Line of Duty: Who is H?
- ZebraZebra
- May 1, 2019
- 5 min read
Anyone else super excited for the 90 minute Line of Duty finale?
We know there is set to be another series, so will we finally find out who H is on Sunday, or will we have to wait another whole year?
Who is H? We know H must be one of the main characters so let's examine the evidence (If you are not up to date with line of duty, then be warned spoilers ahead!):
Suspect 1: Ted Hastings
Obviously Ted fits the profile of H perfectly; his surname begins with H, he's a senior police officer and he's a mason who knew at least one of the sex offenders arrested in series 3.
He is known to be in serious financial difficulty, making him prime target for bribes and he was found with a large sum of money in an envelope. But isn't that exactly why he can't be H? H isn't the one being bribed, he's the one bribing other people. It is definitely possible that Hastings is involved, but it just wouldn't make sense if he was H.
Some people are convinced that Ted must be in charge of the OCG (organised crime gang) because of his misspelling of 'definitely'. When H was communicating with the OCG through a laptop, H wrote 'definately' instead of 'definitely'. In a later episode, AC-12 were using a computer to communicate with the OCG while pretending to be H. Hastings took the lead and he made that fatal spelling error of 'definately' just like H did. This does suggest that Hastings has always been the one behind the computer screen, but it could just be a coincidence. I am sure many people misspell definitely.
Throughout line of duty, Hastings has always done things by the book, but this series he seems a lot less concerned with following procedures. There's the unlawful Fahrenheit order (shoot to kill) on Corbett for starters, and then there's Ted going undercover to the club, without approval. But he had just found out that Corbett had attacked his wife, so most people in his situation would want Corbett dead.
Despite all the evidence, I just don't think Ted can be Hastings. Although he definitely has some questions to answer.
Suspect 2: Gill Biggeloe
Gill first appeared in series 3. She has always been a shady character. But is she just living up to selfish lawyer stereotype?
Obviously Gill's name does not begin with H, but that's why it's a clever code name! Would a criminal mastermind really use their initial as a code name? Maybe H stands for Her? All communications made with H are always done through text, so no one actually knows H's gender.
Back in series 3, Gill tried to discourage H from going after a wider conspiracy: "We need to find just enough bent coppers to avoid accusations of a cover up, but not so many that the public starts to wonder if the police can be trusted." Maybe she does care more about public opinion than finding the truth, or maybe she just didn't want Ted finding any connections between her and H.
Suspicion over Gill's conduct was first raised in series 3 when Gill handed Ted a file that he had been denied access to. However, we later found out this file had been doctored. She blamed Dot for this, who apparently gave her the file, but what if it was her all along?
In the current series Gill is continuing her attempt to seduce Ted. Maybe it's harmless, or maybe she is trying to get close to Ted so that he won't suspect her and in the hope of finding out inside information. Or could there be an even darker reason to it? We know that the OCG were collecting used condoms from the men who used their brothel, in order to plant DNA at crime scenes. What if Gill wanted to do this to Ted? Perhaps to frame him at a crime scene, or perhaps to blackmail him to join her.
The final nail in the coffin for Gill is the user ID H uses when contacting the OCG: User:2972. If you swap the numbers for the corresponding letter in the alphabet, you get BIGI... suspicious.
Suspect 3: Kate Fleming
Kate seems the unlikely suspect at first glance, but I am convinced she is H.
Kate has been painted as this brilliant detective, but look back through each series and she always seems to mess up. Nearly every time she goes undercover, she gets found out. Each series the OCG has a target, and Kate always seems to think that their target is a corrupt cop. Back in series 1 Kate is investigating the conduct of Tony Gates. Tony was not squeaky clean, but he was certainly not the most corrupt cop in the precinct. He got himself mixed up with Jackie Laverty, who the OCG murdered. The OCG then tried to frame him for her murder. Kate was convinced he was guilty, but Steve was convinced he wasn't. Fast forward to series 2 and the investigation into Lindsay Denton. Yes, Lindsay was not squeaky clean either, but she was also being framed by the OCG. Kate was always convinced Lindsay was guilty, Steve was not as convinced. Series 3, we see the same situation with Danny Waldron. Danny wants to take down the paedophiles that abused him and so does Steve, but Kate just wants to take down Danny. You see the pattern here?
There's even more evidence. Series 2 sees a motive for Kate to order the murder (which Lindsay was framed as being a part of) of the witness protection officer. Kate was having an affair with the officer's husband, so life would be better for Kate if she was no longer in the picture. Or perhaps her affair had been exposed, and Kate did not want her husband to find out.
Next lets look at the relationship between Kate and Dot. In series 1, Dot was the real dirty cop and Kate did not suspect a thing, despite working alongside him when undercover. Then when Dot worked alongside Kate in AC-12, she was quite happy to believe Dot when he tried to frame Steve Arnott. Kate only started to raise her suspicions over Dot's behaviour once Dot had decided he had had enough of being in H's back pocket. Then we follow the shoot out between Dot and Kate. They don't actually shoot each other, despite having the opportunity. When a masked member of the OCG tried to shoot Kate, Dot took the bullet for her. The masked gunman may have been lower down the chain of the OCG and did not know that Kate was H.
Suspect 4: Steve Arnott
I am not even going to credit this theory with a response. It's clearly not Steve. He was even tortured by the OCG in series 1.
So who is H? My money is on Kate, but we will have to wait until Sunday to find out.
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