Quantum of Solace (2008) | Music

I truly don't get how "Die Another Day" is the worst Bond song of all time when "Another Way to Die" exists. Jack White and Alicia Keys are both talented people, but they created an unholy, clumsy mess. On paper, it's the first duet that's been used for a Bond theme, but calling it a duet is too generous. Their voices don't blend well and there are parts where the harmonies are so painful that I need six Vespers to get through them.

The credits aren't that great either. Or maybe the song just puts me in a bad mood. Bond stalks through the desert with his gun, he fires off some slow motion rounds, and then women slowly raise through the sand and dance around. At some point there's a globe-shaped grid that probably represents Quantum's world-wide influence, but I haven't figured out what the spinning zoetrope symbolizes or refers to.

For the second movie in a row, David Arnold is stingy with the Bond Theme, but this time it doesn't make as much sense. Wasn't the purpose of holding it until the end of Casino Royale that Bond had finally earned it then? So why doesn't he get it in Quantum? There's a crazy guitar version that I like when Bond arrives in Port au Prince, but we don't get to hear the real thing until the closing credits.

Top Ten Theme Songs

1. A View to a Kill
2. "Surrender" (end credits of Tomorrow Never Dies)
3. "You Know My Name" (Casino Royale)
4. The Living Daylights
5. "Nobody Does It Better" (The Spy Who Loved Me)
6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
7. Diamonds Are Forever
8. You Only Live Twice
9. From Russia With Love (instrumental version)
10. The World Is Not Enough

Top Ten Title Sequences

1. Casino Royale
2. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
3. Dr No
4. Thunderball
5. Goldfinger
6. GoldenEye
7. From Russia with Love
8. The Spy Who Loved Me
9. Die Another Day
10. Tomorrow Never Dies

Quantum of Solace (2008) | Villains

The villains are Quantum of Solace's weakest point. Mr White is tickled that no one knows the Quantum organization exists, but what he doesn't seem to realize is that their initial anonymity is their only line of defense. Once MI6 knows about them, it's ridiculously easy to track down who their members are. They don't launder any money and they meet in public using a system that's effortlessly infiltrated. And when Bond does infiltrate it, they all helpfully get up and leave so that he can spot them and take their pictures.

Except White, that is. But I don't think that actually makes him seem intelligent as much as it simply highlights the stupidity of his colleagues. I'm curious to see White in SPECTRE. I like him, but he's not that impressive a bad guy and it'll be interesting to put him in context with an even more dangerous organization.



I often hear that Dominic Greene is a boring villain, but I disagree. He's a weasel, but he's also unpredictable and Mathieu Amalric gives him a lot of personality. Sometimes I feel like fans are automatically disinterested if the bad guy isn't trying to destroy the world. Greene is powerful, connected, and willing to do heinous things in pursuit of his goals. He's plenty threatening.



Elvis isn't the greatest henchman ever, but he's different and kind of fun with his dumb Lloyd Christmas haircut. And I like how out of place he looks schmoozing with Greene's supporters. I read somewhere that Anatole Taubman and Amalric developed a backstory that Greene and Elvis are related and that's how Elvis is connected to Quantum. Makes total sense.



I love to hate General Medrano. It's not just because of the evil things he's done. Lots of bad guys do really evil things. It's because of Joaquín Cosío's chillingly arrogant performance. He's charming enough when he wants to be, but then he holds his head a certain way and his eyes grow cold and he just looks so... "displeased" feels like the right word. Even when he's clearly got less power and isn't getting his way - as happens with Greene - he gives the impression that he's in complete control and that you should really reconsider what you're doing. It's the same kind of pride that simultaneously repulses and fascinates me about Michael Lonsdale's portrayal of Hugo Drax.

Top Ten Villains

1. Auric Goldfinger (Goldfinger)
2. Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Never Say Never Again)
3. Ernst Stavro Blofeld (From Russia With Love and Thunderball)
4. Ernst Stavro Blofeld (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
5. Maximilian Largo (Never Say Never Again)
6. Francisco Scaramanga (The Man with the Golden Gun)
7. Dr. Kananga (Live and Let Die)
8. Le Chiffre (Casino Royale)
9. Doctor No (Dr. No)
10. General Gogol (For Your Eyes Only)

Top Ten Henchmen

1. Baron Samedi (Live and Let Die)
2. Fiona Volpe (Thunderball)
3. Grant (From Russia with Love)
4. Nick Nack (The Man with the Golden Gun)
5. Zao (Die Another Day)
6. Gobinda (Octopussy)
7. May Day (A View to a Kill)
8. Jaws (The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker)
9. Naomi (The Spy Who Loved Me)
10. Oddjob (Goldfinger)

Quantum of Solace (2008) | Women

"Look how well your charm works, James. They'll do anything for you, won't they?"

