The Shadow Line (new BBC crime drama)

Hello Torrents, my old friend . . .

I was just about to make this thread.  Caught up with the first episode on Monday, god bless you IPlayer, and the wait for tonights episode has been killing me. So fucking good. I kind of love the style of the thing, how just off kilter some of the soundwork is and the general uneasy tone. It's almost Lynchian at times. It's also great seeing Ecclston and Ejiofor having some major roles to sink their teeth into and you're dead on about Spall, the guy has got so much presence and is just utterly fucking unnerving.

I'm starting to get the feeling this isn't just some straight crime thriller. Stephen Rea's character (the guy in glasses and fedora) feels like he's working for the government or something similar.

That was a superb, twisting hour, of television. Loved the contrast between Mr. Fedora and Jay's technique. Both offering a similar sort of threat, but hitting at very different emotional levels. Jay was absolutely fucking terrifying when he was talking to Andy's girlfriend. Chiwetel and Eccleston got very little to work with this episode, but they worked fantastically in small doses. I kind of loved how on the edge Gabriel was the entire time.

I really like it. It's getting a bit of stick from some quarters over here for being so mannered and off-kilter, when the hype before had mentions of The Wire and other US cable shows, where a naturalistic approach is preferred, but that was a fault of the way they sold the thing.

Rafe's performance is kind of amazing. So often it's like David Walliams performing in Little Britain, but just dialled up enough to be terrifying.

Holy crap.  Spall is incredible in this!  The cast, naturally, are all top-notch.  But as said above, the dialogue and the way alot of the scenes are left to just sit there and reverberate . . . it's just got such an oppressive feeling to it.  Thanks for the heads up on this one, Doc - it's totally filling the Luther-shaped hole in my heart.

Yeah, but, ya know . . . fuck people, right?

Seriously, the ratings are dropping? Are there re-runs of the wedding or something? Because I fucking love what I've seen this far.

If the driver doesn't end up with a couple of Rea produced bullets in him early in the next episode I'll be very surprised.

Stephen Rea is one terrifying dude, although I was really taken by Eccleston's stuff this week. His character feels like it's getting the short shrift which is unfortunate because despite it feeling vaguely cliche (one last job) it's probably the most emotionally rewarding. As much as I like the show it feels like most of the characters are distanced from each other, like they're dialogue machines rather than actual people. I however totally bought Eccleston's reaction to his wife's episode. I kind of love the Mametish dialogue, but it does make the characters all come across as being quite icy. I do love that I have no idea where the show is going at this point and the music is great, if a little high in the sound mix. Really reminded me of some post-rock groups (particularly A Silver Mt. Zion).

The bizarre pursuit/fight sequence halfway through between Gabriel's partner (does she even have a name) and yet another, enigmatic, shadowy figure, was absolutely hilarious in its insanity. Especially the gun/coat hanger stand off. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike Marshall 

The bizarre pursuit/fight sequence halfway through between Gabriel's partner (does she even have a name) and yet another, enigmatic, shadowy figure, was absolutely hilarious in its insanity. Especially the gun/coat hanger stand off. 

Her name is Hot lips!

Nice to see Paddy Maguire.

That scene was intense and yet bizarre when she took a page out of Ejiofor's book ala Redbelt I was like holy crap....

This show is great only came in halfway through the second episode so i'm a bit lost still another great drama

from the beeb(that isn't a period drama ugh...).

 

My god, Gatehouse is terrifying. 

After Jay had the conversation with the bookie I said to a friend 'I can't decide who is scarier, Jay or Gatehouse', then the shot cut to Gatehouse in his surveillance cocoon and I was like 'Yeah, Gatehouse is just genuinely terrifying'. Loved the sequence with the baby. As much as this show seems to be getting weirder and weirder as it goes on, it has individual sequences which are spectacular. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Murder 

Jesus, that whole baby sequence. Scarier than most horror movies.

 

I loved him barking an order over the baby monitor right at the end. 

Holy crap.  Sorry, those are actually the only words I have right now.

Holy shit Stephen Rea. Holy shit.

It's going to take some serious juggling from the writers if they want to get anyone getting the best of him. Gatehouse is operating about ten steps ahead of everyone else. Their efforts basically look comical next to what he does.

My pet theory is that everyone is working 'for' him. Remember a few episodes back when they mentioned that Gabriel's partner was suspected of seizing evidence, and last episode when they said that the heroin had been double dipped (bought with assets that had been seized before). I think Gabriel supplied Wratten/Gatehouse with the money for the deal from Bob Harris by raiding the evidence locker, and then was 'taken' out for his trouble.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spike Marshall 

I loved him barking an order over the baby monitor right at the end. 

That was the best part. It was the first time you've heard him raise his voice. I loved how that sequence unfolded, first you think you're going to hear the wife getting killed over the baby monitor, then it becomes something else altogether.

So the female city editor is in on it too I presume? This show is fucking awesome! A step above the other British dramas I've seen lately.

Gatehouse VS Glickman was intense.  I don't think I actually breathed through that entire scene.  It's amazing how many pieces just fell beautifully into place in the span of one episode.  Just cracking stuff!

Go Glickman go! Finally someone who can play at the same level as Gatehouse. So I'm guessing the whole drug operation is some sort of spook extra income business. I loved the scene with Gabriel and his superiors, too.

I love that this show was originally touted as the British version of The Wire and has become it's own awesome little thing which is in no way like the Wire. I kind of appreciate it's manic energy, I can't get over the fact that the BBC essentially allowed Hugo Blick to write, produce AND direct every episode of the show. That's an insane amount of creative control and it seems to be paying off by creating this show which feels genuinely unique.

Yeah, The Wire this most definitely isn't. Not that there's anything wrong with that, since I prefer shows doing their own thing than chasing after others.

It keep trying to sell this to my friends and the only word I can think of to describe it is 'baroque'. In a lot of ways it reminds me of the old Hammer thrillers from the 1960s (like Paranoiac), which essentially blended insane melodrama with burgeoning horror and thriller elements.

Each episode just keeps getting better and better. That Glickman/Gatehouse standoff was intense as hell. Two chess masters finding themselves at a standstill. This is nothing like The Wire, but I love it for completely different reasons.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Murder 

Oh shit, Gatehouse is a MACHINE

"Beep".

Holy shit, Gatehouse.

BBC, if you can hear me: GATEHOUSE SPIN-OFF SERIES NOW! NOW! NOW!

If a pansy ass, incompetent, excuse for an agent like Bauer got so many seasons of TV, a Gatehouse series should run as long as Doctor Who.

It may well have been accidental, but Gatehouse seems to have become the central character of this one

I wouldn't think it was accidental. He's way too overpowering a presence to not have been written this way. It's not like Rafe Spall's character where the actor just run away with what he had. He's way to central too the series. Where Gabriel, especially in this episode, is the emotional centre of this, Gatehouse is the plot centre.

And I have to add that even though Rea does great with his role, Ejiofor is his usual stellar self too. His reaction at Gatehouse telling him he's not corrupt was so subtle but you could feel this gigantic weight being lifted off his shoulders. 

That was amazing. Loved the flashback to the shooting, with the main theme playing.

I kind of adore how weird and surreal this entire thing is, I'm still not sure if it's on purpose or by accident. Stuff like the chief inspector eating an ice-cream on the bench whilst Gabriel tries to explain the plot is such an odd visual decision, but I can't decide if it's supposed to add reality to the scene or to make it weirder.

I was stunned at Glickman's alley scene. This show keeps managing to surprise me, especially with that ending.

Gatehouse is one hell of a character, I want to see Jay come back into the story though.  I think their clashing styles of interrogation shown earlier in the season is meant to set up that only someone operating on a different wavelength could stand up to Gatehouse. 

Good old British drama.

Loved the finale tonight, loved how bleak and cruel the entire thing turned out to be. I should have figured out what was happening sooner, but the final Gatehouse/Gabriel scene just completely took me by surprise. It's been a fantastic, unique, odd, little series perfectly summarised by its decision to have its ending moments be a conversation by two peripheral characters about the core themes of the show.

I don't know, that kind of seemed like the easy option to go for. It's thematically consistent, yes, but once you've written a huge elaborate conspiracy it's simpler to let it win and make some bleak point rather than try and have a convincing (as opposed to Hollywood stupid) way it gets brought down.

Nicely done otherwise, though.

What the fuck?

That took me by surprise. But thinking about it, I always said Gatehouse was operating at a different level than anyone else, so logically it would be foolish to not expect him to come out on top. Much less fall for the same "Let's talk while there's another guy waiting to kill you" trick twice. I'm head over heels in love with this show.

Well that was just splendid.  Absolutely loved it.  Really felt for Joseph, the poor bastard.

Yeah the finale was brilliant some gobsmacking stuff, think i'm gonna watch the series again it's that good.