Sunday, 2nd May 2021 at 10:00 pm
Halfway through the Line of Duty season six finale, AC-12 finally found out the identity of ‘H’, or the “Fourth Man” who they had been chasing for so long. Did we, the viewers, find out at the same time? No, we most certainly did not.
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For another excruciating eight minutes, the team passed around print-outs and made cryptic remarks, exchanged knowing looks, and got sidetracked into other conversations. “All this time we’ve been chasing shadows! If this is right he’s been under our noses from the very beginning!” declared Steve. (Who was he talking about? Surely it’s Chief Constable Osborne, we thought.) And then we had a montage of armed officers drawing up to AC-12 and marching an unseen interviewee into the building, while DI Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) tap-tapped on his iPad and linked up the DIR. Of course, the camera pulled away before he typed in the name of the interviewee.
Here are some of the unanswered questions viewers may have after watching…
What was the full extent of Philip Osborne’s involvement in corruption and cover-ups?
Just because Buckells was exposed as the OCG rat doesn’t mean everyone else is exonerated – quite the opposite. Instead, as Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) explains to Patricia Carmichael (Anna Maxwell Martin), Buckells’s rise through the ranks was only facilitated by institutional failings that went right to the top.
Ian Buckells (Nigel Boyle) comes clean in the Line of Duty finale (BBC)
Exactly how complicit Chief Constable Osborne was in the various crimes and scandals AC-12 were looking at is still unknown; for now, it seems, he’s gotten away with his role in Vella’s murder. With Carmichael in charge, however, it seems likely everything will be swept under the rug.
Rod McPhee, TV Editor
16:17 ET, Apr 30 2021
LINE Of Duty fans are on tenterhooks for tomorrow as the finale of the cop thriller looks set to land the big fish they have been chasing – arch criminal H.
AC-12 boss Supt Ted Hastings, played by Adrian Dunbar, has split the bad guys into sprats (small-time) and mackerels (big-time).
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Supt Ted Hastings, played by Adrian Dunbar, has split the bad guys into sprats (small-time) and mackerels (big-time)Credit: BBC
But creator Jed Mercurio has also sprinkled in quite a few red herrings, leaving viewers and the anti-corruption team the difficult task of landing the real catch.
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Is it the end of the Line? Is our tour of Duty coming to an end? Is it really R.I.P, LOD? When the credits roll at around 9.58pm on Sunday, will our beloved heroes be hanging up their waistcoats and lanyards for good? For the love of the wee donkey, please say it isn’t so.
As we hurtle towards the white-knuckle series finale with more questions than an AC-12 interview, many pundits are confidently predicting it will be the last episode ever. Well, like any S.I.O worth their rank, let’s examine the evidence for and against.
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Line of Duty deaths - How, exactly, have all of the major players snuffed it?
RIP.
It's not always easy to predict what twists and turns
Line of Duty has in store for us, but we can always count on Jed Mercurio to chuck a few grisly deaths in there along the way.
Over the course of its six seasons, the police corruption drama has severed ties with myriad faces – some deserving of their wretched fates, others less so – and we've decided to round up all of the major exits for you because we're extremely
Line of Duty fans have been sharing dozens of theories on everything ranging from who Jo Davidson thinks her father was to the identify of the final H.
And now some attentive viewers have suggested that DS Chris Lomax might have dropped a huge clue that he's working for the OCG during Sunday night's episode.
At the end of the latest instalment of series six, Lomax [Perry Fitzpatrick] was seen talking to a crime scene investigator- with some fans saying they recognised the very familiar pub name, The Red Lion, he wanted to head too.
Could it be? Line of Duty fans have suggested that DS Chris Lomax (middle) dropped a huge clue that he's a bent officer during Sunday night's episode
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“For those of you who for whatever inexplicable reason don’t know, I’m Detective Superintendent Patricia Carmichael.” Oh Patronising Pat, in your black polo neck of power, how we love to loathe thee.
The head of rival anti-corruption unit AC-3, brilliantly played by Anna Maxwell Martin, is a different kind of Line Of Duty villain. DCS Carmichael isn’t a thuggish gangster, weaselly politician or bent copper™ (well, as far as we know). She doesn’t kill with a knife or a workshopped gun. She kills with sharp words and a withering smile. She’s every bad boss, unbearable colleague or pass-agg “frenemy” you’ve ever had.
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Everyone Who's Died in
Line of Duty Series 6 so Far (and What It Means for Episode 7)
It's been a bloodthirsty season. Can we expect a big, brutal twist in the grand finale?
By Michael Hogan BBC/World Productions
Line of Duty. By our count, 15 lives have been lost this series so far.
In tribute, we’ve rewound everyone who’s met their maker – from troublesome journalists to snitching rent boys, double-crossed criminals to bent coppers™.
Think of it as a moving “In Memoriam” montage, which also acts as a handy plot recap ahead of next weekend’s grand finale. Strike up the sad orchestral music.
Sunday, 18th April 2021 at 10:00 pm
Hopefully you remember everything that happened in every previous season of Line of Duty – because you
really needed to have a good memory to keep up with this episode. In particular, the events of season four are suddenly relevant again; plus, Ted Hastings’ money shenanigans in season five may come back to haunt him, and characters from season one are back in the picture.
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But in the immediate aftermath of that cliffhanger ending, Line of Duty fans will be thinking of one thing and one thing only: DI Kate Fleming. So let’s get into it!