I like Agent Fields quite a bit even though she's the traditional archetype of the woman whom Bond charms into helping him against her better judgment. The Brosnan films called back to it too, but never this well. Agent Fields has an inner life that makes sense and we get to see her conflict over helping Bond. She claims to be angry at herself, but not so much that she's not enjoying what's going on.

I'm not saying she's the strongest character in the world, but I do like her so much more than Caroline from GoldenEye and especially Dr. Warmflash.

Speaking of ridiculous names, by the way: Fields has one. It's never mentioned in the movie (and when Bond asks her first name, she replies that it's "just Fields"), but the credits list her as Strawberry Fields. I get a lot of pleasure out of knowing that she has an absurd Bond Girl name, but she's not going to let it define her.



Camille Montes is going to be one of my Top Five favorite women in a Bond movie. First, she's played by Olga Kurylenko who won me over in the underrated Hitman (2007) and whom I always enjoy, even when the films she's in aren't that good. But more than that, Camille is a unique Bond Girl. She and Bond share a kiss at the end, but it's not even a romantic one. There's zero sexual tension between them, because they're both too busy focusing on other things.

She's the hero of her own story. It just so happens to intersect with Bond's and he accidentally interrupts and ruins hers for a bit. His helping her out isn't because she can't do it on her own; it's restitution. It's like when you unintentionally knock someone over, the proper thing to do is to stop and help her up again. It's not that she can't get up on her own; it's just acknowledging and trying to make up for your mistake.

I love Melina Havelock's revenge story in For Your Eyes Only, too, but I like this one better. With Melina, Bond's a mentor as well as a lover, so there's a certain amount of her deferring to him. He doesn't stop her from taking revenge, but he does warn her about the consequences of it. Craig's Bond never does that with Camille. He offers her some advice on how to kill when it's personal, but that's it. She's totally doing her own thing and he's totally on board with it.

And of course he is. Their stories are separate, but they're also the same. Both are after revenge. I don't believe Bond lets his desire for revenge compromise his sense of duty, but there's no doubt that he would love to murder all the people who had a hand in Vesper's death. He's just more conflicted about it than Camille is.

But I think her clarity helps him out. I think he gets some resolution vicariously through her and that it helps him through the healing process.



It's people like Canadian agent Corrine Veneau that make me especially glad I haven't titled this section "Bond Girls." Corrine isn't a Bond Girl in any sense of the term. She and he barely interact and when they do, it's not the least bit romantic. But since she's a woman, I get to talk about her in this post and I'm glad, because she's great.

First of all, she's played by Stana Katic from Castle, which is awesome. But also, Katic just does a great job with her. She barely gets to talk, but as soon as she figures out what Bond is revealing about her boyfriend, it's obvious that she's deeply embarrassed and ashamed, but also relieved that she's found out before something tragic happened. Her almost inaudible "thank you" to Bond as she slinks out of the hotel room is heart-breaking. Makes me extremely glad that Katic went on to do bigger things.

My Favorite Bond Women

1. Tracy Bond (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
2. Vesper Lynd (Casino Royale)
3. Melina Havelock (For Your Eyes Only)
4. Camille Montes (Quantum of Solace)
5. Kara Milovy (The Living Daylights)
6. Wai Lin (Tomorrow Never Dies)
7. Paula Caplan (Thunderball)
8. Tatiana Romanova (From Russia With Love)
9. Natalya Simonova (GoldenEye)
10. Fiona Volpe (Thunderball)

Quantum of Solace (2008) | Bond

Actors and Allies



Like in Casino Royale, trust is still a huge issue between M and Bond, but it's not about Bond's ego anymore. Part of it's just about knocking off the rough edges from his personality. As Vesper said in Casino Royale - and we learn more about in Skyfall - M tends to recruit orphans. But the lack of attachment M's looking for in candidates has to be moderated if they're going to be good agents. Bond's big problem is that he doesn't trust anyone. He learned to trust Vesper, but now he believes that was a mistake. He's still drinking the drink that he named after her - lots of them - so he's clearly not as over her as he claims, but he simultaneously loves and hates her. And that's wreaking havoc on his black-and-white worldview.

