The fourth and final episode of Luther series 5 aired tonight. Has anyone else been watching what's presumably the last series?
This seems to be truly the end of Luther with Alice dead, having finally turned against Luther, and with Luther in cuffs after two more coppers are dead indirectly because of him. While they might be able to charge him with any crimes, he'll certainly will lose badge at this point. He should've lost it a long time ago but the show has never been terribly realistic, especially on that front.
I'm glad they finally filled in the gaps of what happened in between series 3 and 4 in regards to the Luther and Alice relationship, but somehow I'm not entirely satisfied by it. They've always had this raw sexual chemistry between each other but finally getting to see them consummate it, somehow it does quite click for me. Regardless, I did enjoy how that relationship ultimately break down as I always knew it would. The only surprise, for me anyways, is that Luther didn't go over the scaffolding with Alice, dying at each other's side.
I guess this way the door is left open for a potential sixth series or the long-rumored film, but I'm not entirely sure how that would work, even with him on the run. The crux of the series has always been the Luther/Alice relationship and that conclusively over. With the exception of Mark (more on him in a second), all of Luther's friends are all dead or against him (but mostly dead).
As for Mark, I've never been able to fathom how he turned so quickly and so trusting of Luther. Mark never trusted him and was on the verge of loathing him prior to Zoe's murder, and yet he trusted Luther's claim that Ian actually murdered Zoe? That never sat well with me, especially since we didn't even get to see that conversation and reaction. Just the claim and then suddenly Mark was scheming alongside with Luther and Alice. Even once Ian was...settled with, why on Earth he would he remain in contact with Luther, to the point that he trust him to do any of his bidding, even if it was an odd form of babysitting both in series 2 and now series 5? Not that I'm really complaining because Paul McGann is a godsent and I would watch him reading the yellow pages, but Mark as a character never really worked for me after Zoe's murder.
Lastly, the monster of the series. While as darkly cruel as many of the previous killers, this storyline played out differently for a couple of reasons. Most of the previous killers have been poor, low-educated loners with different degrees of mental illness. Jeremy Lake, while he has his own mental illness, is the opposite from the previous killers as he's a doctor in high regard with a wife who is well-aware of his dealings (as oppose to the series 1 episode with Nicola Walker), enable him to a certain degree even if she's not an outright accomplice. This story is also different because it played out longer than two episodes and, as a result, develops the killer's dealings and relationships to a greater degree than the previous killers. Overall, I enjoyed it (even if I saw the switcheroo between Jeremy and Vivien's patient coming) but the conclusion fell a little bit to the wayside in favor of the Luther/Alice climax (which I'm fine with).
This seems to be truly the end of Luther with Alice dead, having finally turned against Luther, and with Luther in cuffs after two more coppers are dead indirectly because of him. While they might be able to charge him with any crimes, he'll certainly will lose badge at this point. He should've lost it a long time ago but the show has never been terribly realistic, especially on that front.
I'm glad they finally filled in the gaps of what happened in between series 3 and 4 in regards to the Luther and Alice relationship, but somehow I'm not entirely satisfied by it. They've always had this raw sexual chemistry between each other but finally getting to see them consummate it, somehow it does quite click for me. Regardless, I did enjoy how that relationship ultimately break down as I always knew it would. The only surprise, for me anyways, is that Luther didn't go over the scaffolding with Alice, dying at each other's side.
I guess this way the door is left open for a potential sixth series or the long-rumored film, but I'm not entirely sure how that would work, even with him on the run. The crux of the series has always been the Luther/Alice relationship and that conclusively over. With the exception of Mark (more on him in a second), all of Luther's friends are all dead or against him (but mostly dead).
As for Mark, I've never been able to fathom how he turned so quickly and so trusting of Luther. Mark never trusted him and was on the verge of loathing him prior to Zoe's murder, and yet he trusted Luther's claim that Ian actually murdered Zoe? That never sat well with me, especially since we didn't even get to see that conversation and reaction. Just the claim and then suddenly Mark was scheming alongside with Luther and Alice. Even once Ian was...settled with, why on Earth he would he remain in contact with Luther, to the point that he trust him to do any of his bidding, even if it was an odd form of babysitting both in series 2 and now series 5? Not that I'm really complaining because Paul McGann is a godsent and I would watch him reading the yellow pages, but Mark as a character never really worked for me after Zoe's murder.
Lastly, the monster of the series. While as darkly cruel as many of the previous killers, this storyline played out differently for a couple of reasons. Most of the previous killers have been poor, low-educated loners with different degrees of mental illness. Jeremy Lake, while he has his own mental illness, is the opposite from the previous killers as he's a doctor in high regard with a wife who is well-aware of his dealings (as oppose to the series 1 episode with Nicola Walker), enable him to a certain degree even if she's not an outright accomplice. This story is also different because it played out longer than two episodes and, as a result, develops the killer's dealings and relationships to a greater degree than the previous killers. Overall, I enjoyed it (even if I saw the switcheroo between Jeremy and Vivien's patient coming) but the conclusion fell a little bit to the wayside in favor of the Luther/Alice climax (which I'm fine with).
