Line of Duty Series 4
Not quite reaching the heights of season 3 and the conclusion of the "Caddy" storyline, this was still riveting television. Getting an actress of the calibre of Thandie Newton in as your main antagonist doesn't hurt of course. A slow first couple of episodes had me worried for a while, but I shouldn't have doubted creator Jed Mercurio and his ability to ratchet up the tension and deliver a finale that had several "punch the air" moments. In the end the identity of "Balaclava Man" was relatively unimportant, just peeling back another layer of this vast conspiracy at the top of the police force.
As Roz Huntely, Thandie Newton was ice cold under pressure, but this did mean that I didn't feel any connection to her or begin to doubt her culpability in the same way as Lindsay Denton from the previous series. However I can't deny her that small moment of redemption when she was able to reveal the extent of lawyer Jimmy Lakewell's corruption. Her last act was to actually do her job as a police officer and save an innocent man from jail.
The real star of the show though continues to be Adrian Dunbar as Superintendent Ted Hastings - surely up there with being the best TV cop since...Gene Hunt?. I almost stood up and cheered when he finally got his man and sleazy chief Derek Hilton was revealed at last - twinned with a vague sense of dissatisfaction that his death was off-camera.
There’s still a ton of unanswered questions. Who exactly are the criminal at the top of the chain? How many other “Balaclava men” are still out there, and how many bent coppers? Was Hilton really the so-called “H” in charge? “This is beginning to feel like a life’s work” said Ted Hastings. I can’t have been the only one to think "I bloody well hope so". Here's to series five.
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