M sees this - and that Bond isn't being honest with himself about it - so that puts up another barrier to her trusting him. He keeps killing people who are potential leads, which is irritating for the investigation, but also suggests a deeper issue to her. It may not be just that he's an immature spy. She's worried that he's more interested in revenge than his duty to uncover Mr White's organization. He can always mature, but if he learns to put his personal feelings above his job, it'll make him useless to her as an agent.

His anger is fueling his distrust of everyone, so it comes full circle and M stays on him about both issues. "When you can't tell your friends from your enemies, it's time to go," she says. And Bond's relationship with Mathis is a great example of that.

Bond gets in a lot of trouble over Mathis' death, not just with the Bolivian police, but also the CIA and apparently with MI6. I've often wondered why anyone entertained the idea that Bond might have killed Mathis, but seeing the story through M's eyes, I get it. Bond totally considered Mathis an enemy at one point and Bond totally still has trust issues. And Bond totally has a habit of killing his enemies before he asks them any questions. I can see how M might wonder if Bond temporarily teamed up with Mathis to get to Quantum and then killed him. It's shortly after that when she outright says that she doesn't trust Bond.

But of course Bond had learned to trust Mathis, which is a beautiful thing. I've always liked Mathis in the novel Casino Royale and Giancarlo Giannini plays him wonderfully. Fleming writes him as a fun, friendly character, but Giannini adds a ton of heart. Quantum makes great use of him and turns him into the only person after Vesper that Bond learns to trust. (Bond trusts M, too, to an extent, but that's a different relationship. Bond knows that M will always put Britain's interests over his. In contrast, Mathis - and Vesper, he'll argue - were intensely loyal to Bond as a person.)

Mathis has no reason to help Bond look into Quantum's activities in Bolivia, but he does it because he's a good man who believes in forgiveness. Bond, on the other hand, isn't, but Bond's goodness isn't a prerequisite for Mathis' mercy. Bond never even really apologizes or seems to regret his distrust of Mathis, but that's okay. In the simple act of turning to Mathis for help, Bond has admitted that he was wrong. And that's all Mathis needs to find hope that Bond can be redeemed.

Mathis helps Bond investigate Dominic Greene, but his real mission is to put Bond on a better path as a human being. He encourages Bond to forgive Vesper and to learn the right lesson from knowing her. In spite of everything, he's truly concerned about Bond, even with his dying words: "Vesper. Forgive her. Forgive yourself." He's completely selfless. If for no other reason, Quantum has a special place in my heart for doing right by him. I love that character so much.

For his part, Bond leaves Mathis' body in a dumpster and takes his money. Camille is there and she's horrified. "Is that how you treat your friends?"

"He wouldn't care," Bond replies. And he's right. Mathis is the freaking Giving Tree. But Bond should care. And when he doesn't, it reveals that he doesn't deserve a friend like Mathis. That's the whole point though. That's why Mathis is the only person Bond can trust for most of the film.

Bond even has reason to distrust Felix, his unequivocal ally in Casino Royale. The CIA is in bed with Greene and that makes Felix look guilty by association. Happily, Felix is able to turn that around. His hands may be tied - and the implication is that the CIA isn't any happier about it than Felix (his boss notwithstanding) - but they recognize in Bond a way to make things right. They can't move against Greene, but Bond can. Ironically, his withdrawn independence gives him freedom to be the force for justice that the establishment can't be.

M recognizes this too. Once it's revealed how connected Quantum really is, M is told by the Foreign Secretary to call off the investigation. "Mr. Greene's interests and ours now align." After that, M goes to Bolivia, finds Bond, and suspends him. Again. Seriously, this is the third movie in a row. But while I believe that she has multiple reasons for relieving Bond of official duty, I also have no doubt that one of them is to free him to do what she can't order him to do. She puts a detail on him to get him out of the country, but as soon as he escapes - which is right away - she tells Tanner that Bond's "my agent and I trust him." She says that she knows he's onto something and she wants him followed, but not interfered with.

Her comment about trusting Bond is curious, because she explicitly stated earlier that she didn't. In fact, she's riding him hard about rage and trustworthiness earlier in that scene. The only thing I can see that's changed is that when he escapes his escort, he doesn't take off into the night, but comes back to talk to M some more about Agent Fields. He's concerned about Fields' reputation, but he's also concerned about his relationship with M. "You and I need to see this through," he says, reminding her that they're a team and reassuring her that this isn't about his grief. It's quick and subtle, but it seems to be enough for her.

