The. character of Vos has yet to be explored. He's a murdering transvestite and does the bidding of Hector without question. The fact that he was in Morocco at some " black site " , I believe they said, and escaped clearly tells us little more than he's a bad dude. As for his relationship with Hector, is it homoerotic ? ( Hector does seem to be appealing to ever sexual persuasion.)
shareHere we are at the near end of BS and we have not fully explored the backstories of any of the characters, the backstories that help explain their motivations and what drives them. In a way, that's what ratchets up the authenticity vibe of this series--these are clandestine people who never reveal their real selves because it endangers them and renders them useless--burnt.
Jullian DeVoss aka Shirley Pimple had to be a terrorist if he was imprisoned in a US black site and a deadly one to merit placement on a US kill list. To us ordinary people, the very idea of being committed to such a place and marked for execution is just extraordinary. Given that DeVoss has no qualms about killing people who might jeopardize this Shaw operation he's involved in, I imagine that he has considerable experience in the killing game.
Being a transvestite, however, I can't imagine his joining ISIS. I don't think the Muslim radicals embrace LGBT folk.
From what I can make out, Hector was assigned to this black site, possibly as an interrogator where he met DeVoss as a prisoner he was assigned to produce information from. It's there that Hector had some kind of breakdown and it's been suggested that he helped DeVoss escape from the site, forming some kind of unique partnership, both of them being LGBT, to reveal the sins and hypocrisy of the CIA (a common LeCarre theme, by the way). Wow. You wouldn't think this a credible storyline, would you--two gay operators, one CIA, the other terrorist, embarking on a whistleblower mission.
I would imagine that DeVoss is somewhat safe back in his homeland, Germany. The CIA would never kill a German on his home soil. During the Iraq War, I recall the US renditioning a couple of German citizens mistakenly believed to be al quaeda, then releasing them on some road when, after having tortured them, discovered their mistake. The German citizen went to his govt and tried to sue the US, but the Germans were pressured by the US not to do so out of respect for the good old "bilateral relationship."
DeVoss clearly does not feel intimidated by Hector. They seem to have some equality in their relationship as DeVoss has had to order Hector to stick to the system they have created for their mission. At some point, both of them decided to use Daniel's cousin for some purpose, which is why Hector had initiated a romance with her, with DeVoss's help. DeVoss picking her up by pretending to be Hector sending her texts--was that something they both agreed to do should Hector get picked up? Use Daniel's cousin as leverage?
Ladies, if you get texts from a guy your cousin in the CIA has warned you is trouble, I'd advise you not go anywhere without calling him first and speaking with him on the phone--perhaps even not then.
Yes! It's interesting you picked up on the Le Carre influences in the theme of the Agency.
As a devotee myself, some of the best passages Le Carre writes, to me, are his detailed and articulate analyses of the Machiavellian goings on at The Circus.
Until you mentioned it, I hadn't thought about the angle that Hector originally approached Daniel's cousin with future uses in mind for her. But the way he works, that certainly makes sense! He's always playing that 3-D chess game with people.
Also, Hector's kind of fluid sexuality in the series is an interesting feature of his personality and how it pertains to his work. I like the way it's not important really "what" he is with some kind of PC label so often used by writers now in these shows in order to tick a PC box.
He's just using sexuality in his work and it makes it totally unimportant whatever his real orientations are. No political point is being made--his character's sexual aspects exist only to serve the story.
Hector reminds me a bit of Le Carre's Bill Haydon--Bill with Anne, then Bill with his "boy" he wants Smiley to pay a bit of money too. Etc. In the end it didn't matter what Haydon's real life was in this respect--he just did a job and sometimes used his sexuality to do it.
As for Vos, inquiring minds would like to know more about his background.
It did occur to me that all the while it's been as though Hector "runs" Vos, and takes care of him, could it be that Vos is actually running Hector instead?
Though looking back Vos never seemed to have original documentation himself that he was sharing as Thomas Shaw. We early on saw him remove a USB stick that was taped to a bridge--so he was doing a pick up of info, or so it seemed. And was not the originator of it.
And here's a thought outside the box on Thomas Shaw.
