to send that exact filmstrip to Freddie, nor do I know the exact circumstance of Ruth and Kish’s acquaintance. So until I know more, I maintain my “mythology skeleton” theory still holds.

While Freddie and Bel calling each other “James” and “Moneypenny” last week seemed sort of stupid, it actually turned out to be a key piece of groundwork. Since it is established that the two read James Bond novels, this makes it easy for the show to have them to assume espionage is a play without it coming off as contrived or requiring a clunky bit of expositional dialogue.

“Are you in discomfort, on does it just seem as if you have a pickle up your backside?”

“Mr. Lyon? I can’t breathe.” “I’ll let the American Space Program know.”

“I’m not your bloody puppet.” “No, the puppet wanted more.”

“Drink up. Whiskey is God’s way of telling us that He loves us and He wants us to be happy.”

“Yes, I wanted to look like a lady who works the docks."