In Skyfall, Silva exposes the extent to which M has manipulated Bond’s return to service by concealing the results of his evaluations. Bond fails both his medical and physical assessments and even scores lower on his marksmanship test, dropping from 70 to 40. More revealing, however, is the psychological evaluation, which flags alcohol and substance addiction. For an MI6 agent, that result is likely an instant disqualification.

But it’s interesting it’s never specified what “pills” Bond takes. The alcohol is easy to infer, but the drugs remain deliberately vague. They are likely painkillers, perhaps opioids used to cope with the physical damage of his work. The ambiguity feels intentional, as if the filmmakers wanted to acknowledge Bond’s deterioration without tying it too closely to a real world crisis that would diminish Bond’s aura.