The episode with Fever Ray at the end was one where I started to really like Fusco. I knew from the moment we saw that he was, despite everything, a good father to his son that he was probably going to get a redemption arc. And I was interested in him as a character from early on, though hesitant to forgive his somewhat murderous introduction. But this was the episode where I truly felt for him, with how he actually wanted to be good, even though he knew he was probably doomed and redemption might be out of his reach. When there might be no reward other than no longer doing wrong. Which is true for a fairly large amount of the cast, really (except Bear, who is a good boy).
Basically, he was finally starting the journey that the other characters were already taking about cost and necessity of walking away from the life you'd had before, and hiding in plain sight, and all of that.
One of the reasons I like the show is because it is so invested in some hard ethical questions- and definitely ethical rather than moral, because so much of it is about the question of being good versus right versus obedient, and obedient usually comes out fairly low on that list (pragmatic is probably higher as well). I also particularly respect that it doesn't pretend that breaking the rules just makes you a charismatic maverick, because there's always talk about the costs and consequences. John's willingness to use Fusco becomes a difficult and uncomfortable thing- how much is because it's necessary from his training on how to handle 'assets', how much because John's not very good at attachment to people anymore, how much is because Fusco's redemption story requires penance and proof, and how much because it's just the way the story moves.
I've tried to find the right words to describe what it is I like about the show, as far as the outlook on the world it depicts. It's not optimistic, or even necessarily positive. But it is committed to the idea that making the decision to help matters, even though it may fail and it will cost you. The dedication of a few people to trying to make things better, person by person. The almost casual assertion back in the pilot about how what John needed was meaningful work to do is more than just about his individual rehabilitation, it's about how the story defines a meaningful and ethical existence, and how you decide what needs to be done, and how you do it. And how you life with yourself afterwards, if you get to live.
Anyway, this is probably more of a response than you were expecting from a post about how you liked the music, but that scene is one of my favorites in the series, and one that captures some of the central concepts of the show.
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Basically, he was finally starting the journey that the other characters were already taking about cost and necessity of walking away from the life you'd had before, and hiding in plain sight, and all of that.
One of the reasons I like the show is because it is so invested in some hard ethical questions- and definitely ethical rather than moral, because so much of it is about the question of being good versus right versus obedient, and obedient usually comes out fairly low on that list (pragmatic is probably higher as well). I also particularly respect that it doesn't pretend that breaking the rules just makes you a charismatic maverick, because there's always talk about the costs and consequences. John's willingness to use Fusco becomes a difficult and uncomfortable thing- how much is because it's necessary from his training on how to handle 'assets', how much because John's not very good at attachment to people anymore, how much is because Fusco's redemption story requires penance and proof, and how much because it's just the way the story moves.
I've tried to find the right words to describe what it is I like about the show, as far as the outlook on the world it depicts. It's not optimistic, or even necessarily positive. But it is committed to the idea that making the decision to help matters, even though it may fail and it will cost you. The dedication of a few people to trying to make things better, person by person. The almost casual assertion back in the pilot about how what John needed was meaningful work to do is more than just about his individual rehabilitation, it's about how the story defines a meaningful and ethical existence, and how you decide what needs to be done, and how you do it. And how you life with yourself afterwards, if you get to live.
Anyway, this is probably more of a response than you were expecting from a post about how you liked the music, but that scene is one of my favorites in the series, and one that captures some of the central concepts of the show.