Review: Luther
Um, guys-that show the Sherlock writers were joking about, the show called…I guess Gregory? The one where it’s all about the exploits of DI Lestrade instead of Sherlock? That show already exists on the BBC, and it’s called Luther, starring Idris Elba as John Luther (and also featuring Paul McGann, whom I love from Horatio Hornblower-he was also the Eighth Doctor Who).
I mean, the Lestrade = Luther link isn’t perfect-Luther is a DCI (Detective Chief Inspector), so Lestrade would have to be promoted, and also his character would need to be a bit less funny and a bit more brooding and attracted to the dark side, but Luther totally has the on-again-off-again wife problem, the good instincts, and the ability to keep psychopathic murderers entertained (I guess Lestrade does this through Sherlock, but Luther does it on his own!).
Luther, then, functions as kind of a hybrid of the characteristics of Lestrade and Sherlock, and the recurring specter haunting the series is a version of a female Moriarty (the character of Alice Morgan, played by Ruth Wilson).
[Some thematic spoilers, excessive comparisons to Sherlock]
The show doesn’t completely work for me because, frankly, Luther is not quite as interesting to me as the psychopaths he attracts, whereas Sherlock himself is far more interesting than they are. But Luther is still one cool character, and his shadowy past and penchant for reckless bravery, borderline-torturing suspects, and suicidally putting his life at risk by visiting psychopaths in their homes to taunt them and gloat is very Sherlockian of him. Luther’s scenes where he visits serial killers and, for lack of a better word, flirts with them are the best part of the show. It’s easy to see why psychopaths like him: his quiet, world-weary confidence coupled with his brooding physical presence is so attractive. Oh, haha, and let’s not forget how Sherlockian Luther is while standing on the edge of rooftops talking about working for the devil! Or, for that matter, when investigating a taxi-driver-serial-killer plotline, book ciphers, and a version of the pill dilemma (except this time it’s dice).
But honestly, foundation of the series doesn’t really make sense because Luther should have been fired long ago, and it seems like everyone working with him knows it. No matter how brilliant he is, his conduct is very often dangerous and even criminal, particularly when he partially loses control of his emotions and violently lashes out. Sherlock gets away with this because he invented his own position in order to avoid working for the Yard; Luther, however, manages to stay on the force despite a growing list of very suspicious incidents that uncomfortably remind me of Dexter. And sure, a large part of the plot consists of his superiors angsting over this fact, but to me it seems pretty cut and dry. However, since this same argument can be made for House, M.D., I quickly got over my scruples on this point.
To continue the Sherlock comparisons (which I know is probably unfair, but I can’t help it with super-intelligent crime-solvers), unfortunately the writing here is not nearly as strong and the pace is rather slower. It seems like the camera crew didn’t get that memo, though, and scenes are often shot at snappy pace that sometimes doesn’t seem to match the dark mood. It’s also more intense than Sherlock in that we get more detail than I’d usually like about what, exactly, the serial killers are doing to their victims. And this world is a grim, humorless one without joy or hope. There are no “lighter” moments; I don’t think anybody in the entire series ever cracks a joke or even a genuine smile. Luther says there is love in the world, but if there is, it’s not on display here.
Where this series excels, though, is with the music (the song choices fit each scene perfectly) and especially characterization. It helps that the acting is superb, especially with Idris Elba and Ruth Wilson. Wilson would make a fantastic female Moriarty, if anybody is looking for casting ideas. I’d love to see her in a battle of wits against Rebecca Hall as a female Sherlock.
The character of the serial killer Alice Morgan is brilliant because she proves Sherlock’s requirement for all serial killers, that they want attention and glory, but at the same time she is more complicated than she first appears. She is aware that in order to be a successful killer (to never be caught), one has to do without that glory.
At first it seems that she’s a psychopath, as shown in a wonderful scene in which she says quite convincingly, “I’m sorry,” and then when it’s pointed out to her that she’s not really sorry, she immediately drops the act in a face-fall that is very like Sherlock or Moriarty. But throughout the series, she and Luther play a (great?) game where she helps him catch other serial killers while at the same time messing with his personal life. And in return he gives her the attention she craves but can’t get because she’d go to prison. And she eventually comes to realize, as Sherlock does, that she may actually harbor genuine feelings within herself.
I suppose Alice Morgan, then, is a mixture between Moriarty and Sherlock without Sherlock’s hyperactive energy: she’s maybe what Sherlock could have been under grimmer circumstances, or what Moriarty could have been if he were a woman and if Sherlock and Lestrade were fused into one person in the form of Luther.
