Watching: Luther Series 2

Back of the box description

Idris Elba won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Miniseries for his riveting performance in this heart-pounding psychological drama. Elba stars as John Luther, the near-genius detective struggling with his own demons. Devastated by the brutal murder of his wife, Luther returns to policing in a different world. His old unit has gone and he's working in the newly created Serious and Serial unit, headed by former police complaints officer Martin Schenk. Luther quickly gathers together his team, rescuing his old partner, Detective Justin Ripley, from uniform. It's not long before they're dealing with their first case. A masked man wanders the streets of London, carrying out ritualistic murders in historic locations, working his way up to one final masterpiece... Crackling with energy and beautifully shot, this new mini-series sees Luther take bigger risks and face even darker challenges.

My words

The day after I finished series 1, I immediately bought the second series (which was also $4.99 on Amazon Instant Video) and started watching it. What is most disappointing is that it is only 4 episodes. We don't see nearly enough of Alice or Mark. However, there are a couple of new characters added to the equation this time around: DS Erin Gray and Jenny Jones (who I instantly recognized as "Sketch" from Skins). I thought DS Gray, who is all about following the rules to advance her career, was a good foil to Luther and Ripley. And since Zoe's death last season, Jenny fills the void in Luther's life as someone needing his protection. At first, she was difficult to care for because she had that tough-exterior and resisted Luther's attempts to help her. What really sold me with her character was when Luther and Jenny were going about their morning routine as if they had been father-daughter for ages.

Compared to last season with its individual episodic murder mysteries, the criminal storylines for this series were divided into two-episodes-long arcs. I felt like the stakes were higher this year because time was given to develop the murders and then to solve them.

I loved that both series have ended with the phrase "now what?" (S1 by Alice; S2 by Jenny). And now I must ask myself the same question. What do I do now that I have caught up on all of Luther? The 3rd series is currently in production and will be release later in 2013. But now what?