Line of Duty S6 ***spoilers***

[TimC]

I thought it was ok as a series ending, but not as an end to the franchise - which I believe will see at least one more series. Enough questions were left open that there's plenty of material for the story to go on.

But 'realistic'? Come on, this is - and is intended to be - high drama. We don't want 'realism', we want suspense, intrigue, opportunities for endless speculation, and we got all that. Actually, reading POBI, that is realistic.

Some questions I had at the end:

Who forged the Production Order authorisation to abduct Jo? Lomax has to be in the frame for that. In true Jed style, he's a clone of Dot Cotton.

Will Hastings successfully appeal his enforced retirement, or will his confession to Carmichael get him prosecuted?

Why did Kate do a runner with Jo after the confrontation in the car park? Was that a potential love story that was abandoned?

Carmichael was depicted as being very uncomfortable when she saw Buckells brought in again. She wanted charges against him dropped in E6, she said that anti-corruption investigations aren't a priority, and the pre-credit notes said that, if the application for public-interest immunity was granted, no evidence of police corruption would be placed before the court in Buckells' trial.

Why was Gail Vella killed? She was of no interest to the OCGs that Buckells was supposed to be working for. The only credible reason was that she was getting too close to the truth about corruption in the police. Osbourne must be in the frame for that.

Why did Kate go back to the medical officer after her chat with Steve? Is Steve likely to get suspended for not turning in his firearms licence? He was carrying a gun in the scene where they intercepted Jo's transport.

There's plenty more...

[Jaded]

I thought he was carrying a taser?

[bobb]

I thought it was OK. A massive chase and a shoot out would have been too much. Some things left open, so could make another series or just leave it there...

Why did Kate do a runner with Jo after the confrontation in the car park? Was that a potential love story that was abandoned?

Because she needed to get away and work shit out before Jo was taken in by Carmichael's mob, AC12 or the OCG got at her. And considering she had no idea who was bent and who wasn't, she didn't want to risk her being taken by any of the those.

I don't think there was ever any love story - Kate was just playing along to get closer to Jo to find out the truth.

[quixoticgeek]

I thought he was carrying a taser?

Yeah, he's very clearly seen carrying and using a tazer. Which doesn't need the firearms ticket.

J

[TimC]

I thought he was carrying a taser?

Yeah, he's very clearly seen carrying and using a tazer. Which doesn't need the firearms ticket.

J

Yes, you're right - I'd forgotten that! (In my defence, I watched it at about 1 am!).

I thought it was OK. A massive chase and a shoot out would have been too much. Some things left open, so could make another series or just leave it there...

Why did Kate do a runner with Jo after the confrontation in the car park? Was that a potential love story that was abandoned?

Because she needed to get away and work shit out before Jo was taken in by Carmichael's mob, AC12 or the OCG got at her. And considering she had no idea who was bent and who wasn't, she didn't want to risk her being taken by any of the those.

I don't think there was ever any love story - Kate was just playing along to get closer to Jo to find out the truth.

Well put, Bobb. Though I wasn't suggesting that there was a love story, just that it was an option for the plot.

[Beardy]

I enjoyed it, and to be honest I’d rather have an ending like that than either a massive cliffhanger or, often more unsatisfying, all the loose ends tied up neatly. Life is NEVER like that.

[mattc]

Despite the twitterati being somewhat disappointed the finale wasn't all high drama and "quick exit needed", I thought it was a fitting zeitgeist ending.

Agreed. The more I think about it, the more I like it. It’s making the point that it’s not all about big criminal masterminds, just low level endemic corruption.

I’ve criticised the last few series for becoming increasingly far fetched, but this brings it all back to the mundane reality.

Also casts a light on several real life cases.

+1 here.

And here is a somewhat academic ramble along similar lines which be of interest to some:
https://twitter.com/RachelMuers/status/1389029472813391877?s=19

[citoyen]

Despite the twitterati being somewhat disappointed the finale wasn't all high drama and "quick exit needed", I thought it was a fitting zeitgeist ending.

Agreed. The more I think about it, the more I like it. It’s making the point that it’s not all about big criminal masterminds, just low level endemic corruption.

I’ve criticised the last few series for becoming increasingly far fetched, but this brings it all back to the mundane reality.

Also casts a light on several real life cases.

+1 here.

And here is a somewhat academic ramble along similar lines which be of interest to some:
https://twitter.com/RachelMuers/status/1389029472813391877?s=19

That's brilliant.

[Ben T]

I liked it but think it’s suffered from having peaked too early.
They’re good at two things - interview scenes, and raids/gun-fights. So the episode in a previous series where they combined those two and had Dot Cotton break out of his interview only to run down the street and then get shot was the “high point” and they’ve never really been able to equal that since.
The trouble with having Osbourne as the 4th man would be “yeah but  who is he?” He’s not a major enough character, he’s only had a couple of scenes on the news and that’s it. What they really should have done was introduce a whole bunch of high ranking officials early on, made them minor characters but significant enough that they’ve got character, like Carmichael.

[bobb]

The trouble with having Osbourne as the 4th man would be “yeah but  who is he?” He’s not a major enough character, he’s only had a couple of scenes on the news and that’s it.

But he's been in it on and off since S1. We find out he's a wrong 'un in the very first episode....

[Ben T]

The trouble with having Osbourne as the 4th man would be “yeah but  who is he?” He’s not a major enough character, he’s only had a couple of scenes on the news and that’s it.

But he's been in it on and off since S1. We find out he's a wrong 'un in the very first episode....

