Better

If it wasn't for the ending I'd score this at a 7, I finished the entire thing in just two days and had very high hopes.

Unfortunately the ending is bad, REALLY bad. There is no world in which this would happen... I've no idea what the writers were thinking.

It does well to keep you watching though and all be it until the very last scene it kept me interested and wanting more.

Anton Lesser was my favourite character by miles, Leila Farzad not so much, her character seems forced. A few elements throughout are silly and unrealistic but this goes for 90% of TV.

Give it a watch and make your own mind up.

After her son almost dies Detective Inspector Lou Stack is tired of living in the pocket of drug dealer and villain Col McHugh, she chooses to leave but she is very much made aware that leaving is not an option.

I started watching it live, and didn't stick with it, I found episode one hard to get into, I took the advice of a friend of mine and gave it another go, I'm glad I did.

Episode one is a little hard to get into, it seems to skip any introduction or setting scenes, it instead jumps straight into the action, once it settles it's good, it's very good, episode four is fantastic.

There are a few scenes that are hard to swallow, the moment in the car wash for example, why on Earth did Lou feel it was safe to be seen out in public with such a known villain, if you can look past a few silly moments, you'll find it a rewarding watch.

Leila Farzad and Andrew Buchan are both very strong in their respective roles, I thought Anton Lesser and Zak Ford Williams were the standouts I thought.

I hope The BBC picks up another series of this, more Lou Stack please.

8/10.

Did she ever do a days work?

Good series but plot holes all over the place. And the script kept twisting making the characters act completely different from episode to episode. Poor Ceri didn't know if he was coming or going.

But there was some rough justice and gritty plot lines. Makes you realise there is an underworld out there and if you get caught on the wrong side your life can get dictated and controlled by it - no easy options.

The final scene was UK police all over.

If I was watching this again I would focus on the non main characters because they are the ones that played their parts so well and didn't have to flip flop.

Good cop gone bad variation. A good cast, especially the lead roles. Andrew Buchan (Broadchurch) is particularly excellent in his role as drug gang leader. Not seen much of Leila Farzad but she does well as the detective Lou Slack who is playing both sides. Also nice to see Anton Lesser (Endeavour) in a different kind of role.

It all starts off a bit on the slow side but picks up in episode 2. This is not a shoot em up cop drama but more of a slow slide into a moral dilemma. The deeper detective Slack slides into the vortex of corrupt cop the tenser it gets.

My only gripe with the programme is that, for me, it should have ended at episode 4.

That, to my mind, would have been a perfect and more realistic, ending.

Episode 5 tried too hard to tie up loose ends and ended up unnecessary and unrealistic.

That said, it was definitely worth a watch.

Ignore the unfair critics who have rubbished this programme.

The only thing wrong with Better is that the BBC pitched it as "the new Happy Valley". And because they did, the show got a weird audience and critical reception.

Line of Duty is incredible, right? But if someone promised you Happy Valley and you sat down to watch Line of Duty, I don't think you'd like it much. That's what's happening here.

This isn't Line of Duty. It isn't Happy Valley. Better is in a category of its own, and it stands as tall as either of those shows do.

Leila Farzad is astonishing, like she is in everything. But this is a brilliantly written game of chess that has you emotionally invested in all the pieces on the board.

You haven't seen this character arc in a cop show, and you haven't seen this story in a drama before.

(Also, I don't know how you even begin to write a second season after that ending, but my god do I want to see it.)