War‘s most riveting installment has landed, and it put everything on the line as Johnny (Archie Renaux) went to extreme lengths to preserve his mole status. The episode, “The Simple Act of Paying Attention,” forced the up-and-coming lawyer to cover his mistake when it came to insider info he’d passed on from working at Taylor & Byrne to Cathcarts & Sons, by sacrificing a poor colleague as collateral damage. Warning: Spoilers for War Season 1 Episode 6 ahead!
As the proceedings of Carla (Sienna Miller) and Morgan’s (Dominic West) divorce continued, Johnny found himself in a sticky situation when info he passed along to Cathcarts & Sons hinted that there was a mole within the walls of Taylor & Byrne. But instead of fessing up to his actions or leaving the firm he’s working against, Johnny decided to scapegoat Saeed (Shaheen Jafargholi) in a desperate attempt to hold his ground.
While Johnny managed to trick his bosses by sending a confession email from Saeed’s laptop, it was moments before court went into session that he decided to drop a choice phrase: “The simple act of paying attention could take you a long way.”
HBO
When Johnny asked Serena (Phoebe Fox) if she knew who said that, he’d been expecting her to possibly say Keanu Reeves or John Wick, but she clocked the wording repeatedly spouted by Cathcarts’ David Schill (Miles Jupp). The shock on Johnny’s face as he realized his error, and Serena as she acknowledged that she and Nick (James McArdle) fired the wrong employee, was palpable, and the last thing we saw before the credits rolled.
“You don’t expect the whole series really to hinge on a Keanu Reeves quote,” Fox tells TV Insider. “I didn’t think it was gonna be a major part of the plot. You think it’s just a funny little bit of dialogue. So it was really clever, and filming it was weirdly complex.”
“Miles Jupp, who plays David Schill, must have been going, ‘Why do I keep saying this?’ We all were really,” Renaux notes before adding the realization struck the performers behind the scenes as well as in front of the camera.
“Johnny, I feel like he’s done the hard stuff, and it’s so uncomfortably beautiful to watch him mess it all up with a Keanu Reeves quote,” Renaux continues, with Fox adding, “Cos you think he’s gonna get away with it.”
While he didn’t get away with it, Saeed bore the brunt of Johnny’s actions as he was banned from entering Taylor & Byrne’s offices following the leaks. “He’s so earnest, and there is a slight desperation to him that bites him in the arse ultimately at the end,” Jafargholi says of Saeed’s downfall. “He’s the perfect scapegoat and the perfect person to set up. It’s just really tragic because he is innocent and he is ultimately just this really sweet character that wants to do well.”
Could Saeed get the redemption he deserves? What will happen to Johnny now that he’s been found out? Fans will have to tune in to find out as War‘s first season continues on HBO, and in the meantime, watch the full interview in the video above.
War, Season 1, Thursdays, 9/8c, HBO and HBO Max
