Line of Duty

Never watched LOD before but love Ted - so glad he's still there, there was some suggestion on a front page that this might be the end for him!

I did enjoy it very much even if I muttered throughout and afterwards!!

I wonder if the writer has to make a flow chart so that everything links and makes some kind of sense in the end?
It is all very complicated and yes, belief has to be suspended.

There seem to be more crooks in the police force than amongst the general public!

I watched it again last night, and yes, it does improve second time around.

Not in the same class as previous series, though. Series 3 was brilliant.

Much easier (and more discreet!) to stick it up his nose first...

There was a theory over on the Other Side that the mrsa came from his bum - that he had stuck his finger up there deliberately to scratch Roz with.

Oh come on it was all a bit far fetched, but well written and acted. You sometimes have to suspend belief a bit and enjoy things.
I doubt if Roz would have been allowed to arrest her husband and would certainly have been asked to excuse herself from any investigations concerning him. Then there is the question of the MRSA and how she was nursed- in an open ward with no barrier nursing??? Not to mention her miraculous rising from her post-operative bed in spite of sedation. But who cares it was great viewing.

According to Jean Moir in the Daily Mail yesterday Ted Hastings is now the sex symbol for the older women. Sorry i dont know how to add a link to the article, but you can read it on line.

I thought it was just Tim's nose they got the MRSA from - I thought that was the most infected site on a body but he put it onto Ros by scratching her arm and it transferred the MRSA as well as some of his DNA.

jalima it was Rupal that Roz asked to redo the pm, and it was Rupal who presented the findings. Probably didn't actually carry it out herself.

I'm still not clear about Tim and his balaclava. What was he doing with one? I get that there needed to be a link between him and Roz's,hand, and that it was the balaclava that linked the Mrsa from Tim's nose to Roz's hand. I thought initially that it was part of a stash that Tim had at home of other balaclavas but, if that was the case, wouldn't there be evidence of another person on it? There was no mention of that.

So, if Tim had a balaclava, why? Was he indeed a balaclava man? Was he indeed intending to kill someone in the guise of "BM"? .

And another thing I don't get.....

How did Steve's attacker get from Moss Heath to the office in time to attack Steve?

Some good points gettingonabit. I agree there were several elements that, on closer inspection, seem pretty implausible.

Despite that, I really enjoyed it, although I think series three is probably my favourite.

gettingonabit


Cynical? lol

Just like me! DH gets quite annoyed as I pick holes in all these kinds of programmes and can't take them at face value.

Perhaps we are left to ponder especially if there is to be another series.

Roz was quick to admit to the killing in the end so perhaps she did have an accomplice she was trying to protect.
And i really don't get how he managed to not realise that Roz was still alive.
If she had been knocked out and looked dead to Tim, I am amazed she managed to come round, kill him and and clear up the evidence so thoroughly.
She said when she confessed that her children needed one parent so perhaps she is still protecting her husband - perhaps she did accidentally kill Tim but he helped her afterwards. Or, or, or
Police officers may be forensically 'aware' but they are not trained scientifically so I am amazed that she left no traces that a good forensic scientist could have found except that obvious one.

Maneet - is she to return, perhaps promoted after maternity leave?

Rupal - is she the forensic scientist? They don't carry out post mortems, was it said she did? more confusion.

jalima yes, he was wearing the suit when he died. It was taken off him though, and he was found in his civvies.

I must admit to not being entirely satisfied with certain elements of this series. I think that's maybe due to the move to BBC1. It has definitely lost some of the intrigue, imho.
Hilton:

We kind of knew Hilton was a baddy from the beginning. However apart from the groping and perving over Roz, there was little shown about the man's character otherwise. Some of us already know him as the slippery boss from previous series, but apart from that, nothing. We never got to see what he may have been thinking, his home life, his influences, his associations. For me, he slipped seamlessly from oily boss to criminal mastermind way too quickly. He turned into a bit of a pantomime villain at the end. Shame, as we'll never see Hilton again.