He puts duty before revenge a couple of more times, too. First, he saves Greene's life in the exploding hotel just on the slim chance that he has a chance to question the villain later. Even more importantly, he also lets Vesper's boyfriend live; the man who'd betrayed Vesper and caused her to betray Bond.

And he forgives Vesper, too. After her boyfriend is taken away, Bond tells M, "Congratulations. You were right." And when she asks him about what, he clarifies, "About Vesper." It's a reference to a conversation they had at the end of Casino Royale where she asked if he ever wondered why Quantum hadn't killed Bond. "Because," she suggested, "she made a deal to save your life." Bond hadn't accepted it then, nor had he accepted it at the beginning of Quantum when Mr. White outright confirms it. According to White, if Vesper hadn't killed herself, Quantum would have used her to control Bond, too. That's how they operate.

But thanks to Mathis and M and even Felix and definitely Camille (whom we'll talk about tomorrow), Bond has made peace and learned that he's not alone. Mathis was right, and he'd be pleased.

M, on the other hand, was wrong about Bond. She was right about Bond's not facing his grief, but wrong about how that affected his job. Bond was certainly angry, but his mission to uncover Quantum was never about revenge. It was always about duty and serving her. At the end of the movie, he's technically still on suspension, so M tells him that she needs him back. His response is lovely. "I never left."

Best Quip



"We are teachers on sabbatical... and we have just won the lottery."

Worst Quip



"Thank you. She's seasick."

Gadgets



No gadgets in this one unless you count the fancy computer interfaces at MI6.

Top Ten Gadgets

1. Lotus Esprit (The Spy Who Loved Me)
2. Aston Martin DB V (Goldfinger and Thunderball)
3. Jet pack (Thunderball)
4. Iceberg boat (A View to a Kill)
5. The Q Boat (The World Is Not Enough)
6. Aston Martin V8 Vantage (The Living Daylights)
7. Glastron CV23HT speed boat (Moonraker)
8. Acrostar Mini Jet (Octopussy)
9. Crocodile submarine (Octopussy)
10. X-Ray Specs (The World Is Not Enough)

Quantum of Solace (2008) | Story

Plot Summary

Bond tracks down the people behind Vesper's death, but is he doing it for duty or revenge?

Influences

The history of the Quantum of Solace script is long and troubled. Neal Purvis and Robert Wade started it and Paul Haggis did a re-write that he reportedly finished just hours before a major writers strike put the kibosh on any updates. Rules stated though that the director and actors were allowed to work on scenes together, so Marc Forster and Daniel Craig finished it up. I don't even want to try to unravel who was responsible for which parts, but the result is a movie that has fans divided about its quality. Some see it as a complete mess, while some see it as a fine continuation of the plot and emotional journey started in Casino Royale. I'm in the second group. I have issues with it, but they're minor.

It's the first Bond movie that's more than just a nominal sequel. It doesn't stand on its own and that seems to be a big reason a lot of people don't like it. But I love the way it builds on Casino Royale and even leads into Skyfall. This isn't what we're used to from the Bond series, but it's fantastic.

How Is the Book Different?

Quantum of Solace gets its name from a Fleming short story, but doesn't borrow any plot elements from there. The two versions do however have a major theme in common: finding a tiny amount of comfort in the midst of great suffering. It's a great title and I'm glad that the film series not only found a use for it, but was able to apply it directly to Bond this time. In Fleming, it's a whole other character who needs some relief.

Moment That's Most Like Fleming



In Fleming, Casino Royale is followed by Live and Let Die, which is very much a revenge mission for Bond since Mr. Big is funding the organization that tortured Bond and was responsible for Vesper's death. So, the whole idea of Quantum's continuing the emotional story from Casino Royale is perfect.

Other than that though, I also notice some similarity in director Marc Forster's focus on details. Skyfall rightfully gets a lot of praise for how beautifully shot it is, but Quantum is the same way. Roberto Schaefer was also Forster's cinematographer on Finding Neverland and he gets some great shots that highlight what's going on around the action. Fleming did that as well in his writing.

The problem is that these extra shots often feel extraneous and indulgent. For instance, Forster intercuts Bond's chasing M's traitorous bodyguard with shots from a horse race going on at the same time. And later, there's a ton of focus on the preparation for and presentation of the opera where Quantum is holding its meeting. I imagine that both of those are purposely juxtaposed with what Bond's doing in order to comment on his actions, but the connections aren't clear and I never want to quit paying attention to the action to try to figure out the meanings of the other stuff. I appreciate the effort, but it doesn't end up being worth it.

