The series finale of "The Thick of It" ends mostly as how you'd think it would, with a few exceptions.
At the DoSAC offices, Mannion and his staff shuffle to solve another problem in meltdown — in this case, cutbacks in police forces cause a backlog in paperwork, including arrest paperwork, which Malcolm will coincidentally surrender, having been prosecuted for illegally obtaining Mr. Tickel's medical paperwork in between episodes.
On the Opposition side, Dan Miller, and Malcolm's heir apparent, Olly (Chris Addison), visit local police stations on a fact-finding mission as a smokescreen to divert media attention from Malcolm. This is how it ends, with every in varying degrees of damage control. It's all funny, of course, yet it's viewed more through of a cynical lenses than usual.
Convinced that the Goolding Inquiry will eventually discover that he leaked the email chain that embarrassed DoSAC, which he lied about, Glenn decides to quit in the most dramatic fashion imaginable and turn himself in to the authorities. Everyone receives a nice roast before he shreds his identification and exits.
The ultimate joke of his exit comes during the end credits when he arrives at a local police and after momentary hesitation, decides to "sod it" and decides against turning himself in. It's a throwaway gag, yet it's the show in a nutshell — everyone puts themselves in a position to do the right thing and doesn't follow through.
This isn't to say that Glenn is a bad person. Unlike a lot so many other characters on this show, the performances of James Smith and Peter Capaldi, playing Glenn and Malcolm, respectively, hint at good, if flawed, men gradually spoiled by their scheming environment.
In the most surprising (and unexpected heartfelt speech) of the whole series, Malcolm admits that he wasn't always a perpetually cross political spin-doctor we know him as. Sometime ago, the nature of the job and politics changed him for the worst, eroding him from within until there was nothing left of him (profanity removed, obviously):
"You know all about me! I am totally beyond the realms of your tousle-haired dim-witted comprehension. ... 'Malcolm!', it's gone, you can't know Malcolm because Malcolm is not here! Malcolm left the building years ago! ... I am a host for this job. Do you want this job? Yes? You do want this job? Then you're gonna have to swallow this whole life and let it grow inside you like a parasite, getting bigger and bigger and bigger until it eats your insides alive and it stares out of your eyes and tells you what to do."
The early moment with Olly forced me to reconsider my overall thoughts on Malcolm Tucker as a whole. Whose a bigger problem, Malcolm Tucker or the system he developed under? From Hugh Abbott to Nicola Murray (whose final scenes in the series are fittingly giving an interview behind a pork chop costume that's been following her around all season), he's a troubled public servant trying to craft presentable politicians from perpetually spineless, mediocre ones for a ferocious electorate.
I think it's obvious series developer Armando Iannucci has more of a begrudging respect for the Malcolm Tuckers of the world than the Stewart Pearsons (Vincent Franklin), who are solely concerned with image and not with good governing. Remember that hilarious moment from the specials when Stewart forced Mannion (Roger Allam) to untuck a gawdy dress shirt he was forced to try on? That's basically who Stewart Pearson is as a character. It also lead to my one of my favorite moments in the finale where he's relieved of his duty:
"There's no need to clear your desk, because you're a walking thought-pod!"
And as those following scenes at DoSAC and Opposition HQ shows, it's business as usual — and no one seems to have learned anything.
At the DoSAC offices, Mannion and his staff shuffle to solve another problem in meltdown — in this case, cutbacks in police forces cause a backlog in paperwork, including arrest paperwork, which Malcolm will coincidentally surrender, having been prosecuted for illegally obtaining Mr. Tickel's medical paperwork in between episodes.
On the Opposition side, Dan Miller, and Malcolm's heir apparent, Olly (Chris Addison), visit local police stations on a fact-finding mission as a smokescreen to divert media attention from Malcolm. This is how it ends, with every in varying degrees of damage control. It's all funny, of course, yet it's viewed more through of a cynical lenses than usual.
Convinced that the Goolding Inquiry will eventually discover that he leaked the email chain that embarrassed DoSAC, which he lied about, Glenn decides to quit in the most dramatic fashion imaginable and turn himself in to the authorities. Everyone receives a nice roast before he shreds his identification and exits.
The ultimate joke of his exit comes during the end credits when he arrives at a local police and after momentary hesitation, decides to "sod it" and decides against turning himself in. It's a throwaway gag, yet it's the show in a nutshell — everyone puts themselves in a position to do the right thing and doesn't follow through.
This isn't to say that Glenn is a bad person. Unlike a lot so many other characters on this show, the performances of James Smith and Peter Capaldi, playing Glenn and Malcolm, respectively, hint at good, if flawed, men gradually spoiled by their scheming environment.
In the most surprising (and unexpected heartfelt speech) of the whole series, Malcolm admits that he wasn't always a perpetually cross political spin-doctor we know him as. Sometime ago, the nature of the job and politics changed him for the worst, eroding him from within until there was nothing left of him (profanity removed, obviously):
"You know all about me! I am totally beyond the realms of your tousle-haired dim-witted comprehension. ... 'Malcolm!', it's gone, you can't know Malcolm because Malcolm is not here! Malcolm left the building years ago! ... I am a host for this job. Do you want this job? Yes? You do want this job? Then you're gonna have to swallow this whole life and let it grow inside you like a parasite, getting bigger and bigger and bigger until it eats your insides alive and it stares out of your eyes and tells you what to do."
The early moment with Olly forced me to reconsider my overall thoughts on Malcolm Tucker as a whole. Whose a bigger problem, Malcolm Tucker or the system he developed under? From Hugh Abbott to Nicola Murray (whose final scenes in the series are fittingly giving an interview behind a pork chop costume that's been following her around all season), he's a troubled public servant trying to craft presentable politicians from perpetually spineless, mediocre ones for a ferocious electorate.
I think it's obvious series developer Armando Iannucci has more of a begrudging respect for the Malcolm Tuckers of the world than the Stewart Pearsons (Vincent Franklin), who are solely concerned with image and not with good governing. Remember that hilarious moment from the specials when Stewart forced Mannion (Roger Allam) to untuck a gawdy dress shirt he was forced to try on? That's basically who Stewart Pearson is as a character. It also lead to my one of my favorite moments in the finale where he's relieved of his duty:
"There's no need to clear your desk, because you're a walking thought-pod!"
And as those following scenes at DoSAC and Opposition HQ shows, it's business as usual — and no one seems to have learned anything.
