K9 says ACAB.... until it goes Idiots Lantern on us at the end.

This is a really fun premise for an episode, the Police have been replaced with the CCPCs, so what does that mean for the people that were on the force? Where are they now? Well, as this episode tells us, they lost their jobs and some became terrorists fighting against The Department.

I appreciate how unsympathetic The Last Precinct are made to be, sure Starkey was also doing anti-Department terrorism back at the start of the show (and has still done a bit throughout), but unlike these guys he wasn't kidnapping kids or threatening harm to civilians. There's good ways to fight the good fight, and there's bad ways to do it too.

I like the idea of alien tech being used in CCPCs, sort of building on what was done in Mutant Copper (and giving me ideas for what I'd love from a continued version of this world), and I like more hints that Thorne has some plans going on behind the scenes, likely to be revealed next episode (wow, it's only 2 episodes left, what I assume is a 2 part finale from the names).

Interesting interactions between Darius and his dad here, we learn that he upped and left him and his mum (sidenote, he has a mum we never see??? I just assumed she was dead like Jorjie's dad probably is) a couple of years ago to join(/found?) The Last Precinct.

The ending though, it leaves a ***lot*** to be desired. Darius' dad doesn't really do anything to redeem himself at the end, he releases Gryffen sure, but that's because his plan had already failed. Darius then figures a way to use K9 to help ensure he gets a proper trial and fair sentence, which like, is a good thing to do, but it's framed as a moment of forgiveness, especially with the shoulder grab afterwards. It's not as bad as The Idiot's Lantern, but it's definitely up there and while I wanted to give this story a higher rating with that at the end I can't.

(Less of an actual review and more of a rant; just getting out the thoughts that came to me whilst watching this one)

The one I thing I thought I could rely on with this series was not having another damn "anti-protest" episode (side eyes McTighe) and yet, here we are... or, was it? Usually in this series, the protesters are the good guys, but this time they were more like terrorists. While "cops are terrorists" is certainly not a message you'll find me jumping to fight any time soon, the fact that they were cops was almost coincidental here - the point is that they were human beings whose jobs had been taken over by robots. But, the fact that they were cops (who this series usually very stalwartly presents as the bad guys)... it's all a bit muddled. Then again, this is very much me projecting 2020s politics onto a 2010 show, so, I suppose I should expect that I'd be a little confused. Like trying to project specifically this+last year's current affairs onto a certain episode I could name that apparently must've been written in mid-late 2023... ahem.

Anyway. Tricky parent/child relationships again... I do wish we could have one, just one, relationship like this where the kid was allowed to properly cut off the parent. Of course there will always be nuance and feelings there, but that doesn't have to lead to forgiveness, or as in this case, a reconnection. Too often, kids tv teaches kids that they should always forgive their parents, or that "family is family" and is more important than themselves, no matter what that family has done... kids, if your dad's a terrorist cop, you're allowed to harbour anger and hatred towards him, it's okay, you don't have to have any kind of touching reconciliatory moment... please kids, take my hand, it's okay...

It did feel like a little bit of an afterthought, but it still fit with the other themes at least, and is an important message - once again, thank you K9 2010 for teaching kids that most important of all lessons - no matter what someone has done, they are still a human being, and cannot have their rights taken away. Human rights are not something you earn by being nice, or a good father, or "not a terrorist" - the right to a fair trial is one everyone has, and it must be protected. God, can you imagine the cultural impact this show might have had if it was good? We need shows with these kinds of messages in our social consciousness, now more than ever.

It looks like the series peaked, this is the worst episode of anything Doctor Who related I’ve ever watched. Appalling performances from actors reaching well beyond their range.

This is my overall review of K9; it's a hidden gem. It was so fun ( Binge it, Binge it, Binge it,) it could have been one of the best series if only the BBC allowed it to be on CBBC

8/10