Yeah but only really on the news. He hasn’t really done anything, other than give the odd press conference. He hasn’t really got character, unlike say Carmichael, who has. I dunno, maybe he’s just a bad actor.
So it wouldn’t cause much suspense for him to be revealed as the 4th man, if he hypothetically were to have been.

[Beardy]

Along those lines, I did wonder if it was going to be the deputy chief Constable because we have seen her throughout and she’s never been totally supportive of AC12.

[citoyen]

Along those lines, I did wonder if it was going to be the deputy chief Constable because we have seen her throughout and she’s never been totally supportive of AC12.

Nah, I think she's just someone who allows her moral compass to be skewed by political expediency. Likewise Sindwhani. They're the kind of people who go into policing and/or politics with good intentions but then realise that idealism is no way to make a successful career.

Besides, we've already had two corrupt DCCs in previous series so they needed to do something different.

[Ben T]

What was also a bit of a damp squib was how they slightly hinted at there being some sort of paedo element but didn't develop it into being fully part of the story.
The idea of "but OCG have no reason to shoot Gail Vella so what could the motive be?" made me think that was going to come to the fore but it never did. They did at least provide a bit of an answer to that question by way of the 2003 Lawrence Christopher (which was obviously intended to be a fictionalisation of the real life Stephen Lawrence) investigation corruption though.
I definitely think he's trying to tread a fine line between rounding it off nicely and leaving the door open for another series if he wants to/can make one.

[citoyen]

The idea of "but OCG have no reason to shoot Gail Vella so what could the motive be?" made me think that was going to come to the fore but it never did. They did at least provide a bit of an answer to that question by way of the 2003 Lawrence Christopher (which was obviously intended to be a fictionalisation of the real life Stephen Lawrence) investigation corruption though.

I thought they made it pretty clear that it was Buckells who ordered her killing, in order to protect himself and Osborne (and Thurwell and Fairbanks). The OCG had no interest in her, but were apparently happy enough to bump her off as a favour to Buckells.

If there is another series, it could well focus on delving deeper into this story - at the end, we saw Darren Hunter being arrested, so they may try to use him to get at Osborne. That's the only way they're going to bring him down, because there's no way Buckells will ever dob him in.

Someone elsewhere made the observation that Buckells is a bit like William Macy's character in Fargo, which I think is pretty astute - what started off as a bit of dodgy dealing with criminals for financial gain ultimately got out of control and ended up in multiple murders. That's why he looked so terrified when he had to witness Lakewell's killing, even though it was him who ordered it.

[Ben T]

The idea of "but OCG have no reason to shoot Gail Vella so what could the motive be?" made me think that was going to come to the fore but it never did. They did at least provide a bit of an answer to that question by way of the 2003 Lawrence Christopher (which was obviously intended to be a fictionalisation of the real life Stephen Lawrence) investigation corruption though.

I thought they made it pretty clear that it was Buckells who ordered her killing, in order to protect himself and Osborne (and Thurwell and Fairbanks). The OCG had no interest in her, but were apparently happy enough to bump her off as a favour to Buckells.

I could be wrong but I thought they'd considered this very point but arrived at the conclusion that it would be too big a favour to be plausible...

If there is another series, it could well focus on delving deeper into this story

... but yes S7 might well go into why they owed him.

I think if there is an S7 I'm hoping to see (a) more build-up of the shady "bigwig" characters at the top like Osborne, more of their glamorous powerful life than just the odd news conference, (b) OCG infiltrators (such as Pilkington) having their loyalties to the OCG tested by making positive connections in the police and possibly ultimately turning against the OCG, (c) new themes such as links to the political classes / different types of crime.

[citoyen]

I thought they made it pretty clear that it was Buckells who ordered her killing, in order to protect himself and Osborne (and Thurwell and Fairbanks). The OCG had no interest in her, but were apparently happy enough to bump her off as a favour to Buckells.

I could be wrong but I thought they'd considered this very point but arrived at the conclusion that it would be too big a favour to be plausible...

I'll have to go back and watch the final interview scene again... but neither of the Banks brothers seemed to have any qualms about killing anyone, for any reason.

Also, it occurs to me that the orders to kill Gail Vella, Thurwell, Jimmy Lakewell, Kate and the CHIS probably came from Osborne himself – rather than Buckells, who is just Osborne's lackey, passing on his orders to the OCG. That would also explain why Buckells was so terrified at witnessing Lakewell's murder even though he ostensibly ordered it, and his fear of Osborne's retribution is why he was willing to take the rap himself rather than dobbing Osborne in.

[Ben T]

I'll have to go back and watch the final interview scene again... but neither of the Banks brothers seemed to have any qualms about killing anyone, for any reason.

Not morally they don't, but they might think there's a risk associated with it.

Also, it occurs to me that the orders to kill Gail Vella, Thurwell, Jimmy Lakewell, Kate and the CHIS probably came from Osborne himself – rather than Buckells, who is just Osborne's lackey, passing on his orders to the OCG. That would also explain why Buckells was so terrified at witnessing Lakewell's murder even though he ostensibly ordered it, and his fear of Osborne's retribution is why he was willing to take the rap himself rather than dobbing Osborne in.

Which raises the interesting question of if Buckells did dob Osborne in, would Osborne implicitly have the OCG sufficiently under his own thumb to take retribution against Buckells?
i.e. is his only link to the OCG through Buckells simply because he doesn't want to do the boring admin/get his hands dirty and they know it's really coming from him, or could it be that they only trust Buckells? I assume you're thinking it could be the former, but if it's the latter, then Buckells could effectively mount a "coup" if he was able to take Osborne out by selling him up the river without a paddle.