Simply Perfect

Powerful

Good movie but grossly overrated

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Stumbled on this show, having never heard of it. The writing is incredible. Jed Mercurio is a stunning talent. Will watch every episode, and then go on to watching his other work. Season one - Lennie James, magnificent. Season two - Keely Hawes powerful performance. Was disappointing in the ending -- seemed Mercurio wrote himself into a corner and had to resort to flashbacks to wrap it all up, a bit disappointingly. But the rest of season was excellent. Onto season three, with a great start after second episode. Surprise, Surprise.

Standard crime procedurals follow a formula. 1. Find bad guy 2. Build up bad guy 3. Quickly wrap up the ending and catch bad guy because the episode is closing on the end time. We're all used to seeing that, that we don't have the time to appreciate the characters and villains.Line of Duty, this one I stumbled on Netflix. The premise didn't sound that exciting to me at first, I mean it was about internal affiars, "how exciting could that be?" I asked. And boy was I happy to be wrong. I hadn't binged watched a TV show since I was introduced to "Person of Interest".Instead of one episode being about one "villain", rather it's a whole season for one "villain". And no season is the same, which is another good thing. So we are treated to an entire season where the target of the Internal Affairs Officers are fleshed out. First you're wary of the target, then you become sympathetic, then your wary again! But something else happens and now you're even more sympathetic. And on and on it goes until the final climax that has your eyebrows rising bast your hairline, and your jaw on the floor. Okay, I'm hyping it up excessively here so be careful. But the point is that this show takes the time and effort to flesh out everyone. The targets aren't just "mwahahaha, I'm an evil psycopath" or "I did it for revenge!" cliches that are littered in crime procedurals. They are very human characters that you might even become attached to.Definitely worth a watch.

Line of Duty just keeps getting better... we are up to Season 4 on Netflix, but Seasons 5 & 6 are coming. In fact, we are re-watching Season 4, intrigued by the many twists and turns we forgot. The case involves a serial attacker and a DCI (female) Huntley who is tasked with investigating a case of a young girl who was nabbed, and tied up in a flat that was set on fire. The occupant of the flat is a young dim witted guy who doesn't drive and can barely speak. Yet, he is later picked up at work and grilled for the crimes (as if abducting a girl, chaining her up in your home, and setting it on fire is typical stuff you do before reporting for your 10 o'clock shift).Because charges are laid against this poor loser, even when more exculpatory evidence emerges, the Anti-Corruption Squad (AC-12) are called in to review the whole process. They are headed by a Superintendent Hastings, played masterfully by Adrian Dunbar, a superb Irish character actor. Dunbar is so convincing that I frequently say that if I was being framed for a felony, I would want him there to dig out the truth. Now, that's acting. Lee Ingleby (of 'Inspector Gently' fame, playing Gently's troubled assistant) also shines as the spouse of a senior officer.There are several twists & turns, right up to the end. No bad language, no skin. Just a fabulous ensemble performance, and an excellent script.Getting ready to re-watch first seasons... c mon, Netflix: get Seasons 5 & 6 on board here in Canada.p.s. my first version review was labelled SUPERMODELS instead of a 'super model to follow'. All fixed now. Tnx, IMDb.

The first two series were simply brilliant. The later part of the third series, in particular the last episode, were poor... in fact, unbelievable. I cannot believe how bad Series 4 is and I am struggling to get past Episode 3. It is contrived, unbelievable and quite simply dire rubbish. Jed Mercurio has completely lost the plot, putting people in impossible positions and then just having them magic themselves out of it. There is a police interview in Episode 3 which is just laughable... why would the police do what they did when they know the police tapes will be heard? They would end up in court themselves. What I can't understand is why the actors, production team couldn't see how bad this last series is... and somehow or other, many audience think it is great. No wonder the world is having problems!