Line of Duty Season 4

[Blinder Data]

Yes, the girl in the café is the victim from the opening scene.

I'm not sure about this episode, especially

Spoiler alert

the implication that they've offed the new main character in the first episode for the third series in a row! Hardly a surprise. Can't we have them for a bit longer, please? I can't remember Thandie Newton actually impressing me in anything she's done, but I thought she was great in this and was hoping she'd fill the hard-as-nails icy female character hole now that Lindsay Denton's dead. Please don't replace her screen time with the bloke from W1A. He's great in that but in this he seems quite hammy.

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It went all went rather quickly, didn't it? Usually it would take at least an episode to establish AC-12's plan, but within half an hour Kate's been shoved straight into Thandie's team undercover seemingly a few days after they've charged the bloke.

Steve and Kate's jostling and bitchiness towards each other was hardly subtle. So their friendship is heading for the rocks? I bet one of them dies.

Hmm. I guess I'll just have to see how it pans out.

[Quincey]

It's a shame Steve and Kate aren't getting on, I always felt that they were quite fond of each other (in a non-romantic way) deep down. Is the root cause because Steve feels threatened that Kate is now a

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DS

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as well?

[Phil_A]

Yes, the girl in the café is the victim from the opening scene.

I'm not sure about this episode, especially

Spoiler alert

the implication that they've offed the new main character in the first episode for the third series in a row! Hardly a surprise. Can't we have them for a bit longer, please? I can't remember Thandie Newton actually impressing me in anything she's done, but I thought she was great in this and was hoping she'd fill the hard-as-nails icy female character hole now that Lindsay Denton's dead. Please don't replace her screen time with the bloke from W1A. He's great in that but in this he seems quite hammy.

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Spoiler alert

She wasn't dead, she opened her eyes just as matey-boy was preparing to hack her up.

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[Van Dammage]

Spoiler alert

She wasn't dead, she opened her eyes just as matey-boy was preparing to hack her up.

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Yeah I'd say Mercurio was just being a cheeky cunt with that. Everyone was probably thinking "Fuck sake, not again" up until the last frame.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Yeah I'd say Mercurio was just being a cheeky cunt with that. Everyone was probably thinking "Fuck sake, not again" up until the last frame.

Spoiler alert

He'll probably kill her off in the opening moments of episode two, cackling as he does so.

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I've no idea why I spoilered that, it's not as if you can ever accurately predict what's about to happen in this show.

[The Duck Man]

It went all went rather quickly, didn't it? Usually it would take at least an episode to establish AC-12's plan, but within half an hour Kate's been shoved straight into Thandie's team undercover seemingly a few days after they've charged the bloke.

In fairness, Kate is under cover within the first episode of every series. I'm astonished she doesn't get spotted given they seem to work within one city.

I did think the last few minutes of that were a bit much. Having set up various possibilities with regard to the crime, you fear a lot of them have been shut down by that ending, or you get a conventional man ends up in jail, theory gets shut down, but then he convinces everyone by the end plot. I'm sure Mecurio has more up his sleeve, but I'm a bit concerned - I think last year was the weakest series of the three and I hope it's not on the slide, especially now the Dot storyline is ostensibly resolved.

Just to fill that out, I thought 3 had a great first episode, but I'd have loved to seen more of Mays, bringing back Denton seemed a bit easy to me even if she was a good character, Steve get jailed seemed implausible, plus the shootings were a bit silly. That said, it's always been a show that has used its style to make some pretty out there stuff more credible - we had the cross dressing killer nurse in series 2, plus various corrupt officers armed with automatic weapons.

Put me down as another one who didn't spot the waitress was the victim. Surprised she's both back at work and willing to go to strangers' houses. Did find the lingering shot of Lee Ingleby's boot interesting although I think it's probably a red herring. He'll be significant though, they wouldn't cast someone like him in a minor role.

Also, Paul Higgins' accent is a bit weird, isn't it? Thought that the last time too.

[Vodka Margarine]

Maybe it's down to some of his previous roles but I've always found Jason Watkins weirdly terrifying. A superb bit of casting.

[Quincey]

In fairness, Kate is under cover within the first episode of every series. I'm astonished she doesn't get spotted given they seem to work within one city.

I like the way she changed her hairstyle but nothing else. I presume she kept the same first name so if she's out with one of the Polk Lane cops and someone says "Hello Kate" it doesn't blow her cover.

Is it wrong to think that there are lots of sexy women police officers in this show? The DCI's aide is really lovely as is the Indian PC.

