With 'Line of Duty' episode 5 airing tonight, we only have two episodes left to discover whether that wily DI 'Dot' Cottan will succeed in framing our hero Steve Arnott for the crimes of the Caddy, or whether there will be one final, brilliant twist in the tale?
Last week's hour became increasingly frustrating, by which I obviously mean utterly brilliant, as AC-12 began to eat itself from within, and suddenly even the golden beacon of goodness that is Detective Superintendent Hastings began to show a dark side.
Tonight, as we wonder whether Steve Arnott - and, at a push, Kate Fleming - are the only straight coppers in the whole police force - and how Steve's going to get out of this mess, we have a few questions of our own, namely:
- What was really on that phone that Lindsay Denton was waving around? Steve Arnott obviously was VERY keen that nobody hear the contents, and yet he swore to his girlfriend he hadn't slept with Lindsay. What exactly was going on between these two?
- Why won't Hastings tell anyone his marriage is in tatters? Or move on with his life, even with the seductive office lawyer Gill Biggeloe so close to hand?
- Will Lindsay Denton come back to centre stage, now it seems Steve is increasingly ready to believe she was actually framed?
- By the way, how loudly did you cheer when she turned the tables on creepy social worker Robin last week? All her superior policing skills came to the fore once again as she proved he should have offered a bit more than £20 for his pleasures. With her look to the camera she'd carefully prepared to film the whole thing, she had one message for all of us… Lindsay Denton is back in business - which might be good news for AC-12, after all.
- How can actor Craig Parkinson look as comically lugubrious as Walther Matthau in guise as DI Dot Cottan, and yet appear so convincingly evil, from his slimy machinations in the AC-12 office, to his unspoken threats to his old crooked colleague Morton? It's all in the writing.
- How far in is Superintendent Hastings, as regards the historical police cover-up? Just up to his knees or all the way up to his neck? Just wondering.
- Who are the five people in the Caddy's life as represented by all those phones?
- Is Dot Cottan really going to succeed in framing Steve Arnott for all his crimes? It looks like he's going to have a good go, and DCI Hastings, for one, appears in no frame of mind to defend his former favourite.
- Will Steve Arnott and Lindsay Denton end up joining forces with DC Morton (Neil Morrissey) of all people to bring down The Caddy and right their reputations? The only bit of proof needed is currently sitting in Morton's glove compartment. Plus, it seems as though, the way things are going, they'll be the only ones left to do it.
- Is this the best drama on TV at the moment? Oh yes.
'Line of Duty' continues on BBC Two. You can catch up on iPlayer.