YMMV / Babylon (2014)

• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Does Liz really believe transparency can make the world a better place, or is she using it to advance her own agenda? Or some combination? Is her inconsistency due to her being a hypocrite, adapting to a difficult situation, or a lack of self-awareness? Really, almost everything she does can be put up for deeper analysis.
  • Did Richard care more about the Met or his personal profile? Was he one of the best Commissioners, as Liz said, or was he a Bad Boss? Was his interest in Liz purely romantic/sexual, or did he genuinely view her as a friend and/or potential saviour?
  • Is Finn a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, or does he rampantly abuse his privilege and get away with it? Is he right about the relationship between the press and the public sector, or is he too narrow-minded to consider solutions?
  • Was Sharon truly a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, or was she acting reasonably, given the cutthroat nature of the higher-ups' politics? Was Charles telling the truth about her, or did Liz just accept what she wanted to hear?
• Draco in Leather Pants: Finn, though he's a mild version of this trope compared to other examples. ^note  Bertie Carvel says he's a decent person, at least. Some viewers think he understands the reality of the Met better than Liz and is absolutely justified in combating her. While the series reserves judgment over whether Liz or Finn are more moral as people, Finn's PR strategies are frequently unethical and inefficient. He doesn't show much regret until the end of the series. In particular, his callous attitude towards the Jeffries shooting was likely not meant to be a case of Grey-and-Gray Morality when compared to Liz's: he jokes about it when Mia first tells him, seems annoyed when Charles wants to visit Jeffries' mother, and suggests using said visit as PR ammunition.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • As mentioned on the main page, the Karl Jeffries Story Arc was actually based on a 2011 controversy in London, and the script was written months before any of the 2014 anti-black Police Brutality incidents in the U.S. However, given the timing of the show's release, it can be downright painful listening to Finn casually encouraging Mia to dehumanize Jeffries to the press.
  • In the finale, Robbie is arrested for tampering with evidence crucial to the Jeffries inquiry. Shortly after the episode aired, Robbie's actor, Adam Deacon, was arrested for harassment.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In early 2015, Mike Pence, the Governor of Indiana, was discovered to be planning to launch 'Just IN', a "state-run, taxpayer-funded news outlet". The idea - and the media's subsequent reaction - are eerily similar to Liz's Metwork, right down to the pun of a name.
  • In June 2015, BBC One started airing 'The Met', an official documentary on the MPS - similar to the one Miles and Jerry were producing.
• Paranoia Fuel: The pilot. There's a sniper on the loose in London, targeting people seemingly at random. The police don't begin to explore a possible connection until three people are shot, one of them fatally.

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