Television Pick: Luther (2010-2013)
The big update regarding Netflix this week was the debut of Orange Is The New Black season 2, and rightfully so. The first season was great and probably stands as the best original content the company has provided so far. But, I’m not here to talk about OITNB, because frankly, everyone else already has. I’m instead here to talk about Luther, a show that also had a new season added to Netflix this week.
Originating out of the BBC, Luther stars Idris Elba as the titular Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. Although he is a dedicated officer and quite brilliant at his job, Luther struggles with being able to emotionally handle numerous occupational horrors. Each of the 14 hour long episodes help drive this point home even further, as the detective deals with the cruel nature of the world both professionally and personally.
While the cases that Luther works on are interesting in their own right, one of the real highlights of the show is the relationship between the detective and a murderer he couldn’t put away. Portrayed by Ruth Wilson, Alice Morgan is an intelligent psychopath, who after avoiding jail time for the murder of her parents, becomes something of a confidant to Luther. While many shows have done this type of relationship before, the chemistry between Elba and Wilson brings the tired archetype another level. While it’s a shame that Wilson doesn’t get as much screen time as she should, that only makes the times she does show up that much better.
As mentioned before, Luther does indeed only have a total of 14 episodes. Although these are hour long episodes, I do wish the series was going to continue on further, but that’s just the way the BBC works I suppose. However, the fact that the show has officially wrapped up its run (outside of a potential film) makes it all the more better for stream-ability, just don’t speed through them too quickly – enjoy Luther while you can.
