Line Of Duty Series 5

[phantom_power]

This may be obvious but I am pretty sure Graham firing off the gun before dying will be important before the end of the series. I think he did it deliberately to get some sort of forensic evidence.

I don't think Kate is bent. Gill definitely is, as she was caught up in bad shit in series 3(?) and was conveniently with Ted when his missus got done over.

This show is ridiculous but quite enjoyable. All of the characters act like idiots a lot of the time but there are enough twists to make it compelling. There is lots of procedure porn to keep the wannabe coppers satisfied as well, though not so much in this series

[kalowski]

This may be obvious but I am pretty sure Graham firing off the gun before dying will be important before the end of the series. I think he did it deliberately to get some sort of forensic evidence.

This is a really good point. From memory, there was enough focus on it for it to be clear it was important. Well spotted!

[BeardFaceMan]

Add "an invidious position" to the list of Partridge references.

[Phil_A]

Jesus Christ Ted, you really walked into that one son.

What are the odds Ryan is the new caddy? He wasn't picked up with the rest of the gang, plus mention from McQueen of him taking exams and going for an interview. Hmmm.

[Alternative Carpark]

Add "an invidious position" to the list of Partridge references.

Anna Maxwell Martin also played a policewoman in Alpha Papa too...

[kalowski]

Jesus Christ Ted, you really walked into that one son.

What are the odds Ryan is the new caddy? He wasn't picked up with the rest of the gang, plus mention from McQueen of him taking exams and going for an interview. Hmmm.

Doesn't he have a criminal record? He must do.

[BlodwynPig]

A load of old ham, that was. *turns to camera*

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Line of Duty has always been a load of old ham, that's a big part of its appeal.

[Blinder Data]

So all those theories about Hastings being one step ahead of the curve and recruiting McQueen turned out to be rubbish? Still no closer to working out who H is. The lawyer lady is definitely involved somehow.

Is there any significance to Hastings saying "Lisa" as if he recognised her when he first went into the nightclub backroom?

[phantom_power]

So all those theories about Hastings being one step ahead of the curve and recruiting McQueen turned out to be rubbish?

Are they? ARE THEY? Yes they probably are but I still don't think what happened last night precludes that. He could have been doing that but then being stitched up by Gill and whoever H really is.

I do struggle with how moronic most of the people in the show behave but it is so compelling that I have to give it a pass. Hastings keeping that money for one thing. And trusting Gill when she was shown to be heavily complicit in trying to stitch up Steve in series 3. We did finally get some tasty interview scene action this week though, but it wasn't the same without Steve, Ted or Kate turning the screws. I did like how they made the officer interviewing Ted be super-obnoxious and smug so we stayed on his side

[A Hat Like That]

I thought that was straight out of the Patrick Baladi in the Office playbook. Nothing too far, nothing that we'd not seen Ted etc do themselves, but it all summed up to be properly obnoxious.

[worldsgreatestsinner]

I'm not convinced this isn't part of Hasting's plan. Everything about it seems like he would have only done it if he was a complete fucking moron. So my new theory - next week it turns out Hastings has been working with the approval of his commanding officer to take down Gill and this is the way of doing it.

[phantom_power]

I'm not convinced this isn't part of Hasting's plan. Everything about it seems like he would have only done it if he was a complete fucking moron. So my new theory - next week it turns out Hastings has been working with the approval of his commanding officer to take down Gill and this is the way of doing it.

Counter-theory: it turns out he is actually a certified moron and has managed to avoid detection for this long due to everyone around him being a bit thick as well. The clues are there. The pauses where he pretends to think before agreeing with whatever has just been said. The repetition of words and phrases.

[gib]

I'm not convinced this isn't part of Hasting's plan. Everything about it seems like he would have only done it if he was a complete fucking moron. So my new theory - next week it turns out Hastings has been working with the approval of his commanding officer to take down Gill and this is the way of doing it.

I like your theory but i'm not sure how much i trust his commanding officer.

[notjosh]

Bit of a damp squib of an episode. No new information or surprises, just the characters catching up with what we already knew about, or had guessed was coming.

Ted's arrest might have been more entertaining had it not been so heavily telegraphed and so obviously a red herring. Could it have been more dramatic if we hadn't already known about the money beforehand? If we'd just seen a suspicious envelope and the contents were only revealed at the climax of this episode?

[BeardFaceMan]

Has it been mentioned anywhere whether this is the final series or not?

[phantom_power]

I think it has been renewed for series 6, when series 5 was announced

[Waking Life]

Really hope the next series isn't Arnott and Kate trying to clear Ted's name. Seems more and more likely it will be though, as they'd have to do a relatively quick wrap up now.

This series has definitely has the weakest plot overall. No major shocks and the stakes somehow seem lower. Doesn't help that the gang seem quite small. Maybe the last episode will turn it on its head to be fair, but it'd need to be pretty dramatic.

[BlodwynPig]

Line of Duty has always been a load of old ham, that's a big part of its appeal.

There is ham and there is full 30 stone oinker and that last episode tipped into the latter...it became too BBC by numbers, sadly.

[BlodwynPig]

Counter-theory: it turns out he is actually a certified moron and has managed to avoid detection for this long due to everyone around him being a bit thick as well. The clues are there. The pauses where he pretends to think before agreeing with whatever has just been said. The repetition of words and phrases.

There was some awfully clunky dialogue yesterday - those repeated phrases not hitting the mark and delivered poorly.

