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I watched all of Line of Duty but don't think at any point I was blown away by it. My feeling is that having come up with the original overarching concept the writer got lost in it and it never really delivered as the main thread got more convoluted. Definitely at least one season too far.

LoD wildly different from the wire. it’s not attempting to be “dickensian” it’s a vehicle for delivering thrills and plot so yeah middlebrow schlock pretty accurate but it’s (usually) executed at a very very high level with a few really memorable performances (keeley hawes, stephen graham, adrian dunbar)

the premise is custom made for plot twists: it’s about police investigating police, so who r the good guys?? you could also see it as a multi-year fictional exploration of the power dynamics of “jurisdiction” - who has it, how do they use it, how is it abused

There are only so many twists you can do though and while they might have worked within the characters in an individual series there were too many in the overarching story (hence the near universal reaction to the ending).

As I said on the LoD thread at the time, I think my biggest problem was the notion of Martin Compston as absolutely irresistible to women, to the extent they behaved completely out of character just to have sex with him.

wow harsh

I get that it's a trope to have a sexy guy but I really didn't think ba' faced Glasgow guy was that universal a thing. I mean if it was then surely Rab Florence would have been picked up for Hallmark movies as the male lead by now.

Even then, looks aren't everything but Steve just had no charisma as a character or even an identifiable personality. It's like he was written as the action guy - which is fine, they can be kind of blank cyphers - and then they realised the show needed the sexy guy too and it was never going to be Adrian Dunbar. So ultimately I think it's a writing failure.

the line of duty cinematic universe should only include the tawdriest sex possible and tbf “sexy steve” ticks this box in spades

Different strokes I guess.

Season 2 aside, LoD thinks it's a better show than it is. But it's well-made, the "guest stars" for each season are always good and the plot is stupid but usually fun.

Lmao I can’t believe IIIIIIIIIII DON’T WANT TO FUCK STEVE ARNOTT THERE GOES MY SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF is still a complaint nearly two years later!

Scamp Granada (gyac)
Posted: 31 March 2021 at 14:45:48
Steve is just one of those people who inexplicably has game/is one of life’s shaggers, we all know people like that.

That'd do it. I'm obviously spending too much time thinking about Steve Arnott.

― Well *I* know who he is (aldo), Wednesday, 31 March 2021 22:36 (one year ago) link

Got thrown there for a sec & wondered where user barcode not having the horn for Steve arnott came in

user barcode would never

despite its intensity they have not yet developed a technology to transmit arnott’s musk over freeview iirc

I haven't thought about it until it came up again but it's nearly the only thing I remember clearly about it during broadcast.

You're right though, there are far more ludicrous things in it that stand up to less scrutiny (no spoilers for the people just watching). Thanks for the tellysplaining.

I'm a huge LOD fan and I still think series 1 is weird in tone and doesn't really explain several things. But I'm sure that's all on the LOD thread....

and yeah I think some of the weirdness comes from Steve Arnott not having much personality

Nobody in LoD does really, apart from Ted ofc. It’s a plot driven series.

Ok thanks folks, I do wonder if the flaw in my premise is that The Wire itself isn't middlebrow schlock too.

Having only watched the first season of Line of Duty (which was entertaining), maybe a good comparison is Bosch. Righteous police officer(s) vs the corrupt world. Though over the seasons Bosch gets much more into character lives, legal machinations, and city politics. In S1 of LoD, I did have to lol at Arnott trying to do everything without back-up even after it goes horribly wrong the first time he goes in without back-up.

got sucked into Yellowstone.

is it worthwhile?

i’ve been curious but waty

wary

Is that the one with all the spin offs?

Watched season 1 and started 2 of Yellowstone but couldn’t stomach it anymore. Basically repackaged sons of anarchy but not as fun.

watch TULSA KING instead

it’s got SoA trappings but it’s even goofier and the stakes are lower

Lol alright that does sound more up my street

also it has Stallone as the eponymous king

Mob boss showdown between Stallone vs Pearlman vs Costner

hmm maybe i’ll try Tulsa King - i like Sheridan generally & there’s a few Boardwalk Empire folks in it so i’m intrigued

Martin Starr is in it and, when questioned why he knows computer stuff despite running a marijuana store, he claims that he “worked for a start-up for five years”

🤔

hmmm

i think yellowstone is worth watching, yes. it's one of those shows where every character is a bad person though.

ok interesting. maybe i’ll give it a go.

Yellowstone is a soap opera for red states

eh, I thought that too until I watched it. It's not that soapy, and other than that it's set in Montana, there isn't much 'red state' about it (it is about ranching, and there are natives in it, and everyone seems corrupt). it's maybe more like... succession with cowboys

Agree

It's not like a soap opera I’ve ever seen. It's evil in a different way. Most of the characters become more repellant over time

My family liked this so I wanted to watch it. It was really hard to make it through the first two seasons, they were so boring, but the third season ups the stakes a little, and the Montana landscape is beautiful

I felt it was a little red statey/conservative too! I mean thats meant to be the idea I guess? But it has this defensive tone about their ranching/way of running things, theres a whole bit with this greenie/vegan activist lady that stays with them that rubbed me the wrong way, they made her look like a narrow minded stuck up latte sipping city slicker who just doesnt get the cowboy life and it felt intentional. I dont know if I'm explaining this well, lol I have a hangover.

Oh and the blonde daughter is slappable, but prob meant to be.

The new offshoot with Harrison Ford in it is really good/intense.

haha, the blonde daughter is the best character on the show.

I love her first scene:

her brother: "you're in bed at noon surrounded by bottles and pills"
her: "I'm on vacation"

she is the best character

Yah she was the only reason I watched.

I didn’t get too too much red state nonsense BUT republicans for sure love the show

Did anyone watch and enjoy Outer Range on Amazon? I’m maybe 3 eps in but it’s not really holding my attention. Something about the pacing doesn’t seem good.

After several years of not being interested in tv, I’ve been on a kick the last few weeks and I’ve surprisingly already run out of all the first-tier shows that interested me. I had to bail on LoD after the first ep because of the subtitle problem.

we watched Outer Range & it was okay but also kind of dumb, idk i couldn’t get into it

I love her first scene:

her brother: "you're in bed at noon surrounded by bottles and pills"
her: "I'm on vacation"

I was sick in the hospital over Labor Day weekend and landed on Paramount Network's series binge marathon at this scene, becoming quickly taken. It's kind of genius to do a spin on Dallas, and make the JR character a woman.

Paramount's been been good about assembling Supercuts, including this one of the best Yellowstone stuff: Beth putting down people in bars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s08DzypgnZc

First episode of "Last of Us" is solid.

yeah it’s great

Sounds intense… it’s based on a video game?

I hope this fungus-science spiel in the opening scene is purely fictional, lol…