Gavin Logan reviews episode three of Fleming…
After watching the third episode I’m getting the distinct feeling that my earlier conclusions on the mini-series are slowly but surely being confirmed. Started off well, promising something familiar yet new but really in the end only delivering a water-downed version of the famous cocktail, neither shaken or stirred and lacking a hell of a lot of gin. That’s not to say there wasn’t some decent, fast paced action here or an extensive expansion on Fleming’s weird love/hate relationship with Ann O’Neill. Much of the episode focussed on Fleming’s relentless desire to be in the field but in turn indulging in his own self-questioning incompetence. Is he a doer or a thinker?
We kick off the episode following Fleming running through a dark corridor speckled with Nazi regalia, making his way to some sort of target. After he triggers a trip wire he attempts to dodge flying bullets and remarkably he succeeds. Only we find out seconds later that this is simply a training exercise and in reality Fleming would’ve died long before he made it to his target. We’re in Canada at a high-tech training camp and Fleming is deep in development mode, not just for himself but in preparation for his new team of double-hard commandos he’s calling 30 Assault Unit. After lots and lots of jumping into muddy puddles and bouncing behind trees, Fleming firmly believes his new team are ready to be deployed as does Admiral Godfrey, only the latter also believes that Fleming himself would better be suited staying in the office. A judgement that soon gets proven to be true.
While the 30AU team are off kicking Nazi arse, Fleming is failing field tests again, this time the inability to pull the trigger on an enemy leaving himself with a battered eye but more prominently a battered pride. The recurring emphasis on Fleming’s brain being his most powerful asset is strongly thrusted into the foreground when he writes up a document for a new agency known as the C.I.A. which is hailed as “a real page turner”. It’s highlighted again when a fellow officer “steals” a previous idea of his that was quashed and is then put into action. Now we’re getting the idea that Fleming, the man, the lover and the writer are actually melding into the same person and finally we can see some clarification as to where and when the finishing line may be coming into place. The keen eye for detail that Fleming continually uses throughout his tasks, in this case making sure a dead body is convincing right down to the teeth and love letters he has written, succinctly illustrates the answer to an earlier question; he is in fact very much a thinker.
It seems just as Fleming is cementing a historical stamp in his career, his private life is anything less than uncontrollable, unmanageable and unsavoury, all of which may not necessarily be deemed negative elements. Despite their obvious attraction to each other and their discernible mutual respect for what can only be described as tame S&M, Fleming admits that he is not fit for marriage. Certainly his lover, in previous episodes, has shown herself to be someone who feeds off spontaneity and a dangerous excitement but for the first time we also see a more sensitive side after she learns of her husbands death. This incident, as tragic as it is, only sparks off an ultimatum of sorts between Ann and Fleming. She proclaims that her other lover Esmond will propose and also highlights to Fleming that she “needs to be married”. No pressure then Ian!
Next week’s final episode promises amongst other things, gadgets and German soldiers. The War is nearly over and surely Fleming is beginning to agree with his superior, the office is a better playground that the battlefield and a typewriter can be just as empowering as a gun.
Gavin Logan – Follow me on Twitter and A-Z Movie Challenge.
Originally published February 27, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
