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March 28, 2024, 11:49:36 PM

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Line Of Duty Series 5

Started by Phil_A, March 05, 2019, 12:02:02 AM

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MidnightShambler

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on May 06, 2019, 04:36:32 PM
Is/ was The Bodyguard / Bodies any good? I've spent the last 5 weeks ploughing through every episode of LoD and now have no idea what to watch tonight.

I was gonna watch The Bodyguard as well but absolutely every article related to LoD I've read over the last couple of weeks has included the masssive spoiler that makes me think there's no fucking point in watching it if i already know about it. Bastards.

JesusAndYourBush

Did the "H" thing carry on from the previous series?  I didn't see any of the previous series but this series worked ok for me as a standalone.  Were any elements of it carrying over from the previous series?

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: JesusAndYourBush on May 06, 2019, 05:14:43 PM
Did the "H" thing carry on from the previous series?  I didn't see any of the previous series but this series worked ok for me as a standalone.  Were any elements of it carrying over from the previous series?

Yes, the 'H' conundrum was established in series 4. This series also relied quite heavily on references to plot details stretching all the way back to series 1. I've been wondering if it made a shred of sense to anyone watching the show for the first time, but apparently it did! I guess the various callbacks were presented in such a way that newcomers could still follow the story, which is quite an impressive feat.

DrGreggles

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on May 06, 2019, 11:48:44 AM
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0742833/episodes/player

Is there an independent one?
I assume a BBC podcast about a BBC show might not be particularly balanced when it comes to the shittier bits.

Phil_A

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on May 06, 2019, 04:36:32 PM
Is/ was The Bodyguard / Bodies any good? I've spent the last 5 weeks ploughing through every episode of LoD and now have no idea what to watch tonight.

Bodyguard was fine but the final episode is a disappointing cop-out on several levels(seems to be a bit of a pattern emerging with recent Mercurio shows, sadly)

Bodies is arguably his best work, maybe not surprising as it's written from experience as a former medical professional.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Yeah, Bodyguard starts strongly but gradually falls apart. It's not worth the bother, really. Bodies is very good, though, I agree with Phil_A. Not his best work, in my view - flaws and all, Line of Duty is a riveting and even quite subversive piece of television - but anyone in the mood for more Mercurio should check it out. It's basically a really dark, realistic version of Casualty written by someone who knows what they're talking about.

DrGreggles


BeardFaceMan

Quote from: BeardFaceMan on May 06, 2019, 03:06:53 AM
There must be some interviews with Mercurio going about now the series is over, I wonder if he'll talk about whether H was ever one person?

There's an interview with Mercurio I saw on Digital Spy where he explains a lot of the loose ends. I'm not buying it though, his responses are as bullshit as the storyline. And frankly, if you need to do a big interview to explain the finale of your show because so many people were confused and shouting "what the fuck is this shit?" at their TV, then that's not very good writing. Or maybe we've just been spoiled by the preceding 4 series'.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: BeardFaceMan on May 06, 2019, 06:29:24 PM
There's an interview with Mercurio I saw on Digital Spy where he explains a lot of the loose ends. I'm not buying it though, his responses are as bullshit as the storyline. And frankly, if you need to do a big interview to explain the finale of your show because so many people were confused and shouting "what the fuck is this shit?" at their TV, then that's not very good writing. Or maybe we've just been spoiled by the preceding 4 series'.

I've just read that article and, for the most part anyway, Mercurio's explanations don't cover anything we haven't worked out or presumed for ourselves.

holyzombiejesus

What order would you put the series in? From best to worst, 2 3 1 4 5

BlodwynPig


Crabwalk

If anyone is unaware, all of Bodies is currently up on iPlayer. If a lack of realism about this series of LoD bothers you, rest assured that is not an issue with the earlier show.

holyzombiejesus

Started to watch but saw Keith Allen was in it so switched it off.

Crabwalk

I completely understand, but he is extremely well cast in his role.

DrGreggles


Mobius

I wonder if Jill Bigelow (Polly Walker's character?) was originally meant to be H but they got more greenlit for more seasons and have had to stretch it out.

Anyway that was mad messy shit, but still love it.

Been watching the third series.

So much better, the Daniel Mays interview in Episode 1 was electric and far, far better than anything in Series 4 or 5.


The bit I did like was Kate and Steve second guessing the Urgent Exit Required part. That bit was good.

Far too much telling, not enough showing.

NattyDread 2

Quote from: Crabwalk on May 06, 2019, 09:04:21 PM
If anyone is unaware, all of Bodies is currently up on iPlayer. If a lack of realism about this series of LoD bothers you, rest assured that is not an issue with the earlier show.

Aye, cheers. Started on this last night after reading the plaudits here. Good stuff indeed, bloody hard to watch at times though.

Head Gardener

I knew who it was from series 1


phantom_power

Quote from: Mobius on May 07, 2019, 01:12:15 AM
I wonder if Jill Bigelow (Polly Walker's character?) was originally meant to be H but they got more greenlit for more seasons and have had to stretch it out.


No I think Gill has always been just a facilitator. In series 3 she was helping Dot out but never seemed to be in charge. She isn't a police officer either so doesn't have any real pull or access to any sensitive information or material.

BeardFaceMan

Quote from: phantom_power on May 07, 2019, 02:37:02 PM
No I think Gill has always been just a facilitator. In series 3 she was helping Dot out but never seemed to be in charge. She isn't a police officer either so doesn't have any real pull or access to any sensitive information or material.

I thought the twist for this last ep once the interrogation started was going to be that Bigelow was her married name and her maiden name began with H. Wouldn't have been any less gash than what we ended up with.

BlodwynPig

The H mystery is sub-par pulp detective fiction shit.

phantom_power

Even more so now there isn't even an H, despite coincidentally one of the people having a name beginning with H

BlodwynPig

Is H morse code for four?

phantom_power

H in Morse code is ...., and Dot moved his hand four time. Pretty obvious really. If you are Ted fucking Rogers

gib

Quote from: phantom_power on May 07, 2019, 11:14:34 PM
H in Morse code is ...., and Dot moved his hand four time. Pretty obvious really. If you are Ted fucking Rogers

lol yeah. Even if they'd included the hand signals in the previous footage like some kind of deep clue then it still would have been ridiculous. In a way i hope the writers really push the boat in this direction just for the CaB commentary.

Surely what happens now is the writers spent months scouring the internet for theories until they stumble across one that just about fits in the that'll do slot.

BlodwynPig

They didnt look at his other hand that did the morse for C

H4C - a restaurant in Montreal where the real mastermind works

BeardFaceMan

Quote from: phantom_power on May 07, 2019, 11:14:34 PM
H in Morse code is ...., and Dot moved his hand four time. Pretty obvious really. If you are Ted fucking Rogers

Even Dusty Bin would have rolled his eyes and said "For fucks sake, Ted..." at that reveal.

Utter Shit

Aside from how ridiculous that reveal was, what makes it even more ridiculous is that no one questioned it. Did they? As far as I can tell Steve notices the hand thing, immediately decides that it was morse code, then concludes that this means four people as H. It's certainly one possible conclusion, but the idea that it's 100% definitely correct with no further analysis required is bonkers. There are any number of possible reasons why Dot could have been trying to say "four", it's a massive assumption on Steve's part.