In Skyfall, are we genuinely meant to accept that Moneypenny visits Bond’s hotel room in Macau solely to give him a clean shave?   The line above practically begs for subtext, and the scene is so charged with unspoken desire that the air between them might as well be humming.  Yet the moment diffuses abruptly as she apparently leaves, he moves on, and the film never capitalizes on the dynamic it so clearly establishes.

In retrospect, it feels like a missed creative opportunity.  The Bond/Moneypenny relationship has long been defined by flirtation, but Skyfall finally positioned them with modern actors capable of exploring a far more complex connection.  Their chemistry is undeniable, and expanding that relationship (even if only to complicate Bond’s emotional landscape) could have added depth to both characters.  A more daring narrative might have even used Moneypenny’s fate as a catalyst for Bond’s motivations, providing a fresh angle on the franchise’s most familiar relationship, but instead, the movie hints at something intriguing and then seems oddly reluctant to follow through.