[BlodwynPig]

I think it has been renewed for series 6, when series 5 was announced

"Well we discovered that H was Her Majesty the Queen in the last series and all is well and good....hang on.... the bad things are still happening"

*The Mekon glowers from outer space*

[dallasman]

I was hoping for some development on who's setting Ted up in this ep, but it was just putting together the incriminating pieces of evidence we've already seen. And yeah, even the cast seem dubious and reluctant to go down his path. Hope it's all being saved for the feature-length finale, rather than the next series. That would seem an extremely flimsy way to close this one, given the high-octane character of the first four eps.

[Phil_A]

Really hope the next series isn't Arnott and Kate trying to clear Ted's name. Seems more and more likely it will be though, as they'd have to do a relatively quick wrap up now.

This series has definitely has the weakest plot overall. No major shocks and the stakes somehow seem lower. Doesn't help that the gang seem quite small. Maybe the last episode will turn it on its head to be fair, but it'd need to be pretty dramatic.

Surely the entire gang can't just be five twats hanging around a print shop, they must be a fringe group on the edge of a bigger organisation. If that doesn't turn out to be the case and that's the end of the "Balaclava Men" storyline it would be the dampest squib ever. And also wouldn't make a lot of sense especially given how wide-ranging and organised their activities have been in the past, "Urgent Exit Required" and all that.

Plus there was the list of high profile paedos as well, which was a major plot point back in series 3. Surely that has to come back again as well.

[Waking Life]

Surely the entire gang can't just be five twats hanging around a print shop, they must be a fringe group on the edge of a bigger organisation. If that doesn't turn out to be the case and that's the end of the "Balaclava Men" storyline it would be the dampest squib ever. And also wouldn't make a lot of sense especially given how wide-ranging and organised their activities have been in the past, "Urgent Exit Required" and all that.

Plus there was the list of high profile paedos as well, which was a major plot point back in series 3. Surely that has to come back again as well.

Yeah, you would hope. But those five twats seem to be the ones taking direct orders from 'H' or Hastings, supposedly the top bent copper. I don't remember much about Tommy Hunter from S1 now, but was he not top of his respective gang, serving the corrupt police? They are a continuation of the same gang. Maybe there are more powerful figures waiting off-screen, patiently counting down the days to be introduced in the next series. But even in this type of show, it's becoming more implausible to bring in further hidden networks. It would have been better to more explicit about the scale of it in this series given how far it's come (my point on the stakes feeling low); they keep saying they've almost got the top guy.

To be fair, I've watched them as they have come out, so not sure how each series links up now. The face chart in the police room is too fleeting. Maybe I'm doing it a disservice.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

There is ham and there is full 30 stone oinker and that last episode tipped into the latter...it became too BBC by numbers, sadly.

You always say this - BBC by numbers - but what does it actually mean? How does it relate specifically to Line of Duty?

This is a show which, over several years, has viciously pecked away at the establishment. Don't trust them, they're cunts. That's the overarching message. The last series blatantly nodded towards Savile and paedophile rings orchestrated by politicians and powerful celebrities.

Yep, BBC by numbers.

[BlodwynPig]

Agreed, it's not all black or white. LoD has had some tremendous, isolated, bits of telly. But that last episode smacked of beige middle-class viewer baiting, digestible and unremarkable. Hastings fleabag at the end became somewhat less of the great character he has consistently been in much of the rest of the show. By all means make him vulnerable, but don't make him a dolt.

[worldsgreatestsinner]

That's why I think this has to be a plan. He just looks too stupid otherwise, why would he leave the money lying around and then walk into the gang nightclub that he knows is under heavy surveillance by his own team? I think he's trying to look bent because he needed to get arrested and Steve/Kate know nothing about it because he needs it to be as real as possible. He's done too much that makes him look suspicious and I don't think the character is that stupid.

[Phil_A]

Yeah, you would hope. But those five twats seem to be the ones taking direct orders from 'H' or Hastings, supposedly the top bent copper. I don't remember much about Tommy Hunter from S1 now, but was he not top of his respective gang, serving the corrupt police? They are a continuation of the same gang. Maybe there are more powerful figures waiting off-screen, patiently counting down the days to be introduced in the next series. But even in this type of show, it's becoming more implausible to bring in further hidden networks. It would have been better to more explicit about the scale of it in this series given how far it's come (my point on the stakes feeling low); they keep saying they've almost got the top guy.

To be fair, I've watched them as they have come out, so not sure how each series links up now. The face chart in the police room is too fleeting. Maybe I'm doing it a disservice.

They were definitely presented to us as being something much more insidious than just a small group, dangerous enough that Jimmy Lakewell the dodgy lawyer is too scared to give up the name of whoever was giving the orders above Hilton. "There are some people there's no immunity from" was the line he used. This is not the impression McQueen & co gave at all(they seem like fairly clueless low level grunts if anything), so I really hope there is more to it. I agree though it would get silly if they start bringing in more players at this point in the story.

[rasta-spouse]

There was something a bit off about Adrian Dunbar's acting in the latest episode (ep5). I guess he's trying to portray the character as lacking the skills and confidence when trying to infiltrate the gang, hinting that he might not be H. But he sort of came across, when with the OCG, as a dad trying to be cool and aloof around his son and his mates when he's come home early and found them smoking doobies.

[BlodwynPig]

There was something a bit off about Adrian Dunbar's acting in the latest episode (ep5). I guess he's trying to portray the character as lacking the skills and confidence when trying to infiltrate the gang, hinting that he might not be H. But he sort of came across, when with the OCG, as a dad trying to be cool and aloof around his son and his mates when he's come home early and found them smoking doobies.

Yes, and some appalling line delivery, but I'd have to watch again. I think when he barges in and starts typing on the secure link with Lisa. Muttering to himself.