Line of Duty thread 7: do bent coppers get their comeuppance? This is a spoiler free zone fella!

[MotherOfGodWeeFella]

Thread prepped and ready to go Boss.

I'm wondering if Jo has taken the rap for Ryan's killing to put herself in prison because she feels safer there.

The whole thing doesn't make much sense though. I still don't get why Kate and Jo went off together with Kate knowing about the threat to kill her. Jo Couid have pulled a gun at any moment.

Sadly I think Ryan was always going to be collateral and had served his purpose.

Jimmy Lakewell had just been killed in prison though. For being a rat as Ryan epically put it even though he wasn't as far as we know.

I agree but Jo seems so desperate now. She's between a rock and a hard place and may well be thinking that she's better inside than on the outside and at the mercy of whoever's out there. She's taken the rap for that killing for a reason.

We don't know what he told Steve in the back of the van.

Nor why Steve would need to conceal it, even after his death.

Or why Kate and Steve had such detailed emergency arrangements, and why it was Steve who could talk Kate in. Maybe they both have an understanding of who is likely to frame them for what (also that OCG murders those who stand in their way)

@ImAncient yes, I noticed the flicker of concern on Ted's face when Steve said he'd spoken to Lee Banks. He's worried that Lee Banks would have told Steve about Hastings visit and revealing John Corbett. Which he did of course. No-one previously knew that Hastings gave John Corbett up and ultimately ended in his death.

I also think Jo's no comments and then revealing stuff was very deliberate on her part. She obviously wants to be seen as not being a rat to protect herself (which would go with the theory she knows Carmichael or someone else is bent) and the no comments seemed to be in relation to who was controlling her/H/Thurwell. But then the information she did reveal almost seemed like it had been planned to either save her own skin or send a message. Might account for the little nod between her and Steve.

Yes. I saw Ted's look. However, given the whole picture, I don't think Kate and Steve will do anything further about it.

Poor Ted looked broken in the lift. He knows he's so close, but he's being prevented from getting across the finish line.

The Steph story finished do we think?

Annoyingly the Steph story has to be finished as surely there's already too much to resolve for the finale? Although not quite sure what her purpose has been unless Steve is going to throw Ted under the bus for getting Corbett killed and then bunging Steph the £50k.

@HagenDaz

I am convinced that Thurwell is not dead but was the Spanish policeman. Those eyebrows gave it away.

Did he say "Esta muerto" in Spanish with a strong Norn Iron accent?

@PrincessScarlett

Annoyingly the Steph story has to be finished as surely there's already too much to resolve for the finale? Although not quite sure what her purpose has been unless Steve is going to throw Ted under the bus for getting Corbett killed and then bunging Steph the £50k.

Yeah I reckon it will be tied up in the end of show bit with the writing on the screen. Just a "the missing £50k is still missing" type of thing.

Jo seems to have a strange code of honour that's she's willing to claim to have killed Ryan (albeit to protect Kate) but won't reveal what she knows about the OCG

That's not code of honour, it's outright fear.

We need to know how Carmichael and Osbourne spell "definitely".

@ImAncient

The Steph story finished do we think?

I think so. It was purely a means for Steve to find out that Ted gave her a large sum of money, of questionable origin. I can’t see it going any further.

I think jo has revealed what she knows, I think she’s told Kate, and that’s why Kate did the whole Thelma Louise thing, they need proof.

Particularly if Carmichael is in on it, as she’s now running ac 12, the interviews, and someone above her is also in on it . And I think Steve knows too. Between the three of them they are trying to get the evidence to bring whomever it is down, and Steve gave the keys and phone to help them do it.

They can’t just say “jo says it’s x” without the proof, because They will get set up, or killed, if they let on they know,,and ted is also being set up, just in case they need something over him,

@SophieB100

Now I love a cute new born along with the best of them, but will Call the Midwife ever end?

I want a cigarette. I don't smoke.

Mmm... so Steve, Jo and Kate all in on whatever Jo's said. That makes sense of the running away and Steve's involvement/comment about the security in prison and the sharing of keys/cars.

Carmichael is in on it too, but as a puppet for whoever's pulling the strings (Osborne/Wise/Rohan) so they're on their own. Ted's out of it now really, isn't he?

