November 8, 2024

Line of Duty series six episode two recap: The AC-12 glory days are back

AC-12 #AC-12

Now we’re sucking diesel, fellas. The sixth series of Line of Duty kicked off last week with an explosive opener, and, mother of God, the second episode is even better.

With more info on the motive for Gail Vella’s murder, some extremely dodgy behaviour from DCI Davidson, and all of AC-12 facing various personal setbacks of their own, the latest instalment sets us up for what is proving to be a cracking season.

Naturally, the following is full of spoilers galore, so don’t read on unless you’ve seen the episode. We’d love to hear your theories, so leave a comment below if you think you’ve cracked the case.

Cheat sheet

  • We’re straight in with the news that Hastings has authorised an official AC-12 inquiry into Operation Lighthouse, headed up by DCI Joanne Davidson. The team want to know why the murder of journalist Gail Vella remains unsolved, and if police corruption has something to do with it. In other words: is Davidson bent?
  • Last week we learned what a Chis is: a covert human intelligence source. Then the Chis ended up falling off a roof, but our new-found knowledge didn’t all go to waste. The Chis is important: his name is Alexander Oldroyd, and it turns out that he met Ross Turner/Carl Banks in a pub, who homophobically abused him and bragged about his involvement in Vella’s murder. Was the Chis’s death perhaps not suicide then, but homicide? Kate points out that someone may have known that he had info about Vella’s killer.
  • Oh no, call HR. Jatri, AKA Officer J, AKA Davidson’s heartbroken ex-lover, who has been feeding info on her boss to AC-12, has put in a transfer request. Davidson expertly calms an antsy Buckells by enigmatically suggesting this could be a blessing in disguise and she will give Jatri a really nice reference. Totally legit, not bent behaviour.
  • DS Chloe Bishop, AC-12’s staggeringly efficient new recruit, has found footage of Vella’s broadcasts from her reporting on AC-12 cases. Some great throwbacks here, including that time in series one when Steve Arnott’s team accidentally shot a completely innocent person. Most importantly, though, the reports show that Vella was certainly not shy of speaking truth to power. They interview Vella’s old producer, who had started to cut out her more savage sign-offs from the final broadcasts, which led frustrated Vella to begin gathering her own material for a podcast investigating police corruption. As a fastidious journo, she’d have taken loads of notes, but they’ve all gone missing – but when the producer mentioned this to the original investigators, they said there were no grounds to suggest a burglary. No, exactly, why would anyone want to steal pages of intel about police corruption?
  • Carl Banks turns up dead and the killer left the murder weapon on the scene. How thoughtful. This is the development that Hastings needs to send AC-12 in to raid Operation Lighthouse. Except when they arrive, weirdly behaving as though they are in an episode of Peaky Blinders, Davidson tells them with relish that there’s a moratorium on sharing files due to leaking concerns. “You did it to make mugs out of AC-12!” snarls Steve. But how did she know? It turns out Kate “am no a grass” Fleming is… a grass.
  • Vicky McClure, Perry Fitzpatrick, Nigel Boyle, Kelly Macdonald standing next to a man wearing a suit and tie: AC-12 has its sights set on Operation LighthouseBBC/World Productions © Provided by Evening Standard AC-12 has its sights set on Operation LighthouseBBC/World Productions

  • The big beep returns: Davidson is served a reg-15 notice and interviewed by AC-12. There she’s asked about the two hour and 25 minute delay caused by stopping off to sort out an amateur robbery on the way to arrest Vella’s killer, as well as why there was no surveillance of the arrest and where all the pesky leaks are coming from. She sticks to her theory that Vella was killed by a crazed fan, possibly Terry Boyle, but Hastings asserts that it was a hit job arranged by the OCG. I know which one I believe…
  • Davidson is arrested, but quickly un-arrested when it turns out that a massive bag of burner phones, AKA the number one tool of any bent copper, have turned up at Jatri’s house, covered in Jatri’s DNA. When interviewed, Jatri seems genuinely distressed and tearfully declares “I’m being framed!”, but then has to awkwardly explain why Davidson has a key to her house. Hastings, not the most experienced manager of emotional labour at the best of times, is left wondering if Jatri is dobbing Davidson in for ‘personal reasons’.
  • Who should turn up to pick up Davidson from the police station, but Jatri’s replacement, Ryan Pilkington? He’s just joined the police after killing John Corbett in series five (probs didn’t put that on the CV), and the pair seem quite tight. He was very keen to make Davidson a cup of tea.
  • A final big gasp moment: where does Davidson go, when she’s back in her own car? To pick up a burner phone, and then howl with despair, bang against her windows and cry really loudly. Yes, she’d had a long day, but the complicated web of crime that she seems to be caught in is probably stressing her out a bit as well.
  • Martin Compston, Adrian Dunbar are posing for a picture: New AC-12 recruit Chloe Bishop is unflappableBBC/World Productions/Steffan Hill © Provided by Evening Standard New AC-12 recruit Chloe Bishop is unflappableBBC/World Productions/Steffan Hill The verdict

