I agree with many of the comments posted so far: This series has some of the greatest ensemble acting you will see in a dramatic television series. Some people quibble about an actor here or there, but I think they area all perfectly cast, and their roles perfectly executed. The plot is somewhat difficult to follow first time through if you haven't read the novel, but the intelligent and elegant way this complex novel was brought to life makes this a masterpiece of television drama.
While it focuses on the intelligence community, I love the way this series (and the book) highlight what the MBAs would call "Organizational Behavior." The way alliances, loyalties, and antagonisms are made, enacted, and broken throughout the story is very insightful into human nature as it plays out in an organization -- not just an intelligence organization! The interactions among the key players parallel the types of things that go on in board rooms and conference rooms everywhere, even if what's at stake isn't a cold war for most of us. The toady, the know it all, the game-player, the bon vivant who's actually a snake, the way dominance and subservience play out in thousands of minuscule ways over the course of a day: body language, "jokes," sarcasm, posturing. Le Carre has the human side of an organization down, and the series captures his insights perfectly.
While it focuses on the intelligence community, I love the way this series (and the book) highlight what the MBAs would call "Organizational Behavior." The way alliances, loyalties, and antagonisms are made, enacted, and broken throughout the story is very insightful into human nature as it plays out in an organization -- not just an intelligence organization! The interactions among the key players parallel the types of things that go on in board rooms and conference rooms everywhere, even if what's at stake isn't a cold war for most of us. The toady, the know it all, the game-player, the bon vivant who's actually a snake, the way dominance and subservience play out in thousands of minuscule ways over the course of a day: body language, "jokes," sarcasm, posturing. Le Carre has the human side of an organization down, and the series captures his insights perfectly.