Well, that was an absolute ripsnorter.
After an already fairly action-packed start to the series of Line of Duty, Jed Mercurio took us up another few notches on Sunday night, delivering a downright slobberknocker of an episode. It had it all: three bent coppers put in their place, two cold-blooded murders, and one forced retirement (RIP Daddy Hastings).
And, to top it all off, he closed it out with a (somewhat shoehorned in) cliffhanger, in which Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) and Chloe Bishop (Shalome Brune-Franklin) presented Ted Hastings (Adrian Dunbar) with a folder which disclosed a surprise discovery: the identity of a blood relation to Joanne Davidson (Kelly MacDonald). Of course, rather than just tell him aloud like real-life humans, they did the very TV thing of sliding him the folder and allowing him to open it, meaning the audience is left in the dark until the next episode. And it's clearly pretty juicy: the information contained within was shocking enough to elicit a “mother of god” from the gaffer, a good tease to leave us gagging for next Sunday to come round.
But who could be a “mother of god” worthy relation to this season's bentest copper? We have some theories (and some very unofficial betting odds).
Kate Fleming, played by Vicky McClure
Odds: 56/2
I mean, there have been no signs thus far that Line of Duty is going to veer sharply in the incestuous direction of Game of Thrones, but still... it would really throw a spanner into the works of Kate and Davidson's romance, and that of her investigation into her criminal activity, too. But it would give the “Kate is H” theorists, who have come out of the woodwork this season, something to cling on to.
Nigel Morton, played by Neil Morrissey
Odds: 6/1
There has been speculation from Line of Duty Twitter detectives that Neil Morrissey will return to the fold this season. He's still out there, being bent somewhere. He was truly a wrongun, a man that has no qualms about spitting in the face of his colleagues (literally) and beating up women. Could he be her dad? It would explain her awful behaviour anyway. Is bentness inherited from the mother’s side or the father’s side? All questions we are sure will be addressed in due time.
Mike Dryden, played by Mark Bonnar
Odds: 3/1
Well, he’s Scottish… beyond that, all they have in common is crookedness. Dryden was a particularly awful dirtbag; he had an affair with Lindsey Denton (Keeley Hawes), forced her to have an abortion and then ghosted her; he engaged in sexual activity with a teenager who was trafficked for sexual exploitation. He is far from someone you want to share a bloodline with. If they were related, he could have played a hand in her swift climb up the ladder in the police department.
Andrea Wise, played by Elizabeth Rider
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Odds: 3/1
Hastings' boss has not painted herself in a great light thus far this season. From the getgo she has been extremely eager to give him the boot, and she delivered the final blow in episode 4, putting the poor fella on early retirement, and announcing that she'll be cutting the anti-corruption budget by 90%. Unlike Hastings, she has very little interest in catching bent coppers, and that would suggest that she is crooked, too. If she was, say, Davidson's mother, it would certainly explain why she has suppressed the investigation into her wrongdoing…
Tommy Hunter, played by Brian McCardle
Odds: 2/1
This now-deceased Glaswegian paedophile was one of Mercurio's vilest creations. Tommy Hunter was the man behind Tony Gates' (Lennie James) detour from the path of righteousness, and it was a plot to assassinate him (to keep him from talking) that got Jane Akers killed and Lindsey Denton in trouble. As this season seems to be so deeply connected to season one, it would track if Jo was in someway connected to him. It would also explain how she got roped into the OCG in the first place. Of course, their mutual Scottishness could also just be a red herring, but the smart money is on Tommy for now.
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