Luther: Episode #4.1

December 23, 2015 12:08 PM - Season 4, Episode 1

While on a leave of absence, Luther is suddenly dragged back into his former life in London to battle the demons of his past and to stop a cannibal serial killer.

Idris Elba's troubled but brilliant detective character has made the transition from short-series, to single-episode TV movies. There has been talk of taking the series to theaters, as well.

posted by jbickers (9 comments total)

It was great to get one more new Luther, but I thought this one was kind of a muddle, really. Like they had two or three half-ideas and they stuck them together. Could they not get Ruth Wilson back for this one?
posted by Thorzdad at 3:17 PM on December 23, 2015

I'm guessing they couldn't, because she's on The Affair now.

I will watch Idris Elba do anything and I enjoyed it for the scenery and tone, but I agree that it was a little messy. I had a hard time following parts of it.
posted by something something at 4:11 PM on December 23, 2015

It felt like Cross had plotted another four-episode series and had to compress it down to two hours. The brisk pacing worked pretty well, I thought, but I also couldn't follow some of it. I understand that the fake (?) psychic somehow killed Alice, and that she was angry at John because of a murder case he never solved, but the why and how of all this is very much a mystery to me. Killing Alice off seemed extremely unnecessary to me on a story level, even if Ruth Wilson can't come back, and I wasn't real jazzed about that. But I enjoyed it overall. I'd love to see a new movie-length Luther be a thing as often as they can do it.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:43 PM on December 23, 2015

I thought killing-off Alice was unnecessary, too. Just have her disappear and be done with it. It would be in keeping with the character. I suppose they could invent some sort of "she wasn't really dead" magic, if they do a movie and want the character back. Or, set the movie before the events of this show.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:22 AM on December 24, 2015

Any dead character who can only be identified from dental records isn't really dead.
posted by Grangousier at 7:24 AM on December 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

"I understand that the fake (?) psychic somehow killed Alice, and that she was angry at John because of a murder case he never solved..."

I guess I don't need to watch the second episode. Did you think this was a combined 1-2 post?
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:38 AM on December 24, 2015

I am convinced Alice is still alive. I'm usually wrong, but I'm convinced she's out there, pulling strings, somehow.
posted by jbickers at 11:28 AM on December 24, 2015

My bad, Ivan. The episodes screened on BBC America as one show. I didn't realize they were aired anywhere as two separate episodes, or had been produced that way.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 11:38 AM on December 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

Oh, I didn't realize they appeared on BBC America as a single show.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 1:16 PM on December 25, 2015