Line of Duty New Series

Definite training need for Kate and Steve in that they need to stop looking at each other all flabbergasted when someone says something significant. Or is that just a story signpost for those who aren’t quite following it. I think i’ll watch it again with Audio Description (aka voices in my head according to our 4 year old) to hear how it’s described.

Not sure the Forest scarf was a nerd spot. It occupied the centre of the screen for about 10 seconds.

Proper enjoying this but still struggling to forgive Kate’s 1 in a zillion gun shot in a previous series.

Kate and Steve in that they need to stop looking at each other all flabbergasted when someone says something significant

Glad it’s not just me! Mentioned it on page one. I think it’s probably just poor/over acting.

I think the acting issue is caused by the lines they are supposed to deliver. That look is – was that right what I just said, I’ve no idea what the hell this all means. And the return look is search me I’ve no idea what any of this is about either.

Anyway it can hardly be Hastings or anyone else who knows the identity of the undercover officer as they’d of had him disposed off by now.

Definitely not Kate or Steve because they took a photo and if she had identified either of them it would be the end of the series right there. one would have arrested the other and the duty brief would have been the witness. Unless it’s a pre-arranged drill between Kate and the copper giving the statement.

Hastings seems too obvious

I’m going to pause it and use the same IET as they have to see who the photo was.

Apparently there’s a clue on the drawer label she took the other two photo’s from, I shall have to re-watch and pause it later.

DezB
Subscriber
I’m going to pause it and use the same IET as they have to see who the photo was.

If that IET existed I’d have already used it to see what the message was that popped up on Hastings’ laptop in the hotel room – same messaging app that H used to contact Corbett earlier in the episode.

swavis
Subscriber
Apparently there’s a clue on the drawer label she took the other two photo’s from, I shall have to re-watch and pause it later.

Good call. It says ‘Current AC-12 Personnel’.

I think the acting issue is caused by the lines they are supposed to deliver.

Totally this. It’s like they’re making a presentation and have memorised the lines and are concentrating so much on getting the jargon right (OCG, PPC, AC-12, red 15, etc) that it doesn’t flow. Unless, this is how the police / anti-corruption unit actually talk to each other?

Hastings’ laptop in the hotel room – same messaging app that H used to contact Corbett earlier in the episode.

Bleepy-bong in Hastings’ hotel room is of significance though don’t recall if it’s the same bleepy-bong. Not Hastings tho…

Unless, this is how the police / anti-corruption unit actually talk to each other?

I have a mate who does this kind of thing for real. That is generally how he talks.

He’s like a robot or summink.

I have a mate who does this kind of thing for real. That is generally how he talks.

Interesting. Also they are never in doubt about anything that comes out of their mouths. Everything is straight fact, no ambiguity, no erring, no umming, just facts. Definitely robots.

Hastings will be looking more and more guilty until around the end of ep4/middle of ep5 when we find out its not him, but it’ll take him until late in ep6 to actually come through and arrest the real H. Then right at the end we’ll discover that H was reporting to someone else…

I reckon this is easy if you use the Midsomer Murders rule. If you look at the possible Hs, minus Hastings, then you aren’t left with many proper actors…

Also if your real name is Hastings why on earth would you choose ‘H’ as your villainous codename?! I guarantee it will be somebody whose name does not begin with H!!!

H is the  Home Secretary who faked her own death in a bombing in order to pursue a life of crime on a full time basis.

What about the Chief Super? Would she be included in the AC12 mugshots? Also how many pictures were taken off the wall, 6 pictures were presented in the interview room

H is the Home Secretary who faked her own death in a bombing in order to pursue a life of crime on a full time basis.

Avengers crossover stylee or do Home Secretaries regularly get blown up in BBC dramas? I can’t honestly remember. Steve vs the angry scottish bodyguard man in the dependable but lonely microwave-meal-for-one stakes?

6 pictures were presented in the interview room

There was a seventh.

Surely if Hastings was H he wouldn’t be skint?

Good call. It says ‘Current AC-12 Personnel’.

Yep it helps with the way hastings was told to look like he was waiting on the results of a difficult paternity test – It could well be him, but it could be any of the others depending on the timeline.

Surely if Hastings was H he wouldn’t be skint?

It’s either a really good act ie not spending a penny of it and hiding it all away for retirement or when he needs to run.

This series, for the first time I feel I’m being played for a mug. Ooh, look over there… Gotcha. Ooh, look over there… Gotcha. It’s like they’ve decided to try to bring the ITV crowd over. But they’re not as subtle or sincere as the makers of Endeavour or Doc Martin. But they’ve had more practice.

