Opening Titles: Great except for one thing . . .

I don't think that was an explosion, it was the bullet that killed the General. That blunt and brutal way the KGB had of dealing with people it didn't like. I agree though, it felt a little jarring. I'm sure it was supposed to but I still prefer the TTSS opening.

Agreed: the exploding chalk thing is weird, but understandable.

I really like the music for the intro -- could listen to it over and over. Something about it captures the sadness and grandeur of Smiley, Karla, and the Cold War.

While I too could have done without the "chalk plinking," it does serve to add a "period" to the credits. I also think it symbolizes not only Karla's elimination of Vladimir -- the "Moscow rules" incident that sets the whole plot in motion, but also the "...I intend to shoot it dead" figurative quote from Smiley regarding his latest quest for Karla. Given the relatively non-violent presentation (not to be confused with a lack of genuine suspense and any shyness about showing the RESULTS of deadly force), the producers may have felt (if so, wrongly in my view) that they needed at least one shot to actually be fired on screen. I'm guessing of course.

Not that it matters all that much, but I was (sort of) waiting for a big explosion to happen. Maybe the explosion in the opening credits was a bit too subtle. But as I said, not that it really matters.

I do hope reviving these old threads is ok.

I view it as a contrast: the slow paced, boring, careful and subtle intelligence work (set up a meeting, leave a signal, wait to see if you get confirmation, etc), and the violence that could spring up at any point (a soft-nosed bullet to the face); the violence destroying most / all the work done with the subtle approach. I love these titles (as well as the ones for TTSS).