I think we've seen the last of the £50k and chicken licken. There may be a tie-in at the end perhaps.

So hopefully next week will reveal who is involved with the OCG, who H is (I can't see Carmichael misspelling definitely). I think Ted will remain ambiguous but will be forced to retire anyway.

I want some strings left hanging though and nothing too neat.

What has happened to poor Farida? Has there been any mention of releasing her since they found Jo's DNA all over her house?

No, agree there is no way Carmichael would misspell the word definitely. She's definitely one that would pick you up on your spelling and grammar!

I find Anna MM difficult to hear and dh won't put subtitles on. Aghhh!!!
Someone said she speaks like Nicola Walker - I agree.

I agree with Bluntness on last night's episode and Kate and Jo leaving the car park after Ryan was shot and Steve and Kate knowing things which aren't being shared more widely.

Lakewell definitely told Steve something that wasn't revealed in the interview and which we don't know whether he has shared with Ted.

I thought it was telling that Carmichael tried to close down the interview but Ted and Steve got Jo to reveal more of what she knew. There was also a point where Jo was about to name a police officer, but Carmichael gave her a look to say "keep your mouth shut".

Some of the IT stuff is puzzling me - why wasn't GV's laptop hard drive wiped? Who has hidden it in the print shop to be found at a later date? Is it someone's insurance policy? There is no guarantee the IP address in Spain actually is in Spain, it could be spoofed to look like it is, which is probably what is really going on - making it look like Thurlwell is H, when it's someone far closer to home.

Next week's final episode is 90 minutes long for those of you worried there isn't enough time to tie up the loose ends.

@MoonCatcher

What has happened to poor Farida? Has there been any mention of releasing her since they found Jo's DNA all over her house?

Jo has said she set Farida up by planting the burner phones so she'll be released I would think.

I think Carmichael looked unhappy and uncomfortable. She didn’t put a hard end to the questioning, and she let them proceed. As the senior officer she could have taken control of that interview and she didn’t. Her attempts to stop it were half arsed to say the least

Which means either she is in on it and is also scared, she’s just a more senior version of jo, or she knows of another investigation. Either way I’d bet money Carmichael knows something that’s going to be revealed on Sunday.

It would be funny if it was her who misspelt it. I like her character and think she is overplaying it as we all know someone like her who is very smug, arrogant, gives a fake detached smile before delivering bad news, but can't see the forest for the trees and messes up spectacularly a lot of the time. People need to hate her

She probably knows Osborne is the man but is choosing to ignore it and it is better for her career if she does. Osborne obviously likes her if she has been promoted so quickly and she wants to keep it that way. Similar situation to Ted and Dryden/Hilton/Fairbank. He kind of knew something wasn't right, but he waited until he couldn't ignore the evidence in front of him.

The thing that is bugging me is Lomax. He hasn't done much in this series and there wasn't much of Chloe in this episode. I think someone is leaving and Chloe is being eased in, but not sure about Lomax. Is he going to be the next bent copper if there is S7? We've run out of options and new bent coppers surely need to be eased in from previous series, and as we've learnt, the main OCG disbanded and formed their own OCG. Lomax makes me think there might be a S7.

I'm puzzled about the It stuff too. There's no guarantee that a VPN address suggests that the person is actually messaging from Spain, is there? I'm still not entirely clear either why, if Ted wasn't up to something dodgy in his own laptop in S5, that he felt the need to destroy it.

I'm also not clear on the timeline around Thur well and Mrs Thur Wells' deaths. (I missed a bit last night in my defence.). Were they killed after the messaging with Jo? I suppose to make the suggestion of Thur well as H stick, it would have to be after but have I missed something? To me, those corpses looked as though they'd been there for a while.

Posters elsewhere are talking about Nige resurfacing as living in Spain - I always thought that he had retired but not necessarily to Spain?

He's not living in the Kettlebell complex is he?

The Guardia Civil officer said "dos cuerpos", two bodies and there were lots of flies, suggesting they'd been dead a few days. So someone knew AC-12 had identified Thurlwell as involved in the corruption and silenced him.