Review: "Luther" - Seasons 1 & 2

CROSS, Neil (Creator & Writer), Brian KIRK, Sam MILLER & Stefan SCHWARTZ (Dirs.), “Luther: Season One” and “Luther: Season Two”, 2010 & 2011, BBC Worldwide, Ltd.

 

Reviewing a police drama may not seem like the sort of thing I usually do, but then “Luther” is hardly the usual, run-of-the-mill cop show. Everything about this program is larger than life, and the bad guys are as bad as they come; they are in fact, horrific. See? You knew we’d get there soon enough.

Most people think of British police TV shows and they think of something like “Midsomer Murders” which, to be frank, has had its heyday, has passed its prime and has gone to seed: it’s a comfy police procedural, bucolic, personable and designed to be watched late at night with a warm mug of cocoa and the family around to play “Guess Whodunnit”. “Luther”, on the other hand, roars off the screen like a freight train, and you definitely don’t want to be eating anything while you take it in. Certainly not family viewing either.

To be honest, I saw Season Two before I saw Season One – I missed catching the initial six episodes when they aired on TV. I enjoyed Season Two so much that I grabbed the chance to pick up the DVDs as soon as they became available. In a way, I wish I had seen them in the right order: there is definitely an escalation of the action across both seasons and, having come in at the fever pitch of Season Two, I felt the pace had dropped somewhat when I was catching up with episodes 1-6. And inevitably, I knew the outcomes of some of the story arcs, so that was a bit of a downer. Nevertheless, there was still enough tension and drama to make the ride supremely entertaining.

This is serial killer territory here, and normally, I find this sort of stuff a bit tired. I’ve done my time with Patricia Cornwell and walked away jaded by the whole thing. Part of the enjoyment of reading detective fiction is trying to work out who kills and why they’re doing it; when the answer is an endless repetition of “they’re just crazy” things get awfully dull. The rest is just carefully plotted timing, daggers and masks, and lots of shrieking violin music.

“Luther” gets around this by allowing the audience to know who’s responsible from the get-go. The viewer becomes privy to the depredations of the psychos and then they watch as John Luther and his merry band of boys in blue try desperately to track them down. Riding the coattails of the police investigators brings its own thrills, suspense and frustrations, as if we were there, going through the process with them.

 

Of course, the process is only part of the story. The focus of this drama, and the thing that makes it so compelling, are the emotional peaks and troughs experienced by the excellent cast. Idris Elba as John Luther, has a remarkable emotional range, able to convey a raft of emotions in a single scene. As the troubled but brilliant detective, he oscillates between barely controlled rage and suicidal despair, with riveting ease. The mask of the cynical cop which he wears as a default persona, slides away again and again to draw our attention: since what is going on inside Luther’s head is about 80% of the story, the focus needs to be on him and watching his journey never gets old.

Of course, the physicality of the character is the other half of the presence. Luther is brains and brawn and he wields a palpable menace. He moves in a restless, unsettled manner, as if the workings of his mind require an outlet in somatic form. He is described by his superiors as “nitro-glycerine”, a time-bomb waiting to explode, and this is certainly the manner that he conveys.

The central concern of the show is the gulf between procedure and moral action. Police are helped as much as they are hampered by the need to follow procedure, and Luther’s problem is that he sees through to the solution of the crime faster than the plodding system can function. Time and again he faces the moral question of taking the Law into his own hands or allowing the system to work as it should. Tragically for him, he usually picks the wrong option.

The crimes in these stories are, after the amazing characterisation, the narrative gold of this show. In my wander through Season Two, I found myself repeatedly shaking my head in awe at the audacity of the mayhem. This is high-concept police drama, so it needs equally heightened crime; I was not disappointed. In fact the sheer cold-bloodedness of the villainy left me gobsmacked. Mr Cross has a very twisted and quirky brain.

 

The major focus for the dark side is the character of Alice Morgan, played by Ruth Wilson. A genius, former child prodigy and physics researcher, she is, as well, a very crazy woman indeed. In meeting John Luther, she finds a mind that is the equal of hers and, since he can’t find the evidence he needs to convict her, he winds up circling her, fascinated by her coolness and control. She is, in fact, everything that he isn’t: delicate, refined, calculating and pure evil. I found myself wondering if these two were ever going to give in to their mutual fascination...and then I thought I might take a shower. It’s a tribute to the show that this twisted chemistry has the viewer thinking of the possibilities and it underscores the moral dilemma that John finds himself sinking ever deeper into.

 

I’m trying very hard not to throw any spoilers into this, so if I have inadvertently un-bagged some cats, I apologise. I cannot recommend this show highly enough; however, be warned it’s extremely dark and disturbing: no-one is safe; nothing is sacred; nothing is out of bounds. Your catchphrase here, in terms of the characters, is “don’t get attached”. There is a gloomy edginess to this show, highlighted by the neutral palette of colours in which it’s filmed, with the occasional splash of dangerous red. If I have an issue it’s a minor one and it has to do with the endless view of the Gherkin in every rooftop shot across London, or through every upper-storey window: why is the BBC so obsessed with this building? Do they have property rights? Given its ubiquity in this show, a word of caution: don’t use it as the basis of a drinking game when tuning in or you’ll be legless by Act 2.

 

Give this a whirl – if you’re a fan of the ‘90s BBC drama “Ultraviolet” you’ll remember Idris Elba as the tough-guy ex-Special Forces dude in that program and you’ll know you’re in for a good time. That was a ripping performance and this is too – dialled up to 11.

Five tentacled horrors.

 

(...and a Gherkin!)