tonka
2:53 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
southbankbornnbred 11:47 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
The last couple of episodes were so meh. It was clear that they didn't know how to end it or was dependent on another series so was left loose. The fucking sentences about what happened to the protagonists was lazy.
The episode where the Neil from the office got attacked in the van was the best bit of the series, it was gripping and as a viewer you wasn't sure what was going on.
|
El Scorchio
2:46 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
Agree about the Hastings thing. It was all unravelled rather too quickly and I think they could have made more of the conflict of interest- ie the anti corruption team turned a blind eye to the corruption from their boss.
However that’s an interesting parallel with the commissioner constantly denying corruption too and I suppose was their way of demonstrating how it can just happen and be swept away.
I did like the way he went in and fessed up to Carmichael though. That was an interesting end point, given her dislike for him, her dogmatic following of procedure and her clear dilemma over what to do about it. It was also made clear she’s not happy with the commissioner, so there’s a possible storyline.
I like the idea of a possible series 7 or feature special starting with the witnesses (as someone said) and Buckells being bumped off.
|
El Scorchio
2:40 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
zico 1:16
To be fair, that’s kind of how the usual suspects plays out, (albeit the reveal is better and he gets away with it) and everyone raved about that twist.
It would have been a cool twist to show the senile old officer smirking in his prison cell or producing a laptop/phone from somewhere they didn’t think to look.
|
ray winstone
2:40 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
‘Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey’….
|
zico
1:49 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
Kaiser Zoso 1:23 Mon May 3
I agree. I thought it was strange that as a last episode it was only an hour long. Think last year it was an hour and a half and the pace limited suspense and intrigue as they tried to cram it all in. Maybe a feature length episode or two might be a better option that a series, as I too want to see that Chief Constable to get his comeuppance!
|
Kaiser Zoso
1:23 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
I got the impression lots of the questions contained in the plot got answered a bit too hastily. Like the scene where Hastings was confronted with the money and tip off stuff, it seemed a bit too hasty the way it was played out.
'This is why I did it'
'Oh, OK then'.
It's still better than anything else on offer. I hope there is a 7th series because I had the Chief Constable as H and I'm hoping that's how it pans out.
|
zico
1:16 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
Yes the slightly OTT witness protection scheme hasn't escaped from Twitter such as the tweet below -
"I am enjoying the fact that Jo Davidson got a detached stone cottage and a instagrammable dog out of Witness Protection, whilst Gill Biggeloe got a windswept council house and a 1996 Ford Fiesta."
It certainly was a disappointing ending but we shouldn't be surprised as plenty of decent series have gone out with a whimper. If they were going to have Buckles as H then they would have been better off showing him as a bumbling buffoon/side character all the way through rather than sending him off to prison then de-cloaking him as this criminal mastermind.
Maybe series 7, if it happens, should have the plot of all those in the Witness Protection Scheme being bumped off!
|
El Scorchio
1:03 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
I definitely think they purposely left it open for a possible season 7 or a feature length conclusion if they choose. No ‘wrap up’ for any of the AC-12 staff and more space for a story to go.
Given the ratings for the series as a whole and also the reaction to last night, they will probably do it.
|
southbankbornnbred
12:28 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
Sven, my understanding is that it usually involves moving you to a grotty bedsit somewhere like Hartlepool or Middlesbrough.
Not to the front cover of Lesbian Homes & Property.
|
southbankbornnbred
12:26 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
No, Buckles is definately [SIC!] the "4th Man". He's the fourth 'big' name member of policing/criminal justice linked to OCGs.
The question is: is he "H"?
|
dealcanvey
12:25 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
There will be a series 7 and hopefully that will be the final one.
Buckles is not the 4th Man.
|
Sven Roeder
12:13 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
Doesn't witness protection involve at least some minor attempt at altering your appearance?
Kelly Whatsit still had the same face like a slapped arse look while stepping out for hound walking with a saucy red head.
|
Swiss.
12:00 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
Bad ending as they are probably undecided as to whether they will do a season 7.
But yes if not an anti-climax but if there is another final season then a bit cheated.
|
,
11:54 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
The final set piece interview of the series with AC 12 confronting Buckles was hooked into the trees rather than sent straight down the fairway.
I would go so far as to say that rather than most of us looking ahead to the final series it’s now a take it or leave it thing.
Disappointing, because the writing as a whole, with the interviews in particular, have hitherto, been of the highest standard.
|
southbankbornnbred
11:50 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
Some of the responses to the finale are hilarious.
My favourite was a best-selling author, Sarah Pinborough, immediately describing the 'twist' as "Lame of Duty".
|
southbankbornnbred
11:47 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
You have to step back and assess the finale as a piece of drama in the context of what has gone before.
It was complete and utter shite.
Mercurio clearly had no way of ending the series (there WILL be a series seven: he has provisionally signed up for it). Bringing back Buckles as the so-called "4th Man" made absolutely no sense whatsoever. I've already read interpretations claiming it was a clever move and a brilliantly counter-intuitive plot. But that's just people wanting the quality to have continued in their minds.
The reality is that this season was, at times, a barely disguised, hurried clusterfuck. Part of that was down to the fact that it was severely disrupted by Covid - and, in fairness to Mercurio etc, they were writing and re-writing until the very last minute.
But part of it is, as others hjave pointed out, that the show has become a victim of its own success. For a couople of seasons now, Mercurio has struggled to know how to end it. It's a common phenomenon among shows that get re-commissioned as they get bigger and bigger - and, in the end, the creator, takes the money each season brings, but with no clear plan to conclude the over-arching plot (one way or another).
It has become lost. Like "Lost". Last night was just a half-assed string of low-quality 'set-piece' scenes we've all seen before, but with less conviction ('scuse the pun!) than ever.
You felt that Adrian Dunbar was having to chew on his lines before even he could swallow them, because they were so hackneyed.
Thankfully, and quite purposefully, it is all set up for Series 7: the gang will realise that they've been had by Buckells/the OCG and that "H" remains unknown. There's an easy (but shit) narrative which drags them back in - which is that Buckles was clearly the "4th Man", but was not "H".
But Ged Mercurio is going to have to stop thinking about his next paycheck, sit down for a few months without any distractions and carefully unpick the terrible plotlines that have backed him into a corner.
PS - I definitely want to be in Witness Protection. I also want a luxury manor house in Scotland, a fiesty red-head and a loyal dog - especially after committing major crimes which led to the deaths of several colleagues.
|
Sven Roeder
11:29 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
The actor that played Buckells was on BBC Breakfast and they asked him why he was smirking as he was put in his cell at the end.
He sidestepped and played a straight bat but I see that as the sign ..... SERIES SEVEN
|
Nagel
11:20 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
"defiantly"?
collyrob's the real H!
|
collyrob
11:11 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
It was defiantly a pop at Boris. “Corruption masquerading as buffoonery”
|
LeroysBoots
10:46 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
Spot on re Boris, Mercurio hates this government
|
Nagel
9:19 Mon May 3
Re: Line of Duty
|
Yeah, it did have "a faint whiff of political parable", as the Times called it. Didn't make for good drama though.
|
| 