Moment That's Least Like Fleming



The set pieces are all very strong in Quantum, but the connections between them are weak. Fleming's story structure was always tight. Even when his pacing was leisurely, his plots flowed well and I always understand what's going on. Quantum is very loose and glosses past key story beats, especially in terms of MI6's investigation.

The information is always there, but the movie is so interested in Bond's emotional journey that it doesn't care if we believe in his detective work. Bond discovers Quantum's Haitian connection because some Quantum money was deposited into the account of a man staying at a hotel there, so he must be a lead. Bond finds Dominic Greene through a magical search engine that looks for everyone on earth with that name and picks the right one to send Bond a picture of. At the opera where Quantum's meeting, Bond is watching Greene, but happens to notice an audience member receive a special bag from under the gift table, so of course that must connect him to Quantum as well. None of it is exactly nonsensical, but it's obvious that not a lot of thought went into any of it either.

Cold Open



One of the weakest things about Quantum is the teaser. It's just a car chase. And though it's exciting, it's not innovative or different from most other car chases. The big reveal at the end is that Bond has Mr White in his trunk, letting us know that Quantum picks up right after Casino Royale, but that's small potatoes considering what Bond fans are used to.

There's not even the traditional gun barrel sequence, because that's been moved to the end of the movie before the closing credits for no reason.

Top 10 Cold Opens

1. GoldenEye
2. Casino Royale
3. The Spy Who Loved Me
4. Moonraker
5. Thunderball
6. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
7. A View to a Kill
8. Goldfinger
9. The Man with the Golden Gun
10. The Living Daylights

Movie Series Continuity



There's not much continuity with the broader Bond series, but of course there's tons with Casino Royale. M refers to Bond's arrangement to let the CIA have custody of Le Chiffre in exchange for Felix's poker chips. She says that the CIA "won't be happy," apparently referring to MI6's custody of Mr White.

Bond has the right response though. He reminds M that he promised Felix that he could have Le Chiffre. That Le Chiffre is dead isn't any fault of MI6's. In fact, now that I think about it, why didn't Felix arrange to capture Le Chiffre directly after the poker game? Would have save Bond's testicles a lot of trouble. It's the CIA's own fault that White got to Le Chiffre first and assassinated him. MI6 doesn't owe them White in compensation. Bond got White through his own, separate investigation and suffered a lot for it. I love Felix, but screw the CIA on this one. I don't know why M is even concerned.

In the same scene, Bond acts like he wants to move on from Vesper and he denies that she was important to him, but we know right away that's a lie when he steals a picture of her missing boyfriend from the file. Much more on this tomorrow.

The last bit of continuity worth mentioning is that Tanner's back, but played by Rory Kinnear now. Michael Kitchen played him in the Brosnan era, even after the character was replaced as Chief of Staff by Charles Robinson. I wonder if Judi Dench's M in the Craig films is even supposed to be the same character who gave Bond his orders in the Brosnan films.

Octopussy and The Living Daylights | "Octopussy"

The short story “Octopussy” was written late in 1962, but wasn’t published until 1965, after Fleming’s death. It was serialized in the Daily Express, which had also published “From a View to a Kill,” “Risico,” the James Bond comic strip, and had serialized both Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia with Love.

Fans of the movie Octopussy will remember that Maude Adams’ character is friendly towards Bond because he had once allowed her proud, but criminal father the choice of suicide instead of the humiliation of a public trial. The short story is the account of that confrontation and choice.

“Octopussy” sometimes gets compared to “Quantum of Solace” in that Bond’s participation in the story is basically a bookend to the actual tale. But unlike “Quantum of Solace,” where Bond is simply being told the story as a way to pass time, he’s the catalyst for “Octopussy.” His investigation of a decade-old murder has led him to Dexter Smythe and Bond already has all the evidence he needs to put the old man away. As the movie Octopussy says, Bond does offer Smythe a week to get his affairs in order before he’s arrested, which Smythe believes is an opportunity to kill himself. I won’t spoil the ending, but let’s just say that it’s not as clean and simple as the way Maud Adams tells it.

Whatever Smythe’s final fate, it is pretty clear that Bond intends to let Smythe commit suicide as an alternative to spending his final days in prison. Which is an enormous kindness on Bond’s part considering Bond’s personal investment in the case. The reason Bond requested the investigation when it happened across his desk is that he had a personal relationship with Smythe’s victim. Bond reveals that the dead man was not only the person who taught Bond to ski as a teenager, but was also a surrogate father at a time when Bond really needed one. He offers no more detail than that, but it’s a major clue in the mystery of Bond’s childhood.

