Line Of Duty wraps things up tomorrow with a special extended episode.
In theory anyway...
Put another way, only 85 minutes to answer A LOT of questions.
What's next? Line Of Duty wraps things up tomorrow with a special extended episode, and put another way, that leaves only 85 minutes to answer A LOT of questions
Why did Supt. Ted Hastings misspell ‘definately’ for example, and why did no one else in AC-12 notice?
Why had he accepted that £50, 000 in cash but not spent some of it on a better hotel - one where he could actually flush the toilet?
Had he really lost thousands in something called ‘The Kettle Bell Complex’, which sounded more like one of a conspiracy anthem by Radiohead than a serious investment?
Was Gill Bigelow a baddie or just habitually bitchy? Was it true that you couldn’t send flowers to people in hospital anymore, as she told like when she told the Deputy Chief Constable? And were muffins really the right alternative as DCC Wise decided (for Ted’s wife)?
Dramatic: It’s hard to see Jed Mercurio tying up all the loose ends, or how he can in the case of Ted Hastings who surely can’t be guilty or completely innocent
It’s hard to see Jed Mercurio tying up all the loose ends, or how he can in the case of Ted Hastings who surely can’t be guilty or completely innocent. And that’s even if Mercurio wanted to, which frankly seems unlikely based on the previous four series.
You might be thinking the big issue in the finale is meant to be: will Superintendent Hastings turn out to be the high-ranking police officer/organised crime boss known as ‘H’?
Ironically though, that’s the one thing we don’t need to worry about.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! (As Ted would say.) Of course he isn’t. He’s Ted Hastings!
He’s the last person who could be ‘H.’
Suspects have included Derek Hilton and Lester Hargreaves but ‘H’ is more likely to be a woman than Hastings or actually really ‘G’ – possibly for Gill Bigelow.
Who is ‘H’?
Given that Jed Mercurio is more duplicitous and secretive than ‘H’ himself (or herself) you have to doubt that we’ll find out.
But here are 20 questions that should be answered in the Line Of Duty finale.
1. Is Ted Hastings ‘H’ ?
Just because Hastings told the OCG’s Lisa McQueen and Miroslav Minkowicz he was ‘H’, has spent the whole series seemingly helping the gang as ‘H’ would, and misspelt ‘definately’ like ‘H’ didn’t mean that he was ‘H.’ We didn’t float up the Lagan in a bubble you know Jed.
2. Will Ted go down for being ‘H’ anyway?
This would give Mercurio a sensational ending for this series and a way to start the next (Arnott and Fleming trying to get him out of prison by exonerating him). Mercurio has dug such a deep hole for his hero it’s hard to see how he can come up with a convincing story to explain all Ted’s uncharacteristically strange behaviour and bad decision-making.
3. For instance why did Supt. Hastings furtively take his laptop to be disposed of in an ‘Electronics Disposal Centre’ as soon as he learnt Arnott had made contact with undercover cop John Corbett?
This not only seemed highly suspicious but like a lot of trouble to go to – rather than just sticking it in a bin-liner and throwing it away. Where did Ted find a shop like this? Do they even exist?
4. And why had Ted Hastings accepted that Jiffy bag stuffed with £50K in cash and then just kept it on his desk, staring at it for several episodes, for AC-3 to find and use as evidence against him?
Ted’s explanation to DCS Patricia Carmichael was dodgy ex-detective Mark Moffatt had given him the money ‘using false pretences’ and that he’d been ‘in the process of returning it.’ Clearly not only inadequate excuses but just not true.
5. Was Ted/Mercurio seriously going to claim he’d been posing as ‘H’ in order to discover ‘H’s identity/trap ‘H’?
If Ted was going to use this (ridiculous) defence he was in trouble. ‘H’ would not be living in a grotty Travelodge like Alan Partridge for a start and wasn’t even a good cover story – given that ‘H’ would want to maintain anonymity and Ted’s financial difficulties actually attracted suspicion that he was open to corruption. Pretending to be ‘H’ was a rubbish plan, as was proved when Lisa McQueen refused to believe ‘H’ would break his cover at such a dangerous time after all those years undetected. Surely even Ted could see his trap could never work. ‘H’ would know that Ted wasn’t really ‘H’ - because he was.
