Line of Duty has always managed to build stories that twist and turn whenever you look away. Sometimes you might miss a key moment due to not paying attention within each scene. However, this episode doesn't do that much in terms of "Greatness" - there are some twists, very few. But the real shocker was the scenes near the end of this episode. (I won't spoil it for anyone but I'd be lying if I didn't say that this twist was unexpected) Not so much the end result but the way it was executed.
This episode fails to engage me into the world of Line of Duty, and I'm starting to dislike the story elements that were never important in previous episodes from the other series (1-4) If you can get over the scenes that are unrealistic and really make you go: "AS IF THAT WOULD HAPPEN" and "AS IF NOBODY WOULD NOTICE THESE COPS / PEOPLE SUPPOSEDLY SPYING OUT OF SIGHT" - Don't make me laugh. But if we can ignore all that, I think it's fair to say that this episode was a real thrill ride. It didn't take too long to get interesting and was trying to connect side-stories and previous storylines and make it all connect somehow. Again, this episode made me angry and I don't mean the writing made me angry. No, it was the way it ended. The way they wanted to take these characters, and how one character had a complete character replacement. Just forget what you knew about (this character) because they are no longer going to act in the way they would in previous episodes. Nope, they are going to be more stupid and make mistakes.
My other problem with this episode is that Jed felt the need to bring back something from Series 1 that seeing it now is unbelievable and immersion breaking. Get real, and I'm not the only one who was annoyed with this episode's decisions. Many fans have already written their opinions and most of them are saying how it was "JUMPING THE SHARK" - ect.
Finally, I think it's best to just wrap up this review with some truths: (1) The episode pacing is no longer consistent and is slowing down and then speeding up again, only to fall flat. (2) The impact of the twist was strong and was impressive. It also made for a thrilling episode but it wasn't "EPIC" - it was just unexpected (the way it was executed) - (3) The decision of having a character removed from the show was a mistake. It didn't add anything except shock value and "upsetting scenes" - But it was obvious it was going to happen, just not sure how it was going to happen to them. The mistake was having this character removed from the show rather than another character that has outstayed their welcome from Series 1 (Ryan) - No need for him to exist in this series whatsoever.
Overall, a great episode that is worthy of 7.5 Stars! Anything above that is just overhyping it and seeing it as the best episode yet. I'll agree that it was a great episode but the next episodes may be even better. This one was not SHOCKING for the right reasons. It was SHOCKING because it had to be. Jed knows how to entice an audience and shock them (even if looking back on it may make that decision look stupid in context or maybe others may think it was ridiculous) One thing is for certain... This series is currently in knots and doesn't really know where it is going. Jed even mentioned that he would make changes if he thinks of something better. Enjoy this episode guys but honestly, it's not the best and I want to believe that once the hype dies down, people will start to come to terms that this episode was slow and tedious. It didn't seem in character and ruined a character that had so much potential to be a great character to the very end ! -_-
FINAL RATING: 7.5/10 (We are all entitled to our opinions, I hope you can agree with this to an extent. You may not agree 100% but maybe some of this review shares itself with your reviews / opinions on this episode)
RATING FOR SERIES SO FAR: 8/10 (It's been great so far, and that's not because of this episode. That's because of the previous episodes that created some great characters and built existing characters with more LORE)
This episode fails to engage me into the world of Line of Duty, and I'm starting to dislike the story elements that were never important in previous episodes from the other series (1-4) If you can get over the scenes that are unrealistic and really make you go: "AS IF THAT WOULD HAPPEN" and "AS IF NOBODY WOULD NOTICE THESE COPS / PEOPLE SUPPOSEDLY SPYING OUT OF SIGHT" - Don't make me laugh. But if we can ignore all that, I think it's fair to say that this episode was a real thrill ride. It didn't take too long to get interesting and was trying to connect side-stories and previous storylines and make it all connect somehow. Again, this episode made me angry and I don't mean the writing made me angry. No, it was the way it ended. The way they wanted to take these characters, and how one character had a complete character replacement. Just forget what you knew about (this character) because they are no longer going to act in the way they would in previous episodes. Nope, they are going to be more stupid and make mistakes.
My other problem with this episode is that Jed felt the need to bring back something from Series 1 that seeing it now is unbelievable and immersion breaking. Get real, and I'm not the only one who was annoyed with this episode's decisions. Many fans have already written their opinions and most of them are saying how it was "JUMPING THE SHARK" - ect.
Finally, I think it's best to just wrap up this review with some truths: (1) The episode pacing is no longer consistent and is slowing down and then speeding up again, only to fall flat. (2) The impact of the twist was strong and was impressive. It also made for a thrilling episode but it wasn't "EPIC" - it was just unexpected (the way it was executed) - (3) The decision of having a character removed from the show was a mistake. It didn't add anything except shock value and "upsetting scenes" - But it was obvious it was going to happen, just not sure how it was going to happen to them. The mistake was having this character removed from the show rather than another character that has outstayed their welcome from Series 1 (Ryan) - No need for him to exist in this series whatsoever.
Overall, a great episode that is worthy of 7.5 Stars! Anything above that is just overhyping it and seeing it as the best episode yet. I'll agree that it was a great episode but the next episodes may be even better. This one was not SHOCKING for the right reasons. It was SHOCKING because it had to be. Jed knows how to entice an audience and shock them (even if looking back on it may make that decision look stupid in context or maybe others may think it was ridiculous) One thing is for certain... This series is currently in knots and doesn't really know where it is going. Jed even mentioned that he would make changes if he thinks of something better. Enjoy this episode guys but honestly, it's not the best and I want to believe that once the hype dies down, people will start to come to terms that this episode was slow and tedious. It didn't seem in character and ruined a character that had so much potential to be a great character to the very end ! -_-
FINAL RATING: 7.5/10 (We are all entitled to our opinions, I hope you can agree with this to an extent. You may not agree 100% but maybe some of this review shares itself with your reviews / opinions on this episode)
RATING FOR SERIES SO FAR: 8/10 (It's been great so far, and that's not because of this episode. That's because of the previous episodes that created some great characters and built existing characters with more LORE)