Line of Duty (BBC) **Spoilers**

Hollyworth

During the first confusing 20 minutes, when Kate had her hands up outside the car, surrounded by police, and she said to Jo that they'd been set up, I was fully expecting the screen to go black and a caption to pop up saying "10 hours earlier" and we go back to fill in the blanks.

But no. The episode just continued as normal. What was it all about?

Hollyworth

Hollyworth wrote: »

During the first confusing 20 minutes, when Kate had her hands up outside the car, surrounded by police, and she said to Jo that they'd been set up, I was fully expecting the screen to go black and a caption to pop up saying "10 hours earlier" and we go back to fill in the blanks.

But no. The episode just continued as normal. What was it all about?

I thought it incredible she was that upset at the thought of being set up, when minutes earlier she had definitely been set up, by Jo, to be killed by Ryan.

Hollyworth

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I thought it incredible she was that upset at the thought of being set up, when minutes earlier she had definitely been set up, by Jo, to be killed by Ryan.

Exactly! Just think about that...

Imagine if someone set you up to be killed, and you go on the run with them for some reason, and then when the police come to arrest you, you get pissed off at the police for setting you up. What! The more I think about it, the more I realise that this show is a load of nonsense at this stage.

ohnonotgmail

Johnny0Toole wrote: »

I thought it incredible she was that upset at the thought of being set up, when minutes earlier she had definitely been set up, by Jo, to be killed by Ryan.

She thought it was steve that set her up to be caught. its a bit different when it is somebody you thought you could trust.

Hollyworth

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

She thought it was steve that set her up to be caught. its a bit different when it is somebody you thought you could trust.

Any person with a functioning brain would be more annoyed with the person who set them up to be murdered than with the person who they think set them up to be taken into custody.

Seathrun66

General Toilet wrote: »

Did anyone see the email from Occupational Health to Steve?

Looks like he is in the sh1t deep.

Five days to respond. Is he delaying and using the extra time to flush the opiates out of his system?

HeidiHeidi

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Five days to respond. Is he delaying and using the extra time to flush the opiates out of his system?

Or is he, like Ted, running out of time - and it'll be down to Kate to solve the whole thing?

Seathrun66

ShineOn7 wrote: »

Looks like there's some pubs secretly back open

You can throw in some illicit substances too.

Seathrun66

Hollyworth wrote: »

I'm sorry to keep focusing on Kate going on the run with Jo, but.... It was so damn stupid.

Even if Kate and Jo hadn't been "set up" as Kate said (still don't get what that means) and they went into hiding, what was Kate's plan?

Go on the run with the woman who conspired to kill you because you shot and killed the guy who tried to killed you with the help of the woman you're in the run with... Erm, OK.

Also, I've seen people comment to the effect of "Kate got Jo out of there because she knew Jo wasn't bent"... Wait, what? In what world is Jo not bent? She most definitely is bent. Yes, she may be forced into it, but she's still bent.

If I was a cop and another cop lured me to my death, I wouldn't have any sympathy for them or their situation. I don't think the Kate from seasons 1 to 5 would have either.

Using Jo to set a trap for bigger fish?

mfceiling

Seathrun66 wrote: »

Five days to respond. Is he delaying and using the extra time to flush the opiates out of his system?

Or he might get Kate to give a sample for him.

Would you do it mate?

Yeah no problems mate.

Thanks mate.

You're welcome mate.

frag420

mfceiling wrote: »

Or he might get Kate to give a sample for him.

Would you do it mate?

Yeah no problems mate.

Thanks mate.

You're welcome mate.

Next week we learn that Steve is pregnant...

Talisman

Hollyworth wrote: »

During the first confusing 20 minutes, when Kate had her hands up outside the car, surrounded by police, and she said to Jo that they'd been set up, I was fully expecting the screen to go black and a caption to pop up saying "10 hours earlier" and we go back to fill in the blanks.

But no. The episode just continued as normal. What was it all about?

Kate shot Ryan, she then fled the scene with Jo. If she had not told Steve the location then AC-12 would not have been on their trail for sometime. Presumably she was giving Jo the opportunity to prove herself to not be bent - that was the idea behind the whistle stop tour to Farida's house and then on to the print shop which was across the road from Terry Boyle's flat.

As they got to the print shop they were pursued by a police vehicle. Unless Steve's car was reported stolen there was no reason for the pursuit to begin. The only person who could possibly do that would be the owner of the car.

When they avoided the spikes she drove down a side street and took a left turn so she was heading back in the direction of the print shop. The street was blocked by AFO vehicles - they were boxed in. It was obviously a well coordinated pursuit and for the first time in the series a police helicopter was used.