Is there ANY possibility that the Israelis i.e. Golda is Thomas Shaw? If Golda and her snoopers recording everything somehow got an excellent eaves dropping surveillance on Berlin Station, it might be the Mossad who are leaving the stuff for Vos to hand over to the newspaper.
Golda could have a long-term plan she's been cultivating. A two-pronged effort: Cause chaos at Berlin Station management by making Foster and Co. look bad, causing a shake up in DC that removes him.
Then she's been cultivating Kirsch at the same time, clearly wanting him to become Berlin Chief of Station so she has her "creature" in place there for whatever reason she needs him to be.
So, she needed to get rid of Foster. Tick. And now, as we could have predicted, she's double crossing Kirsch by wanting him to stay in Berlin after promising him she'd facilitate his return to DC to be with his ungrateful spawn child.
When you look at the players we know, it has to one of them, right?
Another one that knows a lot is Sandra, so she might be it. She might have an axe to grind over Foster's treatment of her, so she's set him up. She did not hesitate to throw Kirsch under the bus with Valerie over "Antoinette."
But we are running out of candidates for Shaw if it's not Hector.
Your biggest point first--No, I do not think Golda is Thomas Shaw. If Golda is involved in anything double=handed, I think it's with the Iasova kidnapping. Golda and the guys in Tel Aviv, don't want Kirsch to return to Langley. They probably already have an inside man there. Clay, perhaps. They want Kirsch to stick around in Berlin where, right now, important games are being played. Why are they so interested in Valerie/Antoinette? I'm not sure I understood the story Valerie was telling her boyfriend about her mission and why he came into her life, the story about the man she was tracking and the operation she closed too early because she fell in love.
I have not doubted Hector being Shaw. I believe he's revealed this sufficiently through his conversations with deVoss (what is the spelling of that guy's name?) When Hector passes that usb stick to deVoss on the bridge and deVoss asks him what's on it, Hector describes the Lin resettlement arranged between the Germans & Americans, to which deVoss remarks--"First you upset the Americans and now you are going to antagonize the Germans." Hector's response is yes, that's the point; I want them all to fear me. Hector is obviously the source of all the Shaw information. And on the night of the Boulevard Berlin op, he tells deVoss/Shirley Pimple that he is going to deliver his new USB stick to Ingrid himself, which contains the details of the Boulevard Berlin op, hoping to stop it and prevent Clare from pretending to be an ISIL bride.
When Hector, under interrogation, denies being Shaw, I believe he is lying. He's smartly given his interrogators enough to take him at his word--his admission that Clare was alive when he found her and that he killed Ruth Iasova is something Daniel can confirm as true. So when he denies being Shaw and passes the test, he must be believed there, too. Hector has fooled them. He can't be brought down that easily.
Sandra is interesting. She has access to all information (and a regular habit of looking at whatever documents are on Frost's desk). And she's not a mere secretary; she's been involved in the action. It's Frost I still distrust. He is impossible to read.
Yes, great comparison to Bill Haydon. The two are very much alike. There was not only his using Ann to undermine Smiley but his betrayal of Jim Prideaux to accommodate the Russians. Perhaps we could interpret this as an omen in the Hector/deVoss relationship.
Much to the dismay of many fans, LeCarre novelized his disgust at the CIA after the US invaded Iraq and embarked on a rendition/torture scheme that included abandoning many of its own assets when push invariably met shove and butts needed to be covered. LeCarre thought modern intelligence agencies deficient when it came to the time-honored principles of spy craft in which assets were loved and worked, not arrested and thrown to the wolves. This view is overtly expressed in his "A Most Wanted Man." when Gunther, who believes he has persuaded the Americans and Germans to see things his way in protecting the Chechnyan, Issa, and the Muslim philanthropist, is ultimately betrayed in a stunning, gut wrenching climax. Gunther's disgust at the Americans & Germans' counterproductive tactics in fighting terror finds its mirror in Hector, its sympathetic broadcast via Ingrid, the journalist. And among them, Hector is the master spy, a natural. The shared themes between LeCarre and Olen Steinhauer are indeed striking.
