Line of Duty (TV Series) The Betrayal (2019) User Reviews

This was huge!

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 4 May 2019]

I've particularly enjoyed this fifth series, and this part, which technically should have been the mid series lull, proved to be the standout episode. It had the lot, it had big drama, a superb, tense stand off, and a shock ending that had me watching with my mouth open.

Jed Mercurio has always managed to shock and surprise, and even by his standards he played a blinder here.

I'm utterly at a loss as to the identity of H, I just don't know which way it's going to play out.

Huge. 10/10

Class Act

[jonathan-boyce · 10/10 · 22 April 2019]

What a classy actor Stephen Graham is! He communicates such complexity of character through his acting chops, it makes the viewer in one scene admire John and then despise him! Great episode full of twists and turns; in this one I hope the bad cop is who we all expect it to be, because the misdirection will seem over-contrived, leading to a disappointing denouement.

An amazing episode with a shocking ending

[amitrgujar · 10/10 · 27 April 2019]

He show continues to outdo itself. Just when you start thinking that I can 'predict' what happens next, the twist on the corner leaves you shocked, amazed and questioning your smartness

EPIC

[montmcd · 9/10 · 21 April 2019]

THAT EPISODE WAS ONE WORD, ONE SYLLABLE, ONE MEANING. EPIC!

Cutthroat

[xmasdaybaby1966 · 8/10 · 23 April 2021]

This has probably been the weakest series to date but this has been the best episode so far.

The storyline isn't intriguing enough so hoping that the high quality has been saved for the end of the series.

The northern Ireland links are starting to take over even though this is the fourth series to have been made there.

I spend too much time looking at the land arms to get an idea where things are filmed despite never having been to Belfast. I guess it a started in series 1 which was filmed in my back years in Birmingham.

Why did they move filming?

Birmingham is the second city but gets so little airtime.

Why band the shopping centre The Pallisades (a well known shopping centre in Birmingham)?

A strong 8 from me but I will never give an episode a 10 because of the way the show turned its back on its roots.

Tense and memorable episode

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 6 April 2023]

AC12 discovers more information about Corbett's background and suspicions are high everywhere.

This is brutal episode with memorable character moments.

There is virtually nothing I can say about the plot without spoiling, other than one scene would not be out of place with 'Game of Thrones' top shock moments.

All characters are used very well by the writer, especially Corbett, Arnott, Hastings, and McQueen.

Yes, certain aspects are sensationalist and stretch the boundaries of plausibility, but that is Line of Duty and it's all part of the entertainment.

Stephen Graham, Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar are the standout performers for me.

For me it's an 8.5/10, but I round upwards.

Episode 5.4

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 24 April 2019]

We are up to episode 4 and so far I do not think the fifth series of Line of Duty has grabbed me by the lapels yet.

The John Corbett story has ended up in a cul de sac. There is no way back for him after what he has done to Hasting's wife and others. Corbett still misguidedly believes that he is trying to expose the top corrupt cop.

The main problem to me is, there is too much focus on whether Hastings is the corrupt cop. This has unbalanced the fifth series.

Writer Jed Mercurio has a trick up his sleeve in this episode to alter the course of the remainder of the series.

The main question for me is whether Hastings is being set up? We have not yet had a lengthy interrogation by AC-12. All the indications are that Hastings could be in the receiving end of one.

The worst

[dashduval · 2/10 · 19 September 2019]

Absolutely atrocious Terrible , dire the worst an absolute pile of dung was the worst I was so disgusted very disappointed I really loved the show but this series was a big let down , having read some of the other reviews that were positive , you must either be really easy pleased or related to Jed 2/10 was genrrace ,

Arnott doesn't seem to care anymore....

[ronalamont-91472 · 7/10 · 11 July 2019]

This should have been a stellar episode in which Arnott could have shone but, instead, it was possibly one of his most boring ones in my opinion. He made lots of presentations that just seemed like he he was reading his lines, he often looked tired or miserable and to hear him address Fleming as "boss" just doesn't sit well with me especially at a time when we are being "forced" to suspect Hastings as being corrupt. I get it that the show, just like real life, has to move on but the chemistry between Hastings, Arnott and Fleming was an important part of what made the show work so to mess with that so dramatically is a major risk to take. I also find it hard to believe they would be so quick to turn on their boss. It's also becoming ridiculous that almost everyone in the force seems to be corrupt. Especially at the higher levels. The casting of Corbett was a brilliant move and even though I didn't like his character at first his acting was so compelling he grew on me and became the main reason I was still watching the episode (which dealt with upsetting subject matter). A strange decision to kill him off so soon except that he was deluding himself that the "top cop" would ever be bothered to come meet him and his cohorts. They all seemed like such "small fry" it was kinda hard to believe they'd pulled off the "heist of the century". I'm even surprised Hargreaves showed up but I somehow think we're going to find out more about that later. A choppy episode with some definite shock value but not enough power to drive the show forward I think.

(LoD) Not the Greatest but is the most Thrilling! S5/EP4

[djrocky · 7/10 · 22 April 2019]

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)