I’m reading the short stories in the order that they take place in Bond’s career, not in the order that Fleming wrote them, so it’s possible that Fleming confirms Bond’s being an orphan in one of the last novels. But chronologically, “Octopussy” is the first indication that Bond may have lost his parents and it seems to indicate that he was a teenager when it happened.

Thunderball by Ian Fleming

The creation of Thunderball is notoriously complicated. If most of For Your Eyes Only was the result of Fleming’s trying to bring Bond back to television, Thunderball was the result of his trying to get a film made. In late 1958, he teamed up with a few people including Irish writer/director Kevin McClory, hoping to create a Bond movie. Fleming and McClory weren’t the only people involved, but they were the two who ended up in court, so I’ll focus on them. Not that I’m going to spend much time on that drama, but it’s important to see how the book developed.

According to Wikipedia, Fleming’s confidence in the potential movie fluctuated throughout its development, in part because one of McClory’s other movies bombed at the box office around that same time. So Fleming was more involved at some times and less at others, but between him and the other writers, close to a dozen different treatments, outlines, and scripts were created with lots of different titles. It’s impossible to verify who created what exactly, especially when it comes to the story’s most famous contributions to Bond lore: Ernst Stavro Blofeld and SPECTRE. Though the courts gave those elements to McClory for years, there’s a strong case to be made for Fleming’s contributing to them, especially since Diamonds Are Forever and From Russia with Love clearly show that he had a fondness for the word “spectre.”

Regardless of who contributed how much and which parts, Fleming was certainly on ethically shaky ground when he turned the collaboration into a novel with just his name on it. Once McClory got wind of that, he petitioned the courts to stop publication. That was denied, but the courts left the door open for McClory to pursue later action, starting a long, bitter feud between him and Fleming (as well as future caretakers of Bond’s adventures).

For Your Eyes Only | "Quantum of Solace"

Originally published in Cosmopolitan a couple of months after Goldfinger, "Quantum of Solace" is the one short story in For Your Eyes Only not based on a plot outline for CBS's scrapped Bond series. Instead, Fleming wrote it as an homage to W Somerset Maugham (Of Human Bondage, Ashenden: The British Agent, The Razor's Edge), one of Fleming's favorite authors. According to the British Empire website, Maugham enjoyed writing about "the remote locations of the quietly magnificent yet decaying British Empire" and the people who worked and lived there. He was a master at juxtaposing "realistic depictions of the boredom and drudgery" of plantation life or civil service with "the desire and trappings of what [British citizens who lived in those places] would regard as civilisation."

Fleming evokes all of that in "Quantum of Solace". It's an odd Bond story in that Bond is only there to serve as an audience as the British Governor of the Bahamas relates the story of Philip and Rhoda Masters, a tragic couple who lived on the island earlier. "Quantum of Solace" opens after a dull dinner party where Bond and the Governor are the last remaining attendees. The two men have nothing in common with each other and each is completely uncomfortable. Bond is in the area after blowing up a boat full of contraband weapons. He's bored by the Governor, a lifelong civil servant who values quiet and routine. Desperate to get the conversation going somewhere interesting, Bond makes an intentionally offensive comment about wanting to marry an airline hostess if anyone at all. The Governor refuses the bait, but is reminded about the Masterses because Rhoda was an airline hostess when Philip met her.

The bulk of "Quantum of Solace" is the Masterses' story, a tragedy of betrayal brought on by the boredom and drudgery that Rhoda feels towards life in the Bahamas. She wants the trappings of a proper British life, but can't get them out in the colonies, so she acts out, hurting her husband enormously. The story's title refers to a theory of the Governor's: that bad marriages can endure if each member can offer the tiniest amount of comfort to the other. Rhoda was unable to do that and in the end it damaged her as much as Philip.

It's a powerful story of heartbreak, not a rousing Bond adventure, but that's the point it's trying to make. I have to spoil it to talk about it adequately, but Bond ultimately learns that Rhoda was in fact a very dull woman he'd sat next to during dinner. He realizes that he misjudged her and that what he's always thought of as an adventuresome life has been empty of the emotion and meaning - however tragic - that filled hers. For that reason, it's an important story in Bond's character development, second so far only to Dr No. Bond continues to be confronted by his own self-absorption and to grow from those experiences.