The Bill » Top 100 Episodes (In No Particular Order) » 22x07 - Framed (384)
Yvonne: Dale Smith, on the 19th January 2006, at Larkhill Street in the borough of Canley, you did murder Louise Larson against the peace and contrary to common law. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defense if you do not mention, when questioned, something that you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.
Smithy is arrested following the murder of Louise Larson, leading us into Act 3 of one of the biggest storylines of the early JY era, albeit one that did start under PM. I never really loved the Larson arc, though Marcel and McTavish are both fantastic guest actors and Alex is great throughout but this episode does well at a point where the show is still trying to find it's footing after the regime change. S22 is an odd transitional year - they have curtailed some of the more excessively nonsense storylines and characters of the PM era, but we are still very firmly in Soap Opera territory for the moment.
One thing that makes this episode stand out at this particular point is the episode revolves entirely around this single incident. Even the unrelated threads happen within the framework of this one primary plot thread and the eps that do this are always stronger for it. The show also does quite well with the initial ambiguity and decision not to use dramatic irony for this ep - we do not see Louise get killed in the previous episode, instead the audience arrives on scene with Yvonne and Tony to see the aftermath with no additional information to fill in the blanks. I really like what the show does with this because away from the intial moment of confusion where the show gets to play with the horrifying possibility that Smithy could have done something and been completely unaware of it, the audience is not expected to believe Smithy killed Louise. The plot is not held together by the mystery of whether or not Smithy did it, but how can we prove he didn't. And that's where the earlier ambiguity helps: the audience is not sat there in frustration watching the characters try and piece together something we already know the answer to, we are in the same position as Yvonne and Adam and Neil - we believe Smithy is innocent, but how do we prove that?
Smithy is great, of course, but it's also a really good ep for Yvonne and Adam who get a chance to showcase their strengths and just be good officers and supportive colleagues after their messier storylines the previous year.
Zain is instantly all in on helping Smithy out, and their onscreen friendship really is great throughout this storyline and I hate that it disappears pretty much as soon as Smithy comes out of prison. I especially hate that it doesn't crop up again at all during the Shaw arc or Zain's return after being imprisoned and I will be going into more detail about that later, but ultimately it is not the fault of this episode or storyline that the romance in the Shaw arc is basically a lazy copy of this one and does nothing to integrate the existing interpersonal relationships.
We also get a reappearance by DCI Frank Keane, who is still a bit of a dick, and confirmation that Emma is his daughter. It's a nice fun detail but after this storyline they don't really manage to handle not being able to get the actor back for key episodes very well, but again, not the fault of this episode.
We also say goodbye to JT this episode, who has a very underwhelming exit after being given essentially fuck all to do for the year he's been here, which is a shame cos Nick Patrick could have done some good work if they'd given him the material. We also say goodbye to Dean McVerry around this time (he leaves seven episodes later, though only appears in two) though I understand why the show is dropping the administrative staff, since while they are a more accurate representation of how a station is run at this point in time, there is very little for them to do on a regular basis as characters outside of personal storylines which the show is intending to step away from.
JT does however get the distinction of being the last canonically gay male regular character to appear on screen. Another thing that is not the fault of this episode specifically but I will rant about here, is that LGBT visibility absolutely fucking plummets post-PM and never picks back up, and losing JT really does emphasise that. Jo Masters retuns at the end of this season, but she is the only canonically queer regular for the rest of the shows tenure and aside from her return episodes reestablishing her character and a single figure number of off-hand quips on the matter, you could easily watch those four years and have zero idea Jo is a lesbian. Even in terms of the episode-of-the-week plots - we do get the storyline with Roger and a transwoman in s22, but outside of that there are very few gay guest characters or storylines and once we get into the named eps there is literally one or two LGBT focused episodes in each year.
The Bill » Top 100 Episodes (In No Particular Order) » 14x103 - Section F
Derek: I'd be amazed if Brownlow doesn't transfer me. I would! I'd transfer me if I was him and I talked to myself the way I did.
One of the all time classic comedy episodes and a great chance for the senior officers to stretch their legs a bit.
Jack and Derek are a fantastic comedy duo, though this is arguably more Derek's episode than Jack's. Both have been after promotion for a long time now, but while Jack's wish to regain his rank has been a continuous background trait since day one, it is still very much that, whereas Derek's ambitions have always come with a degree of on screen conflict with Charles which continous to play out here. Derek finally letting loose on Charles is cathartic for both Derek and the audience, and I've always had a massive love for heavy pivotal character moments coming in comedic episodes so a+++ there. The Old Marrieds energy is strong in all directions in this ep, with Andrew also getting in on the action despite his rather brief appearance. (That being said, there's a very clear implication that so much of this ep happens specifically because Andrew isn't there to keep things under control).
Everyone else trying to deal with Jack and Derek stomping about the place and the predictably disastrous results is also gold. On a personal level I do love Matt asserting his authority as Custody Officer, it nice to see Stuart Lamont getting lines, and the sub-plot with Rod, Rod's dodgy car, Dave and George is a nice little through thread.
The Bill » 18x30 - On The Pitch (019) » Charging Jeff Simpson
June: I'm going to charge you; that on the 26th March 2002, at Sun Hill Police Station, London East One, you - Jeffrey Simpson - did unlawfully kill officers of the Metropolitan Police.
titsay
prguitarman
jacobvanloon
gummygunk
blakekathryn
tangentwithtanner