My good friend Jennifer Cooper of Musings of a Morleysaurus has asked me to write a little something about the great UK series Luther, starring Idris Elba. She wanted to hear what an American thinks of the series and she knows I am a fan. Of course she has already seen season 2, while we here in America have to wait for BBCAmerica to air the second season in October.
Everyone who has followed this thrilling series knows that it centers on a brilliant, yet troubled English police detective named John Luther. So I won’t give another review of the outstanding first season which had John dealing with the repurcussions of putting down a serial killer. He was placed on suspension until all the facts were sorted out about how the killer almost died before being brought in.
Luther is the type of detective that will do anything to bring criminals to justice. The means justify the ends if you will. Which put Luther on a different level from other contemporary TV detectives. What I really like about this show is how they focus quite a bit on his personal life as much as his work life. On American detective shows, you rarely get a glimpse into their personal lives. I mean yeah you get to meet their spouses and kids sometimes and they hang out at the bar with some friends but that is about it. On Luther, you get to deal with his personal life vividly. His problems with his wife is brought front and center. And he has to juggle both his work and personal lives, but on this series the two will come to clash very violently.
I like the fact that this series is very story and character driven and doesn't rely on action scenes to carry it through. You really care what happens to the characters and become very invested in them over the course of the season. Not to say that they skimp on the action. There is some cool action scenes spread out over the series and they are very thrilling. This is how you make a terrific TV series. America please take note.
I think Idris Elba is just freaking unbelievable. I don’t think anyone will argue that point. I know Jennifer thinks he is awesome and I won’t dispute that. This show depends on his character a lot and Elba does not disappoint. He is such a talented actor and his portrayal of this intelligent but flawed man is very impressive. But every hero needs a good adversary and Luther has one in the beautiful murderer Alice Morgan (played by Ruth Wilson). She and Luther played cat and mouse over the course of the first season and it is a joy to watch. These two seem to bring out the best in each other and Alice seems to be enjoying her dealings with John. She considers this a game.
That's another thing about this series being above and beyond anything we have here in America. Most detective shows open with the killer or bad guy doing something and by the time the credits roll, they are either dead or in prison. Here we have a person who did kill and got away with it but is still part of the show and very integral to it I might add. I only expect more good things from Alice in the upcoming season 2. Oh god, Jennifer..Alice does return for season 2 right. She has to. I hope so. Don't tell me any specifics just let me know if Alice comes back, yes or no. She's back for a bit...not a lot but she is definitely still around...the crazy chickadee that she is!!! :)
Anyway, I think Luther is top notch. I rank it right up there with another classic UK detective series...Prime Suspect with the great Helen Mirren. In fact these two series are very comparable as Prime Suspect delved into Jane Tennison personal life as much as Luther does. In fact this would make a great double bill one weekend. Prime Suspect and Luther. Hell Yeah! New idea! You know what would be cooler..a crossover between the two. Tennison is called back in to help Luther with a tough case. Awww, man I'm already geeking out over that possibility. Jennifer, me and you could write it and send it in and see what the top brass thinks. You game? Haha, that sounds like a pretty damn awesome idea Monty! :)
Well I just wanted to share some of my insights on why I think Luther rocks. I hope this was an enjoyable enough read. Thanks Jennifer for having me do this. And I would love to do a follow-up on this once I see Luther season 2. Do we have a deal? I can't wait for you to finally get to see Season 2, I know you're gonna love it...despite it being criminally short dammit!!!
Thank you to Monty for this rather insightful Yankee Doodle look into the brilliance of Luther, you do indeed rock! :P And ooh, before I forget, you should totally check out both of his blogs All Good Things and Hero Worship!!! They are both super awesome and totally rad~core! :)
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