Carmichael had said that Kate and Jo were to be considered "armed and dangerous", that phrase goes hand in hand with "lethal force authorised" if they didn't surrender when given the opportunity. Kate didn't know that Carmichael had said that but she knew from Steve that Osborne had given Carmichael sole control of the operation, that the surveillance had been pulled from Ryan and Jo and that Osborne stood to gain from the buried investigations.

It was a reasonable conclusion that they were setup, the number of coincidences are hard to ignore.

Hollyworth

Talisman wrote: »

Kate shot Ryan, she then fled the scene with Jo. If she had not told Steve the location then AC-12 would not have been on their trail for sometime. Presumably she was giving Jo the opportunity to prove herself to not be bent - that was the idea behind the whistle stop tour to Farida's house and then on to the print shop which was across the road from Terry Boyle's flat.

As they got to the print shop they were pursued by a police vehicle. Unless Steve's car was reported stolen there was no reason for the pursuit to begin. The only person who could possibly do that would be the owner of the car.

When they avoided the spikes she drove down a side street and took a left turn so she was heading back in the direction of the print shop. The street was blocked by AFO vehicles - they were boxed in. It was obviously a well coordinated pursuit and for the first time in the series a police helicopter was used.

Carmichael had said that Kate and Jo were to be considered "armed and dangerous", that phrase goes hand in hand with "lethal force authorised" if they didn't surrender when given the opportunity. Kate didn't know that Carmichael had said that but she knew from Steve that Osborne had given Carmichael sole control of the operation, that the surveillance had been pulled from Ryan and Jo and that Osborne stood to gain from the buried investigations.

It was a reasonable conclusion that they were setup, the number of coincidences are hard to ignore.

None of this explains the personality transplant Kate went through to make the decision of going on the run with a bent copper who conspired to have her murdered in cold blood.

Talisman

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

As many have said, the first 20 minutes was indeed bizarre. The only sense of Kate and Jo fleeing the scene is that Kate was trying to get more information from Jo. However the whole "we've been set up" narrative was very odd and the way Jo concocted the story about swapping guns was also very weird. Kate was perfectly entitled to shoot Ryan so I really didn't get that whole storyline. It did seem to be done this way purely to fit into the overall picture but it was a bit ridiculous really. Also the whole tracking AC12 cars bit was BS because this was Steves private car, not his work one. Again, Jed was taking a mallet to the script to make it fit here.
On the whole Carmichael thing in the interview, I agree with how ShamboBuc and others put it earlier. She is a jobber, sent in to stop more muck being spread on coppers. Once you look at her that way, her behaviour towards Ted was quite understandable - I mean he was getting quite desperate at times in that interview, so to someone viewing him as having lost it somewhat, you could understand why she would want to stop him. Overall the interview scene was the best part of the episode and did set things up for next week.
I do hope next week is the final episode as tbh parts of this have just gone beyond parody. "Alright, alright" for one, "Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey" for another ... give me strength!

I think that may explain how the ambush took place as it did, Osborne had authorised the tracking of all AC-12 staff's vehicles. Osborne is operating outside the bounds of the law and is willing to go to whatever lengths it takes to shut AC-12 down.

Hollyworth

The only way the first 20 minutes would have made sense was if nobody but Kate knew that Pilkington was bent and everyone else assumed she had just gunned down a fellow officer for no reason, and she went dark until she could prove Pilkington was a wrong un.

But AC12 already knew he was bent. So why concoct a plan to explain his shooting, and then go on the run. Absolute nonsense.

Talisman

Hollyworth wrote: »

None of this explains the personality transplant Kate went through to make the decision of going on the run with a bent copper who conspired to have her murdered in cold blood.

Personality transplant? WTF. At no point in the series did she think that Jo was bent, she had repeatedly defended her to the AC-12 staff. She was giving Jo the opportunity to prove she wasn't bent and in the process break the Gail Vella case wide open.

Hollyworth

Talisman wrote: »

Personality transplant? WTF. At no point in the series did she think that Jo was bent, she had repeatedly defended her to the AC-12 staff. She was giving Jo the opportunity to prove she wasn't bent and in the process break the Gail Vella case wide open.

What? The fact that Jo had lured her to her death proved Jo was bent. So yes it was a personality transplant. The old Kate would have arrested her.


Also, the fact that at no point in the series did Kate think Jo was bent, proved my point that she has had a personality transplant.

Talisman

Hollyworth wrote: »

What? The fact that Jo had lured her to her death proved Jo was bent. So yes it was a personality transplant. The old Kate would have arrested her.

Did Ryan have a gun on Jo? It's possible that Kate believed Jo was coerced at gun point.

Talisman

Hollyworth wrote: »

Also, the fact that at no point in the series did Kate think Jo was bent, proved my point that she has had a personality transplant.