[The Duck Man]

I was actually popping back on this thread to say it was also strange that the police had employed a child as a DC. Then I realise who you mean by the aide... :)

Still, she's no PC Kerry Young, eh lads?[nb] Recently resurfaced in EastEnders, for the record.[/nb]

[Quincey]

The Sun's anti-BBC bashing contiunes with a story complaining about the DCI driving on the wrong side of the road and sound issues.

[BlodwynPig]

Caught a bit of this. Rubbish. Was the chief super or whoever he was supposed to act like that? Stilted dialogue, crappy plot and wafer-thin acting largely. Infantilisation haemorrhaging right across the BBC.

[Phil_A]

Caught a bit of this. Rubbish. Was the chief super or whoever he was supposed to act like that? Stilted dialogue, crappy plot and wafer-thin acting largely. Infantilisation haemorrhaging right across the BBC.

Blodders, we know you hate everything related to the BBC, why do feel the need to reiterate this constantly as if we've forgotten?

The actor playing the ACC is the weak link in the cast, I'll give you, but the rest more than make up for it. Compston and McClure are always solid, and I could listen to Adrian Dunbar browbeating corrupt coppers all days. Newton has been superb so far.

If I have a criticism of this story so far it's that it feels a bit small. The previous series were very good at creating the impression of being on the edge of a grand conspiracy with loads of players on the board with their own motivations and loyalties. This feels more like a standard bent DCI murder cover-up without any of the larger implications this show usually revels in. But then, it is only two episodes in, lots could change.

[Van Dammage]

Really thought

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she was going to be caught out

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by the whole Kng-13 code thing (or whatever it was). Clever from Mercurio. Lots of tension in that episode. I still think the

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husband

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is a dodgy fucker.

[Phil_A]

The Guardian comments under their recap of this week's episode had some interesting theories. One was the possibility of there being

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a third person in the flat when Tim returned from his shopping trip(the husband or someone else?) and it was this person, not Huntley, who did that the actual killing.

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Someone else posited that the murders of prostitutes could tie back into the activities of the same gang from series 1-3, who presumably haven't wrapped up their operations just because Dot is no longer breathing.

I loved that creepy scene where Arnott and Hastings basically threaten the new head of Operation Trapdoor into not blowing Kate's cover. Steve really is becoming daddy's boy when it comes to Ted, isn't he? I could see him eventually crossing the line and becoming the subject of an investigation himself, maybe that's where the series is heading.

[Crabwalk]

Without a doubt Ted is about to get done on a charge of 'being from the 70s'. Kate's gonna bring him down.

[Van Dammage]

The Guardian comments under their recap of this week's episode had some interesting theories. One was the possibility of there being

Spoiler alert

a third person in the flat when Tim returned from his shopping trip(the husband or someone else?) and it was this person, not Huntley, who did that the actual killing.

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I'd say that if there was

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a third person in Tim's flat that it wouldn't be the husband.

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That's only because we saw his car pull up outside after Huntley went in. Or at least it looked almost identical to his car anyway.

Edit : There's a theory in the comments of that article that the dismembered body that they found in the woods is the body of

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Jackie Laverty

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from season 1...That would be interesting!

Without a doubt Ted is about to get done on a charge of 'being from the 70s'. Kate's gonna bring him down.

As soon as he said "Darling" I just knew that he she was going to say something about it. Had to laugh when he called the lawyer "Fella". I just love Hastings. Dunbarr is excellent.

[Quincey]

I was quite surprised when he made that organ grinder and monkey comment to the Fed Rep. I could imagine the Fed Rep making a complaint through the Police Federation about that. I suppose a Superintendent from AC12 would have quite a bad relationship with the Police Federation.

[Blinder Data]

I'm glad Roz didn't end up dead.

Yep, another one here who thinks

Spoiler alert

someone else was in the flat to help Roz clear up/commit the murder. Her husband? The girl who got kidnapped and was asked to do the cleaning by Tim?

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And I know it's ridiculous but LoD should have preserve own internal logic. The lack of security or even CCTV for the evidence room was just too unbelievable for me. Oh well, let's hope it doesn't push the boat out too much again this series.

[Vodka Margarine]

Steve really is becoming daddy's boy when it comes to Ted, isn't he? I could see him eventually crossing the line and becoming the subject of an investigation himself, maybe that's where the series is heading.

Arnott was royally hauled over the coals in the last series, first over

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his conduct with Denton and then when Dot managed to convince almost everybody that he was the Caddy.

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[nb]Spoilered because it's still a pretty major plot giveaway[/nb] I can't see it happening again in this one but I wouldn't rule out his world caving in again at some point.

Back to this series -

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I too think Huntley had a helping hand with offing Ifield. With the blade just an inch or two away from her face when she comes round, it would have been very tricky for her to overpower him flat on the floor underneath him.

