Idris Elba rocked The Wire. Who knew he was a British stage and screen actor? Not me. But G and I are stuck on the watch it now content from the BBC with our streaming only Netflix plan so we are slowly discovering this stuff. Elba plays Luther, a London cop with anger management issues and a general disdain for authority.
I’m baffled a little by the pop-culture norms of the UK. I think of the BBC as something akin to PBS: Not-for-profit and devoted to education and the arts. Clearly I’m wrong about that education and arts part because this is a graphic, violent cop show that feels more like something you see on HBO or Showtime in the US, sans naked people.
It’s full of nasty, twisted murderers and intense action scenes. Oh yeah, and they’re not afraid to kill off key characters. I don’t watch any current network TV shows in the US so I’m not that informed on what’s out there, but this doesn’t feel like free TV in America. These BBC people are doing whatever they want and they’re doing it with taxpayer dollars. Aren’t they? Maybe not. When you’re looking at things from a global perspective, BBC America may be for profit. I don’t get it, but I don’t really care.
The first season was six episodes and the second season is four episodes. They’re more like miniseries than they are serialized shows. The last episode of season one ended with quite a cliffhanger so G and I are fired up to get this going again.
** PLOT KILLERS FOLLOW **
Luther, much like Stringer, is an imposing force. Both characters know what the end result should be and are not afraid to buck the system and embrace new methods. Stringer was a drug dealer who went to business school and tried to use Robert’s Rules of Order to run meetings with drug kingpins. Luther is a cop who’s not afraid to team up with sadistic murderers if it’s the quickest method to crack a case. Same but different. Both badasses.
Elba may be the only way I’ll be able to get G to watch The Wire. She seems smitten with the guy’s screen presence.