In short: well worth following for the great acting, but it’s rather grim and not very much fun unless Luther and Alice are onscreen together.
Back to my Sherlock Holmes Adaptations Masterlist: ( Taxi!)
I mean, the Lestrade = Luther link isn’t perfect-Luther is a DCI (Detective Chief Inspector), so Lestrade would have to be promoted, and also his character would need to be a bit less funny and a bit more brooding and attracted to the dark side, but Luther totally has the on-again-off-again wife problem, the good instincts, and the ability to keep psychopathic murderers entertained (I guess Lestrade does this through Sherlock, but Luther does it on his own!).
Luther, then, functions as kind of a hybrid of the characteristics of Lestrade and Sherlock, and the recurring specter haunting the series is a version of a female Moriarty (the character of Alice Morgan, played by Ruth Wilson).
[Some thematic spoilers, excessive comparisons to Sherlock]
The show doesn’t completely work for me because, frankly, Luther is not quite as interesting to me as the psychopaths he attracts, whereas Sherlock himself is far more interesting than they are. But Luther is still one cool character, and his shadowy past and penchant for reckless bravery, borderline-torturing suspects, and suicidally putting his life at risk by visiting psychopaths in their homes to taunt them and gloat is very Sherlockian of him. Luther’s scenes where he visits serial killers and, for lack of a better word, flirts with them are the best part of the show. It’s easy to see why psychopaths like him: his quiet, world-weary confidence coupled with his brooding physical presence is so attractive. Oh, haha, and let’s not forget how Sherlockian Luther is while standing on the edge of rooftops talking about working for the devil! Or, for that matter, when investigating a taxi-driver-serial-killer plotline, book ciphers, and a version of the pill dilemma (except this time it’s dice).
But honestly, foundation of the series doesn’t really make sense because Luther should have been fired long ago, and it seems like everyone working with him knows it. No matter how brilliant he is, his conduct is very often dangerous and even criminal, particularly when he partially loses control of his emotions and violently lashes out. Sherlock gets away with this because he invented his own position in order to avoid working for the Yard; Luther, however, manages to stay on the force despite a growing list of very suspicious incidents that uncomfortably remind me of Dexter. And sure, a large part of the plot consists of his superiors angsting over this fact, but to me it seems pretty cut and dry. However, since this same argument can be made for House, M.D., I quickly got over my scruples on this point.
To continue the Sherlock comparisons (which I know is probably unfair, but I can’t help it with super-intelligent crime-solvers), unfortunately the writing here is not nearly as strong and the pace is rather slower. It seems like the camera crew didn’t get that memo, though, and scenes are often shot at snappy pace that sometimes doesn’t seem to match the dark mood. It’s also more intense than Sherlock in that we get more detail than I’d usually like about what, exactly, the serial killers are doing to their victims. And this world is a grim, humorless one without joy or hope. There are no “lighter” moments; I don’t think anybody in the entire series ever cracks a joke or even a genuine smile. Luther says there is love in the world, but if there is, it’s not on display here.
Where this series excels, though, is with the music (the song choices fit each scene perfectly) and especially characterization. It helps that the acting is superb, especially with Idris Elba and Ruth Wilson. Wilson would make a fantastic female Moriarty, if anybody is looking for casting ideas. I’d love to see her in a battle of wits against Rebecca Hall as a female Sherlock.
The character of the serial killer Alice Morgan is brilliant because she proves Sherlock’s requirement for all serial killers, that they want attention and glory, but at the same time she is more complicated than she first appears. She is aware that in order to be a successful killer (to never be caught), one has to do without that glory.
At first it seems that she’s a psychopath, as shown in a wonderful scene in which she says quite convincingly, “I’m sorry,” and then when it’s pointed out to her that she’s not really sorry, she immediately drops the act in a face-fall that is very like Sherlock or Moriarty. But throughout the series, she and Luther play a (great?) game where she helps him catch other serial killers while at the same time messing with his personal life. And in return he gives her the attention she craves but can’t get because she’d go to prison. And she eventually comes to realize, as Sherlock does, that she may actually harbor genuine feelings within herself.
I suppose Alice Morgan, then, is a mixture between Moriarty and Sherlock without Sherlock’s hyperactive energy: she’s maybe what Sherlock could have been under grimmer circumstances, or what Moriarty could have been if he were a woman and if Sherlock and Lestrade were fused into one person in the form of Luther.
In short: well worth following for the great acting, but it’s rather grim and not very much fun unless Luther and Alice are onscreen together.
Back to my Sherlock Holmes Adaptations Masterlist: ( Taxi!)