MI-5 (TV Series) Legitimate Targets (2003) User Reviews

Episode 2.1

[Prismark10 · 7/10 · 5 May 2019]

Series 1 ended in a cliffhanger. It looked like Tom might be facing a personal loss. It looks like his relationship with Ellie is rather shaky.

It was a diversion by Irish terrorists, their attack was a high ranking political target.

The Spooks team also target a wanted Serbia war criminal who attacked a military convoy.

Zoe needs to go undercover in a video shop to get close to someone in league with the wanted Serb. Tom also finds out that someone on the inside has been passing on information to them and the next target could be catastrophic.

There are some nicely shot scenes here at the start of the episode and some nicely constructed action scenes. They look good even 16 years later.

Benedict Cumberbatch makes an early appearance as a spy who is sent out to the cold.

Disappointing

[xbatgirl-30029 · 5/10 · 24 November 2021]

Ok, first of all, WTF? The fake out from the end of last season felt sooo sleazy and cheap. What a bad way to start the season. At least we're not stuck with the super annoying moppet and girlfriend for more episodes. Tom suddenly referring to them as "his family" and being so attached to Maisie at the end in particular never felt like it was earned in the previous season. They were together such a short time and had only just moved in together. I wasn't feeling it at all.

Second, it's baffling how there are multiple award winning actors in this episode yet, wow, terrible acting and dialog. There were times this felt almost like I was watching Garth Marenghi. What happened? The director? The script? Were they trying too hard to be stylish in a way that didn't age well?

Wow. I remember watching the first 2 seasons of this when this first came out and it played on BBC America. I really loved it at the time and have been wanting to see the rest of it for years. I'm also a fan of many in the cast. Maybe it could just never measure up and that it's pretty disappointing so far. And like I said, it just don't think it's aged well. I'm going to try to keep going though.

One of the few bright spots is Benedict Cumberbatch, who is so incredibly young here. He seems like a schoolboy. He still manages to give a strong performance in the few moments he gets. Along with some other too brief spots from guest actors.

Bad relationship

[scntyguy · 5/10 · 27 June 2022]

Why Tom ever sought to have a relationship with a woman not connected with the agency was stupid! And Ellie not being understanding but using her "it is me or your job" tactic upon Tom is irrational, petty, and unacceptable!!!! She Rutherford lives the man or she doesn't!

👎👎👎👎👎

More of the same, unfortunately

[grantss · 5/10 · 25 November 2022]

Terrorist attacks on military targets are occurring around the UK. MI-5 initially think they are being carried out by Patrick McCann's Irish group but new information points to a Serbian war criminal with an axe to grind. Zoe attempts to infiltrate the terrorist group by befriending one of their key personnel.

The final episode of Season 1 was weak and easily the worst episode to date. Silly, implausible plot and a very stupid, even more contrived, ending. On the plus side, it looked like at least we would be rid of Tom's annoying nagging girlfriend and her kid.

My hope was that things would now be back on track after that blip. Sadly, no. The plot is slightly better here but still feels very implausible and is full of holes. Even worse, Tom's girlfriend and her kid are still around and as annoying as ever.

For star watchers, early-career Benedict Cumberbatch makes a brief appearance.