Line Of Duty Season 2 (2014) Review

After finishing the first season of Line Of Duty, I quite quickly managed to get through the second season of the show and here is my review for it. The premise of the season sees a Police operation go wrong, with suspicion of inside help AC-12 are sent to find out who and why. 

Main Character

This time out Keeley Hawes plays the Lead Character and she is really good, I didn't think she was as good as Lennie James but still a great lead character. Honestly, this season is more of a combined effort but she has the most story put into her and Hawes does a great job in making her a complex character and one that you aren't exactly sure of her motivations. The character provokes plenty of emotion and intrigue and Hawes deserves plenty of credit for that. 

Supporting Characters

Martin Compston as Steve basically is a main character here and he is great and a character that is easy to root for. I think this season was also effective as it showed all the main characters of AC-12 having personal demons and Steve is no exception, though he is clearly the one mainly invested in the investigation and thus he is the one we spend the most time with. Vicky McClure is back as Kate and they take her character in an interesting direction, she is also good in her role and the dynamic between her and Compston is one of the real highlights of the show. Adrian Dunbar is also back as Hastings and he is so good in his role, he is a great leader of AC-12 and the dynamic between the members of the team is really effective and feels very real. He gets more screen time this season and we learn more about him which is effective in building a great relationship between these characters. Also Craig Parkinson is back as Dot and he is given way more to do and he is also really good, I just thought that had to be mentioned as I didn't talk about him in my review for the first season. 

Story 

The story of the show is really good, the twists and turns are here in full force and it keeps you on your toes in every episode. This season in particular had more shocks and intrigue to it with characters being very grey in their motivations and the pacing being really dynamic. However, I felt like this season's ending didn't quite hit the mark. It was like the show brushed over certain things in an ending montage and a bit of side acts lacked a bot of inspiration that the first season had. 

Script

The script is really great, the drama feels very personal and as I said I felt there were more twists and turns this season and had me asking questions and the script deserves credit for that. Also the slight humour used is really well done and it makes the characters feel real and it raised the overall drama. 

Style 

The show has excellent pacing, it keeps you on your toes and moves fast but with great character development. There is an extra episode here but it allows the show to be paced really well and keep the level of drama high. The interrogations are a real highlight and for me were just as good if not better then the previous season. 

Overall

Overall, this is a fantastic season of television that continues this shows top level form. I did prefer the first season but this is a show you have to watch for sure. 

Rating - 9/10