No it really doesn't, quit talking nonsense.

Hollyworth

Talisman wrote: »

Did Ryan have a gun on Jo? It's possible that Kate believed Jo was coerced at gun point.

Even so, Kate would have stayed for the police to arrive.

Terence Rattigan

What new catchphrase will Ted come up with for the season finale?

"I didnt come up the Lagan on the back of a wee donkey!"

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, and all the saints and martyrs!"

"Ah get up the yard will ya!"

"No Surrender to the OCG!"

"Tiocfaidh our law!"

Hollyworth

Talisman wrote: »

No it really doesn't, quit talking nonsense.

Kate was so suspicious that Ted was not being honest during his troubles last season, that she left AC12. That's how smart she is. Because Ted was lying, as we know. He had that extra 50 grand, among other things.

But now she is so stupid that she can't smell a rat with Jo, even after being presented with evidence by Steve and Ted. In fact, she told Jo what AC12 were up to.

I'm sorry, but if that's not a personality transplant, then I don't know what is.

It's simple, Mercurio needed the plot to progress so he turned one of his smartest characters into a vegetable.

Loverlyhorse

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

The other bit that makes no sense is that Jo was holding onto Pilkington’s gun.

So, Kate realises she’s been lured there by Jo. Pilkington and Kate have a standoff. Kate kills Pilkington with a double tap. Jo is then swanning around holding the gun! Why doesn’t Kate have both guns?

Because the show's writers are well and truly taking the piss out of their audience in this episode. Farcical behaviour by the characters at times.

chooseusername

Hollyworth wrote: »

The only way the first 20 minutes would have made sense was if nobody but Kate knew that Pilkington was bent and everyone else assumed she had just gunned down a fellow officer for no reason, and she went dark until she could prove Pilkington was a wrong un.

But AC12 already knew he was bent. So why concoct a plan to explain his shooting, and then go on the run. Absolute nonsense.

AC12 knew but M.I.T. didn't

Loverlyhorse

Hollyworth wrote: »

The only way the first 20 minutes would have made sense was if nobody but Kate knew that Pilkington was bent and everyone else assumed she had just gunned down a fellow officer for no reason, and she went dark until she could prove Pilkington was a wrong un.

But AC12 already knew he was bent. So why concoct a plan to explain his shooting, and then go on the run. Absolute nonsense.

Exactly. I was in a constant state of cringe after the first scene. It was completely nonsensical.

Loverlyhorse

Talisman wrote: »

Kate shot Ryan, she then fled the scene with Jo. If she had not told Steve the location then AC-12 would not have been on their trail for sometime. Presumably she was giving Jo the opportunity to prove herself to not be bent.

Do you agree that that is a bit ridiculous - go on the run with Jo after she lured her to her death?

Hollyworth

Lyndsey Denton in season 2 was significantly less bent than Jo Davidson, yet Kate went after Denton full throttle, as Ted would say.
Why would she give Jo the benefit of the doubt especially after Jo had tried to get her killed? It's just so stupid.
I would say it's a prime example of the story steering the characters instead of the other way round, but in this case, the story ended up in the same place it was headed before the nonsense first 20 minutes. By that I mean had Kate not gone on the run, and just arrested Jo, we would have had the long interview scene anyway. So the going on the run thing served no purpose because it landed the characters in exactly the same place even if they had not made that decision to go on the run. All roads led to the interview scene. Mercurio just brought us down the stupidest, brain dead road he could muster up.

purifol0

S: Hey Kate, hows the kids?
K: The who, anyway Steve hows your back?
S: Grand in a shoot out or car chase, not so good in bed with a woman.
K: Sorry to hear that M8, don't forget to remove the tracker on your personal car. The ones on these cars we've used in this secret meeting don't matter though.
S: Kate mind if I ask you why you fled the scene after killing a known OCG member in self defence, with a bent copper who lured you to your death?
K: Girl Power Steve, you men wouldn't understand.

oneilla

Makes no sense for Carmichael to place a tracker on Steve's personal sports car, couldn't be legal surely? A car tracker was used in the second series ambush where Tommy Hunter was murdered. So, I'd expect that tracker to become a plot point next episode. Probably won't though considering how off the rails this episode went

razorblunt

Talisman wrote: »

Personality transplant? WTF. At no point in the series did she think that Jo was bent, she had repeatedly defended her to the AC-12 staff. She was giving Jo the opportunity to prove she wasn't bent and in the process break the Gail Vella case wide open.

Jo lured Kate to the yard.
Ryan came out with a gun drawn.
Kate should have been shot down by him. That's all on Jo.

Kate handily has forgotten that and we're supposed to feel sorry for Jo.