    Well, that was a lot, wasn’t it? We haven’t received that much information all in one go since we watched the Meghan and Harry interview. After a bit of a dip last season, it feels like the show is really earning that banging end credit music, harking back to its glory days. This had all the hallmarks of a great episode: pertinent people turning up dead, a great motive for the central case, Kate and Steve meeting up in graffiti-laden subways to share intel, and, of course, an AC-12 interview special. And we’re delighted to see the show catching up with the zeitgeist of 2015 by bringing true crime podcasts in as a crucial part of the narrative.

    Our AC-12 faves are all struggling in different ways. Steve’s prescription drug addiction is getting harder to hide, Hastings seems to have run into some trouble with HMRC (what a haphazard existence he leads), and Kate is getting peeved at being embroiled in AC-12 business after she’s quit. And is Davidson shaping up to be one of the show’s greatest villains? We thought no one could ever topple the crown of Lindsay Denton, but we already find ourselves stanning a woman with seven hundred locks on her door, having a hot mess break-up and probably maybe working with really bad criminals.

    It does leave us slightly wary though: writer Jed Mercurio likes to keep us on his toes and is never one to show his hand too early, so who knows what he’s got up his sleeve.

    Burning questions Vicky McClure wearing a suit and tie: Is Kate Fleming up to something?BBC/World Productions © Provided by Evening Standard Is Kate Fleming up to something?BBC/World Productions

    Why was Steve so snippy about Corbett’s widow’s Sky Sports package?

    Amid everything that went on in this episode, there was also Steve’s drive-by visit to John Corbett’s widow. The scene alluded to the fact she was not looked after properly by the police after her husband died in the line of duty, so we’re not sure why Steve was being so judgy about the fact she’s got a big telly with Sky Sports channels.

    What is Kate up to?

    Firstly, has anyone noticed how much Kate says ‘boss’? She’s managing Davidson’s ego like it’s the boat stuck in the Suez Canal. Her behaviour in general has left us suspicious: why did she offer to hang out with her ‘boss’ at the weekend? Why did she snitch on AC-12? And was she bluffing when she asked Ryan Pilkington where she knew him from? She’s always been an expert double-agent, so we know she’ll be keeping a close eye on Davidson even if her loyalties to AC-12 are divided.

    What juice did Gail Vella have on her podcast?

    The million dollar question: Vella must have acquired some explosive information about police corruption if it led to someone wanting to silence her and steal her notes. Her computers have been wiped as well, so it’s proving tricky to find out what she’d uncovered, but it could be the key to unanswered questions about Operation Pear Tree, the investigation into police corruption that had a ‘nothing to see here’ verdict. Joe Rogan will be quaking in his boots.

    Were the burner phones planted in Jatri’s house?

    Things are clearly messy between Jatri and Davidson after their break-up, and that’s before you take into account the fact either of them might be involved in organised crime. But what criminal keeps all of their burner phones in a big bag, covered in their own DNA? Even I know you only use them wearing gloves and then throw them into the sea.

    Will Steve stick with AC-12?

    Martin Compston standing in front of a building: Steve hanging around in a dodgy subway... just like old timesBBC/World Productions/Chris Barr © Provided by Evening Standard Steve hanging around in a dodgy subway… just like old timesBBC/World Productions/Chris Barr

    Hastings has just promoted Arnott, so it wasn’t great timing that immediately afterwards he got an email from his ex, saying her boss would chat to him about that transfer request he asked for. Kate quitting the team has left Hastings more wounded than Ros Huntley’s infected hand, so we don’t think he could handle his golden boy turning his back as well.

    The Ted Hastings catchphrase-ometer Martin Compston sitting at a table: He’s interested in one thing and one thing only...BBC/World Productions/Steffan Hill © Provided by Evening Standard He’s interested in one thing and one thing only…BBC/World Productions/Steffan Hill

    My ear-splitting cry of elation was heard three streets away when Hastings uttered the words “I’m interested in one thing and one thing only… and that’s bent coppers”. In fact, it was a vintage episode for Ted-isms. “She was just a wee girl, killed in cold blood,” he said of grown woman Gail Vella. Of DCI Davidson: “She’ll be laughing on the other side of her face when I’m finished with her… serve her with a Reg-15.” It must be a sign of the nation’s recovery.

    Line of Duty series six airs on Sunday nights on BBC One. Series one to five are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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