Line of Duty leaves fans reeling with sapphic twist and ‘s**t storm of lesbian drama’
DI Kate Fleming shared a very queer moment with DCI Joanne Davidson in the Line of Duty season six premiere. (BBC)
The premiere of Line of Duty season six has left fans reeling after DI Kate Fleming shared a very queer moment with brand-new lesbian character DCI Joanne Davidson.
The first episode of the hit BBC police drama’s sixth season aired on Sunday (21 March), and saw the return of AC-12 trio DI Fleming, DS Steve Arnott and Superintendent Ted Hastings.
Fleming (Vicky McClure) has now quit AC-12, and is working under new boss DCI Davidson (Kelly Macdonald) to investigate the murder of journalist Gail Vella (Andi Osho).
While it’s unclear if Davidson, who has a strange number of locks on her door, is actually out to catch the killer, one thing we do know is that she’s queer.
i manifested lesbian joanne davidson and i’m so glad it’s canon now pic.twitter.com/C0DrPta8uZ
— best of line of duty (@bestoflod) March 18, 2021
A scene late in the episode shows an argument between Davidson and her female ex, PC Farida Jatri, a junior member of her own team, when she returns to collect “the last of her things”.
The lesbian drama level was high, with shouting, tears, accusations of cheating and even a shredded leather jacket.
Jatri accuses Davidson of cheating of her with Fleming, to which she sarcastically responds: “Kate and I have been shagging on the sly for months, even though she’s straight and I never cheated on you. Now I see why you never made detective.”
SO READY for the absolute shit storm of lesbian drama that’s gonna unfold this series #lineofduty pic.twitter.com/IveAlCgKyB— amy (@amyhevvv) March 21, 2021
Line of duty is great because the theories just get wilder as the season goes on and Now!! We've got a terrible lesbian break-up very very excited for this mess— ? Bryn (@unbrynnable) March 21, 2021
Fans were already excited about “the absolute shit storm of lesbian drama that’s gonna unfold this series”, but the very last scene of the episode left viewers truly shocked with Davidson and Fleming sharing a sapphic hand-brush, a moment sure to “go down in queer TV history”.
That Vicky + Kelly brief hand hold will go down in queer tv history ✍ #LineOfDuty— Jeni S (@JenoSkello) March 21, 2021
The moment reignited the hopes of many queer fans that Davidson might actually be LGBT+, with one writing on Twitter: “I’VE SAID SINCE I STARTED LINE OF DUTY THAT KATE IS GAY.”
“Oh my God,” wrote another. “Can’t believe season six will be Kate’s gay awakening.”
