Chloe's Line of Duty HR blog - What a crime series can teach us about birds, as well as HR S6 E3

The latest HR Faux pax throughout the latest episode of Line Of Duty.

Chloe's Line of Duty HR blog - What a crime series can teach us about birds, as well as HR (S6, E3)

Well, we didn’t have to wait long for the Pilkington storyline to develop. First he brings in Terry Boyle for questioning – I’m your best mate, keep your mouth shut and everything will be all right. Hmm, not sure that’s quite true Ryan.

The plot continues to thicken as Boyle looks close to breaking his silence when he’s put under the pressure of questioning. But Davidson strikes again, and brings it all to an abrupt close - under a completely plausible pretext, of course.

Pilkington demonstrated that his loyalties still lie with the OCG in a dramatic scene where he murdered a police officer and almost murdered Terry Boyle too. It’s pretty safe to assume you don’t need to add murder to your examples of gross misconduct. I’m willing to say it - you can definitely safely dismiss an employee for deliberately drowning a colleague.

Fleming’s AC12 nose meant she was already on their tail and while she didn’t catch Pilkington in the act she did at least turn up in time to save Boyle. Fleming wasn’t buying Pilkington’s story and the suspicion just grew once the penny drops and she and Arnott discover Pilkington’s shady past.

Meanwhile, the net is closing on Arnott’s painkiller habit as the random drug testing team swoop in. For the first round Hastings gives Arnott a free pass, but by the end of the episode they’re back for him. Maybe the HR team will get a starring role in the next episode.

Hastings’ orchestration of the drugs testing seems to be on course for immediate karma as Arnott looks into the Corbett’s financial records. We don’t know yet what they say but Arnott shot some meaningful looks at that folder of papers, and he couldn’t resist nosing around in the Corbett’s house after his sleepover. What’s that stash of money all about and does it fit into the bigger picture? Could it be the end of AC12 if the head and star member are both dragged across the coals for serious misconduct issues??

The gruesome discovery of a fridge freezer from Boyle’s flat, containing evidence that it probably stored body parts, leads to AC12 speculation that Boyle is the victim of cuckooing.

For those non-ornithologists among us, cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and have them raise their young for them. It's actually quite brutal - the baby cuckoos will push the other eggs and baby birds out and grow to double or more the size of its foster parents. It's not difficult to see why the police adopted the term to describe criminals who take over a vulnerable person’s home to conduct criminal activity. For Boyle it’s body parts, drugs, framing and now a target on his life.

There are no lows too low for the OCG. Next on the hit list is Jatri, who ends up with a broken wrist courtesy of a bribed guard and now has nothing to say to AC12. Davidson at least has the decency to look genuinely concerned when she finds out, perhaps she feels guilty? Not that much, she’s quick to accuse Jatri of being a liar.

Meanwhile, the Super’s ineptitude continues to know no bounds - announcing a commendation for a murderer before they’ve even paid their respects to a lost officer. He’s connected to the Terry Boyle witness, leaked the CHIS’ identity, got Pilkington the job and had the missing Vella files in his car. Is he really that daft? Is he on the take from the OCG? Or did Davidson set him up? He’s a buffoon, I’m not sure AC12 will really buy that he managed to pull all of that off.

Davidson’s secret chat tells us what we need to know “All under control now” – so she did orchestrate the whole thing. We’re left hanging on the ellipsis but with episode 3 of 7 done surely we’ll find out soon who the OCG are, and why Davidson is in cahoots with them?