Line of Duty Thread 9, no spoilers! Watch along as we find out (?) wtf is going on!

[TedisnotH]

Reporting in, fellas. Let's fill up Thread 8 first though, ok?

@CheekyWeeShite

He was never the master mind - I’m starting to feel like I’ve been watching a different programme.

They were hunting down someone they thought was the key to the whole thing and actually it was dead end that changed nothing. I like it as an ending but think the execution could have been better.

I agree with this. Ted must have said 5 times they were now looking for the 4th man, not some sort of mastermind. Ted dreamed of outing a top copper but it was not to be.

@Buggerthebotox

Also finding it odd, like a PP, that if Jo knew Buckells was H, why all the communication via laptop?

Jo thought Fairbank was H.

@eternalopt

"No one makes mugs of ac12"

Someone better tell Etsy 😂😂

this made me slap my thigh fella

@Buggerthebotox

Seriously, it wasn't shit. It was a thoughtful and intelligent ending and probably reflective of realitity. Osborne off the hook, Buckells in jail, Ted's future uncertain and corruption covered up.

Very satisfactory. Thank you Jed for not turning it into a pantomime.

This, he traded adrenaline for the empty feeling of disappointment that despite people like Ted making it their life's work to uncover corruption, it is institutionalised. At best there is no political will to uncover it, at worst corrupt officers will actively make sure it is suppressed. Remember In real life we had the Home Office 'losing' files connected with paedophile rings. I thought it was cleverly unsatisfying. A thought provoking ending.

This is a show where half the police are like Robocop, the other half are prepared to off witnesses in the ladies' loos, and the suspects would be more likely to survive prison in El Salvador; the idea that it's about political and social commentary is a bigger retcon than the awful Morse code malarkey.

I was a bit sniffy about the first series because I was comparing it to The Wire, and I only started to enjoy it when I learned to embrace the silliness and OTT-ness. People don't watch this show so they can ponder the state of modern policing afterwards. They watch it because they enjoy guessing what the twisty plot will throw up next. I didn't want yet another shoot-up ending, because that had become almost routine, but I was expecting some kind of brilliant and clever reveal. It was just so misjudged.

Very satisfactory. Thank you Jed for not turning it into a pantomime.

The ‘Ugly Sisters’ routine by the baddie prison guards was an absolute masterclass in intelligence and realism. For sure.

@GlassBoxSpectacular

The whole feigned innocence / incompetence covering up evil genius has been done to death though. I’m quite glad they didn’t do that the more I think about it. I think the reality they got to was more interesting.

I definitely hope they have another series to bring Osborne down, or at least try to.

I think everyone was so hyped up with ridiculous expectations that disappointment was rather inevitable. My theory has been that Buckells is key for many seasons because I think that is interesting plot wise. I’m not convinced it was done the best way, they could certainly have made it more shocking, but I think people are being a little ridiculous (but then they were with GoT too - there were clues literally throughout that Daenerys had a very dangerous side, it’s just that we were always on her side so we were cheering her on - I found that interesting too, but it seems that wasn’t sufficient for most viewers who expected something else 🤷‍♀️)

And if Jed Mercurio is going into the business of social commentary then he'd better examine his view of working class people because it is always so derogatory. The woman who'd accused Michael Farmer of sexual assault in series 4 was a particularly low point. Bodies was also bad for this.

I don’t get it though - people are simultaneously surprised it’s Buckells and then pissed off there wasn’t a twist.

I’m surprised anyone didn’t see that it was Buckells - him and Osborne were the only viable candidates. It would have been far more ridiculous and annoying if it were Thurwell, a character who’d been mentioned in passing once in season 3.

If we're talking unrealistic, how about the finale being flagged as taking place in November 2020, and by the date of broadcast Jo has found herself a new partner. Obviously we're in an AU with no Covid for a start.

I’m surprised anyone didn’t see that it was Buckells

It’s not necessarily that people have an issue with it being Buckells, and perhaps more a case of the execution being somewhat underwhelming.

‘Who is it?’ ‘The bloke we already arrested for it a few episodes back’.

Interview: ‘No comment. No comment. No comment. Yeah, alright, it was me.’

Instead of pinpoint plotting, the episode relied on cheap tricks to build the tension, like the ludicrously convoluted dialogue when Chloe presented the results of her research and they all ‘this individual’-ed themselves senseless in order to avoid saying his name. It was silly. No one has a conversation like that, ever.

@Footloosefancyfree

Bluntness100

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tv series shoot it’s self in the foot like this. It was so so popular. Everyone waiting to find out who it was. Nearly 13 million people tuning in to find out, and the overwhelming majority of them now going “wtf how can that bumbling idiot be capable of being the mastermind doing all these things”

A could new a few game of throne rushed the ending of a built up popular series, Dexter fail was another one although they realised and have made a new series.

It was utter crap anti climatic.

It needed a strong last episode to make the whole last 2 series make sense and the Buckells thing makes the last 2 series a farce.

That being said, it's never been said to be be the show finale. Another series at least is likely.

I think the so-called cleverness of the significance of an average white male rising through the ranks, combined with Strphen Laurence type storyline is at odds with a lot of the previous series. As someone posted a while back, all the final episodes of a series have been full of drama and nail-biting. Which is why so many viewers, me included, saw last night's as a massive anticlimax. Even with the Buckells storyline it could have been more exciting to watch.

Tbh I felt that this series was a bit of a parody of itself, particularly when it was on over the weeks that Unforgotten was on, which was imho, superior in it's subtlety and characterisation.

Only question I have is who ordered Jo to be moved from prison?!

I definitely hope they have another series to bring Osborne down, or at least try to.

I hope not.

I think if there is going to be a 7th series, the way forward is a completely new bent coppers case, with few if any links to previous series. The constant references to characters and plotlines from earlir series was headache inducing and confusing.

@Iamtooknackeredtorun

Giles Coren tweeted that one of his friends has been cast in LOD S7. Whether that's accurate I know not.

Ans obvious lie.

Giles Coren hasn't got a friend.

Only question I have is who ordered Jo to be moved from prison?!

Yes and who signed the order? Lomax and Kates name was on it.

Why did Buckells smile when he was put in his cell?

If buckles was top man then why did he see /have a murder in his cell

To prove what

Who set it up ? Buckles or someone above him

I still say there will be s7

And yes Ted to,d Carmichael that as means she would have to report him as corrupt, and she’s saying it doesn’t happened

If she doesn’t report it then she’s just as bad

I real life, sadly, loose ends aren't tied up neatly so in that respect we shouldn't be disappointed with the ending as it was realistic.

@Rummikub

Why did Buckells smile when he was put in his cell?

Yes I was wondering that!

Sorry if already posted, but this is gold. twitter.com/kieranchodgson/status/1389186251564142598?s=21

Sheer joy PuppyMonkey

🤣 brilliant puppymonkey

Brilliant @PuppyMonkey
This was in the comments following that video and even though it has nothing to do with LOD it made me laugh