British Invasion: Luther
Set in (and filmed in and around) London, Luther stars Idris Elba as DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) John Luther. Luther is brilliant, but troubled, often diving in way too deep into the darkness of his cases. This causes a major rift between him and his wife, and much of season one examines how he handles their separation.
Luther doesn’t necessarily reinvent the police drama wheel, but it’s mostly solid with a great performance by Elba. The series really hits its stride towards the end of season one and throughout season two, the latter earning Elba a Golden Globe for his portrayal.
One of the most compelling aspects of Luther is the detective’s relationship with the murderous psychopath, Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson), and it’s rumored that the show’s creators are considering a spin-off with her character.
It’s hard to go deeper into details without giving away major spoilers. Season two (just four episodes) plays like an intense mini-series with lots of twists and frights, and a few creepy-ass bad guys. Both seasons are available on Netflix instant viewing and season 3 is slated to premiere either late this year or early 2013.
While not as smartly-written as last month’s British Invasion selection, Sherlock, Luther is still a solid showing from the BBC and worth your time.
***minor spoiler alert***
I hated Alice Morgan in the first season, but I loved John Luther, which made me watch the entire series in two days. She’s more enjoyable, to me, in the second season, because she’s barely there; that’s better than them going back to visit her seemingly every three minutes.
You didn’t like her even in the S1 finale?
I was tired of her by then. I just wasn’t feeling that character. To me, every time they went back to her, it was stalling everything about John Luther and his development. Honestly, it felt like they were trying really hard to create this camaraderie between cop and criminal that just wasn’t there with these two characters. Frankly, I felt more of a connection between Luther and the guy he killed in the first episode; like they had been playing a cat-and-mouse game for a long time, and Luther finally caught him. With Luther and Alice, it feels more like a game of cat-and-scratching-post.