Ted Hastings has a single out …

So who thought Hastings was going to be under the balaclava??

Luckily they have no shortage of senior policemen whose surnames start with H..

Liked the 3-7 and 4-5 radio call signs in a nod to Bodie and Doyle.

zzjabzz
Member
Liked the 3-7 and 4-5 radio call signs in a nod to Bodie and Doyle.

+1. Thought I’d imagined it at first.

I knew it wasn’t him – way too stocky a figure. Did anybody else spot the spelling mistake in ‘H’s text – definately rather than definitely – can’t believe that won’t be significant!!

timbog160
Subscriber
I knew it wasn’t him – way too stocky a figure. Did anybody else spot the spelling mistake in ‘H’s text – definately rather than definitely – can’t believe that won’t be significant!!

Yeah, mentioned that at the time. Was waiting all episode for someone to be writing on a whiteboard somewhere…

They still seem to be trying very hard to put Ted in the frame. The disposal of his laptop and general shiftiness when discussing the case. Triple bluff?

They still seem to be trying very hard to put Ted in the frame. The disposal of his laptop and general shiftiness when discussing the case. Triple bluff?

I thought in this age of security we all shredded our laptops weekly?

I’m no IT expert, but do you really go to the trouble of getting a new roll of bubble wrap to protect a laptop that you then take to a high street shop for disposal?

Last one we binned, we just ran dban a couple if times and dropped it off at the tip.

Last one we binned, we just ran dban a couple if times and dropped it off at the tip.

Not quite as visual is it….

I still don’t think we have found out what pic she pointed at yet.

Yes that’s a good point – it obviously wasn’t Dot’s picture based on their reactions? But was it Hastings – I somehow doubt it.

Also if you’ve lost a load of money on a property development and some bloke in a pub says give me £100k and I’ll help you get it back, what is the correct response? (Here’s a clue – it’s 2 words!)…

So who thought Hastings was going to be under the balaclava??

Surely nobody, at this stage ? 🙂

Here’s a theory – Hastings is in fact straighter than a straight thing and thinks Mr Developer is lining him up to be blackmailed and recruited to H’s network.  He’s going along with it to unmask H.  Meanwhile Bodie & Doyle will build a case against him, and discover the dodgy financial goings on as part of that.  That’s the last step before they nick Hastings. Meanwhile Corbett has kidnapped Mrs Hastings and is using her as leverage to unmask H.  At the same time Hastings’ dinner date has built her own case against him (again) so at the end of Ep 5 it’ll be looking proper bleak for the gaffer.  Obvs once the bubble wrapped computer that Hstings used to log all his plans is found (being kept, not destroyed) it’ll all unravel in an improbable way in Ep 6, and H will in fact be someone who doesn’t have an H in their initials at all.

(Here’s a clue – it’s 2 words!)…

Or three, if you need to say ‘Fella!’ for extra emphasis.

Here’s a clue – it’s 2 words!

Sucking diesel?

It’s a very strange series. Really can’t engage with it, and I think I worked out what it was last night: The dialogue. It’s awful.
It was when that female cop came over to Sgt. Steve and presented him with some evidence – the words and phrasing coming out of her mouth were in exactly the same style as all the other characters.
Then there’s the “They’re going for the CCTV!” (in case we wonder what the ladder is for); “There’s locks on the outside” (in case we don’t spot the big bolts and padlocks on the outside); “How old is she?” (in case we don’t realise the girl is young) commentary type dialogue – it’s irritating.
I’ve decided it’s appallingly written and I won’t miss a thing by not watching anymore!

I’m still enjoying despite all the glaring errors or set ups:

The Police Depot – anyone who’s been to an Escape Room would know that these places are filled with “dead man rooms” and no way would all that stuff just be sitting inside the door.
How does Sergeant Arnott drive around in a Top end Volvo yet Superintended Hargreaves is in a Passat?
Hastings is getting setup by the lady lawyer – harvesting DNA – cause he doesn’t go to brothels.
Arnotts’ ex is at it too.
No one actually supports Forest anymore.

It’s a very strange series. Really can’t engage with it,

It is certainly not a patch so far on some of the previous series. There are simply not enough characters left to mould a decent plot. They’re implausibly dragging people like the lawyer lady back in. Is there really any way that Hastings would have anything to do with her after her behaviour last time around?

Stephen Graham is a decent actor, but has next to nothing to work with. There are no protagonists of the deviousness and complexity of those played by Lennie James, Keeley Hawes, and Thandie Newton.