Tim:

I still don't get what Tim was doing in the cafe with Hana's fingerprint. And i really don't get how he managed to not realise that Roz was still alive. I can understand that he may have panicked, but he still had presence of mind to don a balaclava to fake an identity. Talking of which, why the heck did he have a balaclava anyway?

The scene:

Nope, the idea that Roz cleaned up single handedly having been knocked unconscious doesn't sit right. I don't get why she misheard 13 as 30 either; the emphasis is different.

Roz's career break:

I got the impression that Roz's break was recent and was to be at home with her kids. But those kids were teenagers! It's significant because Hilton keeps banging on about it. So when was it and how long for?

Lakewell:

I was disappointed by the lack of character development of Jimmy. He's another one who went from sleazy to baddie too quickly imho. Waste of a great "baddie" actor!

Steve and Kate:

Many of us know Steve and Kate from previous series, but for those new to LOD there was too little character development. We know than neither of them are whiter than white, and have history, but none of that was evident here. Even Ted has dubious history!

Farmer on remand:

I was convinced from the star that Farmer's solicitor was so bad that he had to be bent. Also, shouldn't Farmer have had an appropriate adult with him? He had a mental age of 11, after all.

Tim's DNA.

We know that Tim's dna was planted on Leonie's body. Maybe by a corruptible FI. But I really don't get how Rupal can carry out a postmortem on the body, find nothing, then, at Roz's insistence, carry out a repeat pm, find Tim's evidence, and not raise questions about how it got there? It wasn't just Rupal, it was the whole bloody team swallowing ir!

Maneet:

Why did Maneet go from hero to zero without explanation.? Again, no build-up or background.

Any other unsatisfactory bits, wise ones?

?

Lazigirl {groan}

If you enjoyed this and haven't seen the other series, please do so. They are absolutely brilliant.

Don't worry Jalima she'd be "armless".
Wow! I loved the series but will have to watch last episode again with rewinds to make sense of all the loose ends. I agree POGS about the look between Fleming and Hastings at the end. I couldn't bear it if Hastings is corrupt - I love his accent. Initially I thought this series was too unrealistic, but think you have to suspend belief to enjoy the action. If it were true to life there'd be mounds of paperwork, little action and no resolution.

And, can't remember if this is right, was Ifield wearing the suit himself when he was killed?

Well, I think the idea of the suits etc are that they are designed to protect the crime scene, not leave fibres or any DNA from the person collecting the evidence as well as protect the person wearing the suit. They would not normally be used to clean up a crime scene.

Another thing about the cleanup-how absorbent are those forensic suits? I thought they would be designed to repel moisture, not wick it up? Yet Ifield's suit appeared to have absorbed lots of blood...

'I just don't believe it' as Victor would say!

She said it started off slowly then started pumping out if I remember correctly. So it must have been an artery not a vein.
Did she change her shoes? Socks?
Have a shower there?

I am thinking of employing Roz as a cleaner when she comes out of prison.

Just don't let her in the shed near the power tools .....

Great last episode, great drama.Looking forward to the next series already.

At the end there was a camera shot of Hastings. He had a strange look on his face.
It made me feel that he is not all that he appears to be.

I am full of admiration for the "cleaning up" of blood in Tim Iffield's kitchen.
It is nearly 18 months since I caught Grace's poor tail in the back door and she sprayed the kitchen/dining area/hall with blood as she continued to wag it ? with blood splatters everywhere.
(I am still finding traces )
Slattern that I am.

What an excellent programme that was. Like others I am looking forward to the next instalment, I hope they clear up the Manet question then. Jalima, Huntley did say Ifield had prepped the area, putting plastic down etc, maybe he also raised the edges of that to catch the blood. Probably be like trying to move a water bed by then. Am now going to watch the first two series which I missed when it was first shown.