It’s difficult to describe the sensation of this BBC TV crime thriller. In once sense it’s a current-day thriller and detective story, but it’s so implausible and gory that I found it helps to treat it like sci-fi/horror. If you do so, you aren’t constantly blowing holes in the plot and you’re prepared for the intense moments so you can keep your wife updated when she turns away (I know this from experience).
The payoff is quite original TV that I thoroughly enjoy. Idris Elba plays main character John Luther with an intensity matched only by the steadiness of his partner Ripley. The female characters mix strong and supportive, like the Brits are apt to do, with a big does of edginess. I’ve used terms like slick and cool before to describe this stuff and I’ll stand by them.
This season is four episodes – two two-part stories. The creep factor of British TV is there as is the mini-movie format. Season four and a movie are supposedly on the way, but that’s big speculation. Elba keeps getting decent gigs in mainstream movies so that seems to put these in doubt at times, but they’ve done three seasons in just over four years so it may stay on track. I hope it does.