Does the sister know he is a spy? I think she sees him as a diplomat, and Hector as a diplomat as well. That was why Daniel couldn't go the extra length to warn her off.
My Chimp DNA seems to have lost its password temporarily. Sluggr-2
You mean cousin, no ?
As for Vos , I frankly think he's in love with that bisexualy stud muffin Hector.
Speaking of Shaw, when Hector said he was dead, he might have been speaking figuratively? Or maybe he actually has a split personality?
I saw an interview with Michelle Forbes and Richard Armitage and a fan asked if Thomas Shaw would be revealed at the end. Michelle couldn't say, didn't want to give anything away. Richard stepped in and said something like, one door opens to reveal the answer and there are six more doors. So...more mystery.
shareone door opens to reveal the answer and there are six more doors. So...more mystery.
Golda and the guys in Tel Aviv, don't want Kirsch to return to Langley. They probably already have an inside man there. Clay, perhaps
Bingo. Did Golda not tell Kirsch in episode 9 that she has folks back at Langley to do her bidding? So, now we know she has never needed Kirsch back there, so that was never her real purpose.
Yes, I too am sad to see Julian go. He and Hector really were the dynamic duo!
And with him gone, we'll never know more I guess about his motivations and how he ended up at a black site in Morroco. The only mention was the operator, I think, or perhaps Hector, saying he'd provided housing in Belgium for some terror suspects. Or summat.
Yes, he might have been a run of the mill anarchist, like a Baader wannabe, who got caught up in something bigger and ended up in rendition.
De Vos sounds German, though suppose he could have been Flemish if he was accused of doing things in Belgium. Even in death his actions as well as his motivations are mysterious.
Also, just a little factoid question--when Kirsch was reading the newspaper about the Morrocan site that had been revealed by someone, Hector looked a bit shocked. He grabbed the paper and read for himself.
So, was it De Vos who first became an informant to the newspaper without Hector's help? Did Hector come on board later after Miss Pimple approached him at the bar?
It was just an interesting moment, making me wonder if Julian had started the ball rolling first on using the newspaper to out the Agency. SOrry if this was obvious and I'm just being slow on the uptake here...ha.
Okay, Cobblers, this was what I'm able to piece together after a second viewing:
Julian was not an informant before Hector. The newspaper Hector grabbed from Kirsch contained the story that Ingrid had written about the man she took Daniel to meet in the mental hospital--the man who shared a cell with Julian in the black site. As Daniel pointed out to Ingrid at the time, it is likely that her story grabbed the attention of Shaw, who decided to then use her to broadcast his leaks. Hector and Julian formed their partnership the night they met up in Berlin.
And speaking of that meet-up in the bar--did you see Hector's jaw drop when he realized that the woman talking to him was Julian? Priceless.
So Hector tells Daniel the whole story--the black site and the approach by Hans and Esther, that they encouraged him to keep leaking on Berlin Station until he destroyed it. Now Daniel knows the truth about the Germans, their duplicity all along--of course, Frost and Kirsch do not. Disgusted at the news, Daniel lets Hector run, but Hector tells him that he'll have to run, too, just check out the picture on his desk.
I have a feeling that Frost will soon be sprung from jail. The Romanian information he passed to his wife when the Germans arrested him, telling her to give it to Sandra, probably has some dirt on the Germans, perhaps on Clay. And now Daniel, knowing what the Germans have been up to, will certainly be a target. We'll come full circle to that opening scene in episode 1 when Daniel is shot and someone rushes to him to rummage his pockets looking for the information (probably the Germans).
Julian's backstory is still not fully explained. He was taken to the black site on suspicion of renting some flats to terrorists in Belgium? Plus the file Frost gave Daniel on Julian stated that he was on a kill list--that seems pretty serious to me. Yet Hector thought Julian was innocent, which was why he let him go. Julian failed to speak the correct kind of al quaeda-speak.
Julian's accent sounds German, but I don't have a good enough ear to distinguish among all those East European, Germanic, Austrian speakers. I suspect many of the young people float throughout countries in the EU. The actor who played Julian was just first rate.