This episode picks up the slack from episode one, which I found a bit vanilla as far as Luther is concerned... 5x2 was a huge improvement due its sheer insanity and bloodiness. This is not meant to be a gritty, "realistic" cop show; it's a heightened Grand Guignol-style opera, where people are endlessly tortured, butchered and mutilated and there's only one battered man, the titular DCI John Luther (Idris Elba), who has any hope of stemming the madness.
All of that is to say, this episode is a lot of fun. We witness more bizarre goings-on between Dr. Lake (Hermione Norris) and her freakish surgeon husband (Enzo Cilenti); there's plenty of frenetic action as Luther tries to diffuse the explosive rivalry between his old nemesis Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson) and gangster George Cornelius (Patrick Malahide); and Luther's boss Schenk (Dermot Crowley) starts to grow suspicious of his top detective (potentially returning their dynamic to the one that existed in season 2).
It's a lot of fun and there's plenty of truly uncomfortable (and often graphic) WTF moments that writer Neil Cross clearly had a great time coming up with.
My only criticisms are that Luther's youthful partner DS Halliday (Wunmi Mosaku) is starting to become total comic relief at this point. I like her, but the episode makes her out to be almost too naive. And then there's Luther himself -- Idris Elba is great as always, but almost all of his lines in this episode seem to be way more curt than usual. In past seasons Luther has had a lot more to say; it's almost as if the character is starting to tire of all the shenanigans that befall him.
Overall, an entertaining hour of TV.
All of that is to say, this episode is a lot of fun. We witness more bizarre goings-on between Dr. Lake (Hermione Norris) and her freakish surgeon husband (Enzo Cilenti); there's plenty of frenetic action as Luther tries to diffuse the explosive rivalry between his old nemesis Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson) and gangster George Cornelius (Patrick Malahide); and Luther's boss Schenk (Dermot Crowley) starts to grow suspicious of his top detective (potentially returning their dynamic to the one that existed in season 2).
It's a lot of fun and there's plenty of truly uncomfortable (and often graphic) WTF moments that writer Neil Cross clearly had a great time coming up with.
My only criticisms are that Luther's youthful partner DS Halliday (Wunmi Mosaku) is starting to become total comic relief at this point. I like her, but the episode makes her out to be almost too naive. And then there's Luther himself -- Idris Elba is great as always, but almost all of his lines in this episode seem to be way more curt than usual. In past seasons Luther has had a lot more to say; it's almost as if the character is starting to tire of all the shenanigans that befall him.
Overall, an entertaining hour of TV.