non - big news for Line of Duty fans

Old Cherry said:
Watched it for the first time last night to see what the hype is about....3/4 of the way through...engrossed...said to the missus..." Crikey what have we missed ..this is Brill "
20 mins later.....it just spluttered like a car running out of petrol.... no dramatic highspot.. or did we just 'not get it' by missing the previous stuff.
I'd read a summary of the series events online....and expected a bit explosive finish..
...it has to further conclude surely?
Click to expand...

Better to watch it from the beginning, overall it has been a brilliant series.

As with so many other series and plays etc they have had a start, middle but not always a satisfactory end.

There was one time when the series/plays etc left you the viewer to decide how it ended.

Was this just a different idea or just the author/writer just didn’t know how to bring it to conclusion?
 
OLDSKOOL said:
think I will go back to season one and start from the beginning again ...
Click to expand...

We binge watched from series 1 having not watched it before, only caught up with 3 episodes to go, so missed out on most of the social media hype but certainly made more sense than if I watched it one by one over nine years... I think I’d have been lost if it wasn’t so fresh in my mind certainly in previous series.
 
DJ said:
I can see that but then, tense and well written interrogation would have gone somewhat against the character, who wasn’t a criminal mastermind etc.

Sure they could have had longer in the final episode to extend that by wrapping up Arnott’s medical side or Hastings’ confession. But then the fantastic interrogation of Davidson would have been shorter and perhaps less epic.
Click to expand...

If you can’t make a well-written conclusion with the main interrogation and villain, then what you probably have on your hands is a dull character to underpin everything and a dull conclusion. You obviously didn’t mind it which is cool, but I just found it very disappointing.
 
Good series... but the end underwhelming bit like our Burnley FA Cup tie years ago when the game was great but the result was an anticlimax!
 
It was more reminiscent of a finale like Dexter or Game of Thrones than it was something like Breaking Bad or Mr Robot lol.
 
NWCherries98 said:
If you can’t make a well-written conclusion with the main interrogation and villain, then what you probably have on your hands is a dull character to underpin everything and a dull conclusion. You obviously didn’t mind it which is cool, but I just found it very disappointing.
Click to expand...

But that’s all part of it. He wasn’t a criminal mastermind or super villain he was a dull character being used by organised crime syndicates and was a small cog in a bigger machine.

I enjoy it when things aren’t all wrapped up with a bow and there’s intrigue left.

Like the “Blacklist” if you’ve watched that? The not knowing what the relationship was between Readington and Keene was much more interesting than what we now “know”.
 
DJ said:
We binge watched from series 1 having not watched it before, only caught up with 3 episodes to go, so missed out on most of the social media hype but certainly made more sense than if I watched it one by one over nine years... I think I’d have been lost if it wasn’t so fresh in my mind certainly in previous series.
Click to expand...

This is what my wife and I have done during lockdown with a number of series from Amazon, Netflix and the BBC and ITV.

As you say it is in your mind, as from week gap to week gap it tends to disappear into other things watched.
 
DJ said:
We binge watched from series 1 having not watched it before, only caught up with 3 episodes to go, so missed out on most of the social media hype but certainly made more sense than if I watched it one by one over nine years... I think I’d have been lost if it wasn’t so fresh in my mind certainly in previous series.
Click to expand...
Indeed - some of the recapping and links to previous seasons in this one have helped jog my memory about bits of it , which has helped ...
 
DJ said:
I can see that but then, tense and well written interrogation would have gone somewhat against the character, who wasn’t a criminal mastermind etc.

Sure they could have had longer in the final episode to extend that by wrapping up Arnott’s medical side or Hastings’ confession. But then the fantastic interrogation of Davidson would have been shorter and perhaps less epic.
Click to expand...

T
hba1 said:
If I had done a spreadsheet of those involved since series 1 I don't think I would have picked up the bumbling Brummie. Very clever writing (but is it the end?) and the contrast between his cocky No Comments and Jo's brilliant. As for being the 4th man 2 5/8 at best.
Click to expand...

Yes , his remorseless arrogance came out through those “ no comments “ - the look of absolute disgust on Kate’s face ....
 
DJ said:
But that’s all part of it. He wasn’t a criminal mastermind or super villain he was a dull character being used by organised crime syndicates and was a small cog in a bigger machine.

I enjoy it when things aren’t all wrapped up with a bow and there’s intrigue left.
Click to expand...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1388967635652599808

You might agree with this Twitter thread haha. Not disagreeing with anything you said, it makes sense. It’s just, when the marketing machine is pushing the whole climax of the series to be “Who’s the fourth man, who’s H- tune in!”, and then H turns out to be some minor player grunt with no authority, it’s a disappointment. Sure, that’s not the shows fault, that’s the marketing, but that’s a big part of why people are so frustrated. However, the entirety of the show has been building up to this reveal, ever since S2. The entire show has pretty much been built on a foundation of mystery; “Who is the 4th Man?” The 4th man reveal might’ve been realistic, but it was also (again), really predictable and boring and flat television storytelling. Something can be realistic and still be exciting. For example, every other Line of Duty finale.

I don’t think there was much there that wasn’t wrapped up in a bow tbh, the ending showed that the mission statement of AC-12 was always doomed, you’re never going to sort out police corruption, you’re never actually going to win. I don’t think that’s a bad ending at all, I just think the way the episode was presented to me and plotted out was very dull. There wasn’t a climax or a defining moment. It just chugged along and bowed out with some cheesy stuff.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DJ
I guess ' Hype' is merely a by-product of the Computer Age....we have it in bucketloads across all aspects of life and society..encouraged by people on screens....Peston, Kuennsberg... Demi-Gods Schofield and Morgan .. .and probing cerebral dollies like Anita McVeigh and Kate Garraway...and then the narrow- minded monkeys of the Football World on Radio ...like Savage! Maestros of Hype !
 
Last edited:
I think the ending could actually be the final ending but it still leaves a chance that there could be another series.
 
Davidson and Carmichael holding hands at the sweet country cottage would of been a better ending.
That would be a nice intro for a new series.

Long way to go yet.
 
NWCherries98 said:
It was more reminiscent of a finale like Dexter or Game of Thrones than it was something like Breaking Bad or Mr Robot lol.
Click to expand...
I bailed on Dexter way before the end, went seriously down hill! Regarding GoT, I think the ending was the right one, just incredibly rushed. Apparently HBO wanted the Double D's to do more episodes but they refused. If they'd have done 6 episodes focused on the battle at Winterfell and 8 on events unravelling at Kings Landing, they'd have been able to get under the skin of it more.

I was disappointed with the ending if Mr Robot as well, just felt flat for me. But Breaking Bad sits on a pedestal that's reserved for BB, Band of Brothers and Chernobyl.

Line of Duty? Wife loved it, I watched it out of the corner of my eye. Seemed ok but a bit predictable at times.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

;