The Line of Duty finale has sure got people talking, but much of the noise is people’s bitter disappointment with the ending.
Many fans are complaining that they have invested so much time and hype only to learn that H was the bumbling Brummie Buckells.
Others have hailed the reveal, revelling in the sad truth that corruption is banal and often not instigated by the sharpest of moral vacuums.
What do the critics have to say about it? Keep on scrolling…
Line of Duty Review – what the critics are saying
The Times‘ Ben Dowell gave the finale four out of five stars
This reviewer said it gave viewers “a greatest hits compilation: a prison van interception, pistols drawn, plus a faint whiff of political parable”.
He conceded that the reveal of H as Buckells was “hugely disappointing on one level”, but argued “at least this felt plausible”.
“Definately”
He wrote: “Of course, it was staring us in the face all along. We knew H couldn’t spell, and it was this lapse which ‘definately’ nailed him, thanks largely to a forensic search of police records that AC-12 could have done 10 episodes ago.
“We wouldn’t have had as much fun, though.”
Lucy Mangan of The Guardian gave it three stars out of five
“The finale gave us, at last – if, I suspect many will feel, rather anti-climactically – the identity of the person known for nearly five series as H,” she wrote.
“But what Line of Duty lost along the way was important. It started losing the connection between Kate and Steve a few seasons ago.
Self-parody
Talking about the decline of the interview scenes, she added: “For the most part in this series they have been reduced to exercises in memorising abbreviations and exhibit numbers and skirted dangerously close to self-parody in the process.
“It was all fine. But, oh my, you should have seen it when it was good.”
Read more: Line of Duty – 7 big questions we still have after that series 6 ending
Louisa Mellor of the Den of Geek
“As TV twists go, it was unglamorous but honest and well disguised.
“This whole exercise was a lesson from Brummie Jed Mercurio in prejudicial attitudes towards the Birmingham accent. There are clearly more brains than anyone allowed for behind Buckells’ twang, though not an ounce of conscience.
‘Adrian Dunbar tore the roof off’
“If this does turn out to be the last ever episode of Line of Duty, at least we know that Ted won’t go to his grave unshriven.
“His real confession was made earlier to Steve and Kate in one of several emotional speeches with which Adrian Dunbar tore the roof off this episode.
Read more: Line of Duty – 7 big clues we missed that Buckells was H
We’ll be adding more reviews as they come in. In the meantime, let us know what YOU think about the Line of Duty finale our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix