I love the Luther series as a whole, especially the first 3 seasons -- they comprise some of the most exciting, jaw-dropping hours television I have ever seen. But over time the show has fallen into a formula, one which this season 5 premiere proudly flaunts: drawn-out scenes of an animal-like serial killer with paraphiliac urges stalking their innocent prey; Luther finding himself caught up in the London underworld or with shadowy figures he's dealt with in the past; very little actual detective work that often boils down to Luther or another character using broad stereotypes/armchair psychoanalysis or general wisdom that anyone could've come up with to track down the bad guy (or simply saying "I have a hunch").
A lot of people watch Luther FOR this formula, though I was hoping the show would have evolved a bit by 2019. Here in episode 5x1 we have dapper gangster George Cornelius (Patrick Malahide) returning from season 4 to involve DCI Luther (Idris Elba) in the recovery of his kidnapped son. Cornelius serves the same role Baba (Pam Ferris) did in series 2: an underworld figure meant to involve Luther in the dark side so as to complicate his law enforcement career. There's also a creepy serial killer running around sticking various sharp objects into people, reminding us that this is, above, all, a horror TV show more so than a cop drama.
I found a lot of the events in this episode to be quite contrived and cliché-ridden, though I still enjoyed watching it. Some of these include: yet another new, naive partner to act as a foil for Luther (played this time by Wunmi Mosaku); some gangsters un-ironically strapping a bomb to someone as punishment; a weird psychiatrist (played by Hermione Norris) who clearly knows more than she's letting on.
Still, this is Luther: the acting is brilliant (with exception of Michael Obiora as Errol, who hams it up way too much), the editing and direction are on point, and the thudding, pulsing music will keep you glued to your seat. If you've watched Luther from the beginning, you'll see the ending twist coming a mile away; it's still good TV, just not really "must-see TV" anymore.
A lot of people watch Luther FOR this formula, though I was hoping the show would have evolved a bit by 2019. Here in episode 5x1 we have dapper gangster George Cornelius (Patrick Malahide) returning from season 4 to involve DCI Luther (Idris Elba) in the recovery of his kidnapped son. Cornelius serves the same role Baba (Pam Ferris) did in series 2: an underworld figure meant to involve Luther in the dark side so as to complicate his law enforcement career. There's also a creepy serial killer running around sticking various sharp objects into people, reminding us that this is, above, all, a horror TV show more so than a cop drama.
I found a lot of the events in this episode to be quite contrived and cliché-ridden, though I still enjoyed watching it. Some of these include: yet another new, naive partner to act as a foil for Luther (played this time by Wunmi Mosaku); some gangsters un-ironically strapping a bomb to someone as punishment; a weird psychiatrist (played by Hermione Norris) who clearly knows more than she's letting on.
Still, this is Luther: the acting is brilliant (with exception of Michael Obiora as Errol, who hams it up way too much), the editing and direction are on point, and the thudding, pulsing music will keep you glued to your seat. If you've watched Luther from the beginning, you'll see the ending twist coming a mile away; it's still good TV, just not really "must-see TV" anymore.