Luther

[megladon8]

Jen and I watched the first season of "Luther" over the past week and...well, I can't deny, I was a little disappointed. We both were, actually.

We're both big fans of Idris Elba and this looked really promising. I remember when the show was first coming about maybe 2 or 3 years ago, the whole premise was based on a line of dialogue by Luther at the beginning of the second episode - "Have you ever wondered if you're on the Devil's side and you don't even know it?"

I was expecting a Dexter-like character - that is, a police officer who may very well be more "bad" than "good". But really...there was very, very little of this in the show.

Luther is an out-and-out good guy. So he has a temper, and makes one or two morally questionable decisions, but at no point did I ever feel this statement of "being on the Devil's side" came even close to describing his character.

And as a police procedural, it's far from authentic. Police do things they would/could never do, criminals get away with things that would never happen, timelines and details are forgotten about and don't add up. It's sloppily written.

The acting is great pretty much all-around and Elba is a charismatic lead but this doesn't save the show from all of its other shortcomings.

Also, the character flip in the last two episodes (the villain) was just...ugh. A bit of a "where the hell did that come from?" moment, for sure.


How did others feel about this show? Does it improve with season 2? Decline? Is it even worth watching any further?

[dreamdead]

Sarah and I watched both seasons last year, and we enjoy it; season two is stronger, I think. The Luther/Alice relationship is by far the most interesting aspect of the show, and I worry that the writers are burying Alice as the show progresses. Other aspects of the show work (the treatment of the non-traditional family), but I worry that Alice is being sidetracked for what will likely be a sister-show that'll never happen.

[number8]

Luther is a good guy, which is why he would feel that he's being on "the devil's side" after he tries to murder a guy in the very first scene of the show.

[EyesWideOpen]

Luther is one of the best shows on television. Luther and Alice are two of my favorite characters. If you didn't like season 1 I don't see you all of a sudden turning around with season 2.

[Acapelli]

if that's how you feel about season 1, don't bother with 2

[Acapelli]

By no means did I think it was a bad show I was just...a little put off by how sloppy some of it felt. Like pretty much all of the policing stuff.
i really don't understand why this matters. this show isn't the wire, nor is it trying to be. and i'm not sure the show's intention is to accurately portray policework

it's leagues ahead of something like "the killing" where the police are basically morons, and i understand how that can take you out of a tv show

[ledfloyd]

I didn't care for Season 1, but I ended up loving Season 2. I seem to remember posting my thoughts somewhere, but who knows. However, if you're expecting realism, you're not going to be satisfied.

[MadMan]

I'm sad that you didn't like it, meg. I love Luther and think its a fantastic cop show. Series 1 is slightly better than Series 2, although I think that Season 2 benefits from being more focused due to being shorter and thus more tightly paced. I'm bummed that Series 3 will be its last one, although that means the show will hopefully have a satisfying finale.

[Thirdmango]

I remember LOVING Luther when I watched the first season right when it came out, but I don't remember it all at this point and need to go back to it.

[dreamdead]

Watched season 4 over the weekend. As it's trying to straddle two separate narratives in a little over two hours, the Alice narrative is quite underwhelming, and the lack of real material there, especially after building up her skill and prowess for three seasons, leaves this show in a lurch dramatically. The killer of the week angle doesn't have that much going, and while I like Rose Leslie as an actress, she doesn't get that much to do here that's noteworthy.

Elba is still able to carry this material when he's allowed to mourn and reflect, but this season is so truncated that there's less time for the show to offer contemplation. The season 3 finale offered everything that I wanted out of the show, and so it's underwhelming that they went against so much of that without anything new to really place into Luther's life. And while the script tries to position that underwhelming sense as an overt reality check, it's still utterly depressing on a narrative level.