‘He is the Sunrise. He loves everyone’
I didn’t watch the first series of Luther - not because it didn’t interest me, but because I didn’t have the luxury of recordable TV - so I went into last night’s second series opener with virtually no prior knowledge of the story.
The first test was whether I would be left in the dark with regard to previous plot, but this was swiftly and cleverly dealt with. Rather than relying on the slightly lame and lazy flashback, or ‘previously on…’ technique, the back story was told through a clever expository opening in which Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson) is being questioned in a mental institution about the events of last series.
Similarly, through intercutting scenes of Luther (Idris Elba) spinning the barrel of his gun and playing a game of Russian roulette, his character’s psyche is efficiently summed up for new viewers.
By revisiting aspects of the end of series 1 there is a continuity to the story for regular viewers and added intrigue for newcomers, as they piece together Luther’s history and in turn learn about his attitude and motives.
This weeks story surrounded a brutal serial killer whose motive is to make the British, new-media desensitised, graphic computer game playing public wake-up scared and realise they are alive, whilst getting revenge on some of those who have snubbed him.
The saw-esque masked killer, based (within the narrative) on English folklore character Spring-heeled Jack was scary to behold, if not a little familiar visually. And while his attacks were merciless, I felt very little sympathy for his victims as their pre-death screen time was minimal.
Furthermore the ‘viewer knows the killer before the detective’ format has never really worked for me as a narrative device because it loses any sense of mystery and detection. I struggle to care how the detective will find the killer, because I already know who he is. The enjoyment of the story for me was because I was piecing together the mystery of the events of series 1.
Similarly, I couldn’t see what made Luther any different to other TV detectives that have gone before - the ‘flawed hero’ has been over done, and more importantly done better in Hugo Blick’s recent ‘The Shadow Line’. That said Elba plays the role with such casual swagger that he is inviting to watch.
It isn’t the deepest and most intelligent crime thriller on TV at the moment, but it is still enjoyable to watch. Some of the characters are quite plain and stereotypical, but what you lose in their development, you gain in overall ‘a to b’ plot, meaning the pace is well-kept throughout, right up until the cracking cliffhanger.
A good one to tune into if you want an hours easily digestible crime drama.
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