Hidden Gems - Volume III: Luther

In the 70's and 80's it was Billy Dee. In the 90's and the 2K's it was Denzel. As the sun sets on Mr. Washington's reign as "Mr. Grown And Sexy", there are only a few candidates capable of inheriting the throne. Judging by the response from the women in my family, one merely has to utter the name "Idris" and they begin to swoon like an extra from the "A Heart is a House for Love" concert scene from the 1991 urban classic - The Five Heartbeats. Which brings me to the topic at hand; the BBC TV crime drama, Luther.

Did somebody say "Idris"?

In this Hidden Gem, Idris Elba stars as Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. DCI Luther is quite a complex character. He has the observational skills and logical reasoning of Sherlock Holmes with the shabby appearance and sly interrogation techniques of Columbo. He's a brilliant police officer with obsessive traits that consume both his professional and private paths.

We first meet John Luther, we witness an event that puts his career and marriage in jeopardy. Forced to take an absence from both, DCI Luther must pick up the pieces and attempt to put them back together again. His first case back on the job turns out to be the ultimate test of both.

Ruth Wilson as Alice Morgan

In the pilot episode, Luther is introduced to Dr. Alice Morgan, a research scientist at a London university. Alice was a child prodigy who attended Oxford University and obtained her PhD at the age of 18. As Luther's philosophical opposite, she is both narcissistic and void of the emotion that Luther struggles to keep in check. The circumstances of their acquaintanceship provides for compelling drama.

The first episode also gives us the opportunity to meet Zoe Luther, John's estranged wife. As DCI Luther attempts to resolve the conflict in their marriage, he must deal with the fact that Zoe is now involved with a gentleman by the name of Mark North. Zoe wants to be free from John's volatile emotional state and feels that Mark is someone who can provide the support that she needs. Obviously, John Luther disagrees.

Detective Chief Inspector John Luther

Luther is another one of those BBC series that offers a refreshing change of pace from American television. Since the series is set in the UK, there are several cultural differences that factor into the storytelling. A major example would be the fact that gun laws in Great Britain are much tougher than in the U.S. Because of this, the criminals on British television are less likely to carry guns. To add to that, police officers in the United Kingdom do not routinely carry firearms. Therefore, while American crime shows usually end up in some kind of shootout, shows from across the pond are usually resolved in a different manner. That's not to say that there is no gun play on Luther (there definitely is). However, when it does happen, the presence of firearms heightens the drama and deepens the tone.

Another cultural difference is the length of each season (referred to as a 'series' in the UK). Since Luther debuted in 2010, it has had 2 series of 6 and 4 episodes respectively. With each episode clocking in at 60 minutes (minus commercials), it's easy to complete each series over a lazy weekend or even in the same day if you have the time and ambition. I was inspired to play catch up with my mother and my wife because they discovered Luther way before I did. However, because of the short number of episodes per series, I was able to get up to speed very quickly.

I'm not sure why many of the shows I have watched from the UK have such short seasons. In the United States, it is standard practice for a television show to have a season of 24 episodes. In recent years, the networks have tried to split up each individual season into shorter runs with huge gaps in between. For instance, shows like Lost and Heroes often started the fall season with a run of 6 new episodes, then took an extended break of up to 12 weeks and then continued the story arc with the remaining 16 episodes.

AMC's The Walking Dead

Personally, I'm a fan of shorter seasons. I think that it's easier to maintain a solid story arc and it reduces the amount of filler that gets put into the narrative. Season One of The Walking Dead consisted of only 6 episodes and was a ratings hit for AMC. The series was renewed for a second season of 13 episodes which aired the first 6 installments between October and November, with the second part of Season Two scheduled to return in February. I felt TWD: Season One was so enjoyable because each episode was as important as the next. The sense of urgency and the fate of each character was decided quickly. So far, the first 6 episodes of TWD: Season Two has been mostly a waste of time. They took a two hour story arc and stretched it to fill up 6 hours worth of programming.    

Luther is the kind of show that you need to watch in order. Although each episode contains separate crimes, the story arc involving Luther, Alice, Zoe and Mark lasts over the course of the first series. In a change from Series One, the second series consists of four episodes with the first two episodes involving one crime and the last two episodes involving another. All four episodes in Series Two also contain a story arc that spans all four installments. Luther is available on BBC America, Netflix or your favorite DVD outlet.

      

Posted in: BBC,Envy Green,Hidden Gems,Idris Elba,Luther,Scribbles,Television