Here we have the very first episode from the successful British television series Luther. The show scored many nominations with prestigious awards bodies, most of all for lead actor Idris Elba, also in America, and these 52 minutes here were written by Neil Cross and directed by Brian Kirk. We are thrown right into the action as we see Luther chasing down a criminal in something like a warehouse building. At least the construction is not particularly safe as we get to witness quickly. Luther gets some important information out of the suspect and does not save the man in time, so the bad guy falls down and is in a coma for the rest of the episode. But the girl he abducted is safe. So they need another case for this series premiere and this is where Ruth Wilson comes into play as her Alice Morgan becomes a bit of a nemesis (with an ounce of sexual tension too) to Luther for much more than this episode. It is about the death of a respected couple and also the death of the couple's dog as the canine gains some extra significance as the episode goes on. It's a bit of everything really. We find out about the title character's aggression issues at the same time as we find out about his professional genius. His wife, however, has really had it with him and his struggles and in this episode she tells the man that she is with somebody else. Not much of a surprise that the first thing Luther does is destroy a door and a little later, actually almost at the very end, we also see Luther end up in a physical struggle with the new man in his wife's life. Still there are indicators on several occasions that she is not over him yet and maybe he can hope. Be it the "next time" reference or be it the tear-filled response to whose turn it is to apologize at the very end, you can definitely be curious how Luther's personal life will be affected in the upcoming episodes, especially if we take into account that it is all connected with his work. Alice made Luther his next project and this also brings in his wife to some extent, especially in this one scene in which the two women share the screen. One of the most tense (or is it "tensest"? Sounds weird.) moments from this episode.
It is already Idris Elba's great physicality that elevates the okay story and screenplay into something special right away and I am sure this show and also this opening episode would have made much less of an impact without him. Extremely commanding screen presence and not a surprise at all that this show was what turned him into an international superstar and prolific Hollywood actor pretty quickly afterwards. If you are curious about how it all started, then it is very much worth seeing. I think the second episode was even slightly better, but I am saying this from a rewatch perspective. Not sure which I liked more when I watched them the first time. In any case, something I definitely like here is that the psychological element of the crimes and criminals gets included in a crucial way. I always find that interesting. Of course, there are also weaknesses in terms of the writing, like how Luther's yawn idea is maybe a bit too far-fetched to make a definite statement that the young woman is the killer, but together with all the other elements of suspense, it works fine. Or also with how Luther's wife's new partner is depicted and what he has to say at times, they could have done a little better maybe. But all these criticisms are nothing major at all and the good and even very good is way, way more frequent in this episode compared to the weaknesses here and there. The idea how he hurts the killer's ego near the end by throwing away the ashtray was also quite nice. I know there are many shows and films about rogue cops, but this is one that stands out in a positive way most of all because of the impressive lead performance here. I am pretty glad they got Elba to star and this was the beginning, definitely not yet the highlight, of something great and for me Luther, now that it's been over 10 years since it started, is definitely one of the best crime series of the 2010s. If not the number one. This episode here reflects said quality on quite a few occasions. I definitely think you should give it a go and maybe you will be as hooked as I was. Entertained you will be 100%. Also very much necessary here to watch chronologically because the episodes build on each other. Big thumbs up for the very beginning of Luther, also good example here on how to include a massive jump ahead in time.
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