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Original poster

Strike season 5 - thread for those who have binged watched!

38 replies

IwantToRetire · 13/12/2022 20:28

Just started this thread because I accidently binge watched the whole 4 episodes.

And I am totally confused.

I feel like there should have been another 2 episodes in the middle to explore the plot twists, in terms of the whodunnit (not the tedious will they wont they!)

I suspect this is because I very rarely grasp plots first time through.

If any one wants to discuss have binged please join in.

But would prefer not mentions of in the book they did this or that, want to decide whether in fact it was badly made or I am just to old and tired to understand.

Sad I know.

OP posts:
Original poster
IwantToRetire · 13/12/2022 20:30

eg did I miss all the hints about who the culprit really was, or were there no signals at all and then suddenly as if by magic they all agreed who it was and worked together to get a confession.

Did anyone else feel there was too much to cram into 4 episodes?

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kwaziseyepatch · 13/12/2022 21:30

What led them to it was finding douthwaite and realising he was scared of someone finding him. Then it lead back to the box of chocolates she threw away/then got out. I love strike but haven't read this book yet so i imagine it explains it better in the book.

VioletLemon · 13/12/2022 23:01

It could have been 6 episodes, a bit more time spent on how Robin hangs together as she goes through divorce from tosser ex H and how hurt she is at Strikes behaviour, drinking and then embarrassing her. More time could have been spent letting time pass more at these points. When Joan dies, I thought his acting was incredible, the scenes were beautifully shot, I think I just wanted the whole thing to last longer, it was so good!

ilikethatname · 13/12/2022 23:08

Just binge watched the 1st 2 episodes of the latest series.

I absolutely loved the 2 older ladies - one who farted badly! Margot’s colleagues. Brilliant acting. Some much needed lightness in a kind of grim storyline!

Aside from that … I haven’t got to the chocolates bit yet - apart from a few glimpses / mentions…

I do love these I might have to go back and listen to the audiobooks. Annoyingly they’re not on Bolinda but you can’t have it all.

I’ll come back once I’ve watched the next episodes…

marmiteloversunite · 13/12/2022 23:27

I had to keep rewinding iPlayer in the last two episodes just to make sure I knew what was happening. Didn't want it to end though.

Original poster
IwantToRetire · 14/12/2022 00:48

Yes tohaving to rewind. I actually stopped at one point to go and check I hadn't missed an episode.

There were so many strands apart from the investigation, and a lot of characters who it might have helped to have more time about them.

By the end although I had been intrigued I was left feeling a bit frustrated as it sort of deserved more. I'm sure most series get 6 episodes. Maybe the 2 stars are busy with other work or something.

I dont remember Pat from previous series but I really liked her, but am a bit confused as to why so many women let Strike be very rude to them and expect them to do tasks he cant be bothered with!

Joan was really well played, and most of the cast seemed quite high profile for quite small roles.

I might rewatch it in about 6 months and see if it makes more sense.

OP posts:
AnnieSnap · 14/12/2022 01:00

I binged watched it. I didn’t find it confusing. God he’s so, so hot. I wonder if they will ever get together and would it spoil it?

StarbucksSmarterSister · 14/12/2022 01:47

I just finished, really enjoyed it.

How many knew that Anna Calder Marshall, who played Janice the nurse, is Tom Burke's real mum? I only found out yesterday.

AnnieSnap · 14/12/2022 01:56

I didn’t know that @StarbucksSmarterSister Interesting!

Hels20 · 14/12/2022 07:05

I enjoyed it but I didn’t get the killer’s motive a jealousy?

CloseYourEyesAndSee · 14/12/2022 07:08

The book is so long and complex - it was always going to be a challenge. I haven't watched the last episode yet so I'm not sure how they got to the conclusion but the mum and son have only had one scene so far - they do have much more book time. I do think they are doing it very well so far. Even my DP who always gets lost with confusing plots is following it.

Typo22 · 14/12/2022 07:08

I enjoyed it but thought it could have been much longer. The book was so long and had many different threads that the series didn't have time to explore fully.

It felt like they were jumping from one thread to the next without giving time to fully go into it before cutting it off and moving to the next.

Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger were great though, they have excellent chemistry. (Although I hate to say it, Holliday Grainger's accent and growling really irritated me in this one 😳)

Typo22 · 14/12/2022 07:10

IwantToRetire · 14/12/2022 00:48

Yes tohaving to rewind. I actually stopped at one point to go and check I hadn't missed an episode.

There were so many strands apart from the investigation, and a lot of characters who it might have helped to have more time about them.

By the end although I had been intrigued I was left feeling a bit frustrated as it sort of deserved more. I'm sure most series get 6 episodes. Maybe the 2 stars are busy with other work or something.

I dont remember Pat from previous series but I really liked her, but am a bit confused as to why so many women let Strike be very rude to them and expect them to do tasks he cant be bothered with!

Joan was really well played, and most of the cast seemed quite high profile for quite small roles.

I might rewatch it in about 6 months and see if it makes more sense.

Pat came in it in Troubled Blood I think. She isn't a character I particularly liked in the book but she was my favourite part of the TV series!

Hels20 · 14/12/2022 07:33

Sorry - I should clarify. I understand why Margot was murdered as she was figuring out what Janice was doing to Steve - but why did Janice want to kill the others?

AnnieSnap · 14/12/2022 13:02

Hels20 · 14/12/2022 07:33

Sorry - I should clarify. I understand why Margot was murdered as she was figuring out what Janice was doing to Steve - but why did Janice want to kill the others?

She essentially said she liked it. She poisoned some because she liked people being grateful when she looked after them and she added that some “just pissed me off”! Her character is that of a psychopath.

janeeyreair · 14/12/2022 13:05

Who was the women in the awful video clip with the men?

I had a feeling it might be a woman at the beginning.

Hels20 · 14/12/2022 13:15

Thanks @AnnieSnap . And how did they figure where the school girl was buried? Creed gave M54 as the clue - I missed how they figured it out.

@janeeyreair - wasn’t it Kara?

there were so many unpleasant people - Creed, the Niccos, Janice…

janeeyreair · 14/12/2022 13:18

@Hels20 ahh ok yes I think was. I think im going to watch again from the beginning! It seemed to jump ahead at times to quickly for me!

Shortpoet · 14/12/2022 13:24

M54 is a star in the sign of Sagittarius, who is represented by an archer. Creed had thrown the girl in the well of a pub called The Archer where he used to drink.

It was one one of the places Brian Tucker had identified as a possible place.

Creed thought M54 being a star in Sagittarius was obscure knowledge because he didn’t have access to the internet in Broadmoor so didn’t realise how easy it was to find previously occult (hidden) information

Howeverdoyouneedme · 14/12/2022 14:33

I really enjoyed it, but when the final episode was halfway through, I realised they were going to have to speed things up. I looked back on iplayer and was interested to see book one only had two episodes, which I’d forgotten. I guess it’s just expensive and difficult.

Original poster
IwantToRetire · 14/12/2022 15:55

Thanks for the point about M54 - I didn't grasp that at all. Nor how anyone could spot that holding back the box of chocolates was significant.

By the way, although it was gruesome, I nearly laughed outloud when in a flash back they showed the concrete being mixed in a large pudding bowl. Given the size of the hamper that had to be filled it must have taken a week. And no it wasn't funny, particulary as I thought the Doctor (sorry I am bad with names) was still alive.

And yes on one level Pat looks like she disapproves of all of them, but she is the one who sorts things out, and despite Strike's rudeness towards her, trudges in when he is ill.

And, much as I think JKR is brilliant and has done so much for women, I thought the misogynistic male, was almost a caricature. But I lead a sheltered live, maybe everyday women are having to put up with arseholes like that.

OP posts:
CloseYourEyesAndSee · 14/12/2022 16:06

janeeyreair · 14/12/2022 13:05

Who was the women in the awful video clip with the men?

I had a feeling it might be a woman at the beginning.

She was Kara - Gloria mentioned her as someone who Luca had killed because she snitched.

Milly4321 · 14/12/2022 16:10

Brain full of mush here - got the dreaded fluey bug - but I’ve forgotten from previous series about C’s parents / did Joan adopt him?

Howeverdoyouneedme · 14/12/2022 16:12

Joan looked after Strike and Lucy when their mother ran off with a bloke.

Milly4321 · 14/12/2022 16:30

Ah, thanks - but not an actual relative? Bad relations between Strike and Lucy?

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