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[Crabwalk]

I think his surprise

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would've put him at a momentary disadvantage. All she needs to do is quickly grab his hands and wrestle them up towards his neck and hey presto he's knicked his jugular.

He didn't want to kill her remember - it was an accident. His appetite to saw her face in half probably diminished rapidly the moment her eyes opened, whereas she was fighting for her life and would've had an incredible adrenaline boost

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.

[BlodwynPig]

Sorry Phil, I honestly didnt turn on Line of Duty to have a go at the BBC. I enjoyed Missing mostly, and then the Replacement was cack and this (admittedly) snippet I saw of Line of Duty looked very poor...and I wasn't trying to be cynical. Perhaps if I had watched it from the beginning I could have tuned into the characters more.

[Mobius]

I quite like Jamie from The Thick Of It doing a posh voice.

[Dr Syntax Head]

What was I thinking? Just watched all of walking dead and wayward pines and got little enjoyment out of it, how many hours is that? 10 minutes into this and yes! This is my kind of bleak

[Van Dammage]

What was I thinking? Just watched all of walking dead and wayward pines and got little enjoyment out of it, how many hours is that? 10 minutes into this and yes! This is my kind of bleak

Starting from season 1? Lennie James is great in it.

[Phil_A]

I thought I might go back and watch some of "Between The Lines", the other very highly regarded drama about police corruption which I mostly missed at the time, just to see how it compares to this. But some reason the first season is crazily expensive on DVD. £67 on Amazon? Crikey.

So, um, does anyone remember Between The Lines? Was it good?

[Van Dammage]

I thought I might go back and watch some of "Between The Lines", the other very highly regarded drama about police corruption which I mostly missed at the time, just to see how it compares to this. But some reason the first season is crazily expensive on DVD. £67 on Amazon? Crikey.

So, um, does anyone remember Between The Lines? Was it good?

I never heard of it up until a week or two ago. Watched the first two episodes and thought it was a decent way of passing 45 minutes or so. Marc Warren popped up in the second episode and Ciaran Hinds in the first, along with Ben Chaplin. Apparently Jerome Flynn, Daniel Craig and Ray Winstone pop up as well. Oh and Pete Postlethwaite was in episode 2. I can pm you the link to where I found it if you'd like. I found it on a streaming site.

[Phil_A]

I never heard of it up until a week or two ago. Watched the first two episodes and thought it was a decent way of passing 45 minutes or so. Marc Warren popped up in the second episode and Ciaran Hinds in the first, along with Ben Chaplin. Apparently Jerome Flynn, Daniel Craig and Ray Winstone pop up as well. Oh and Pete Postlethwaite was in episode 2. I can pm you the link to where I found it if you'd like. I found it on a streaming site.

Ooh yeah, could you hit me up with some links? I did have a look in the usual places but couldn't find much. Cheers.

[Phil_A]

Oh fuck!

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Steve!

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The anticipation in those last few minutes was unbearable.

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Even before that I had a feeling they were building up to something happening to him, if the sudden arrival of a new guy in AC12 wasn't enough of a giveaway.

I'm going to make a supposition that that wasn't Huntley's husband in the mask at the end, but the mysterious Jimmy Lakewell.

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[Van Dammage]

Oh fuck!

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Steve!

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The anticipation in those last few minutes was unbearable.

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Even before that I had a feeling they were building up to something happening to him, if the sudden arrival of a new guy in AC12 wasn't enough of a giveaway.

I'm going to make a supposition that that wasn't Huntley's husband in the mask at the end, but the mysterious Jimmy Lakewell.

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I was going to say it was

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Lakewell

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too. Looked like

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he was about to ring him several times and he also said he was drinking with someone called Jimmy the night that the murder took place, when his car was outside the house

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I wonder who the mole is that tipped of

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Huntley that she's being watched is?

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Also...After Paul Higgins

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got really weird with Roz and touched her leg, he got a phone call...around the same time that the husband was calling Jimmy Lakewell.

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Something which might suggest that

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Huntley definitely wasn't the man in the mask at the end. I'm 99% that balaclava man has brown eyes when he attacks steve. Huntley has blue. Might be just using a stuntman...but still. Steve also gets attacked on the 3rd floor, Huntley's office is on the 5th.

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[Utter Shit]

Spoiler alert

It did seem unlikely that Nick Huntley could get changed completely in the 30 seconds or so it took Steve to go up in the lift. Then again is it any more unlikely than being able to arrange for Jimmy Lakewell to get there from wherever he was in the time between the call and Steve coming up?

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