TVquila’s New Lineup
As you may know, I and friend Dale started TVquila, which during the dead months was mostly just The Newsroom reviews. Now the TV season has started, however, we’ve expanded to eight writers (so far), covering everything from weekly analysis of Agents of SHIELD, New Girl, and many more, to upcoming topical essays on anachronism in … Continue reading
Luther: Series 3, Episode 1
If you were wondering whether Luther would be back on the force after all the events of last season . . . well, much as I’d watch a show called Luther On The Run, we knew he would be. Even with the windshield wiper subterfuge and a garage door rolling slowly up to show feet … Continue reading
Luther: Series 2, Episode 4
My problems with Luther – especially the first two episodes of this season – were a little about what it does (serial killers targeting women in alleys and children in buses, as seen in every other torture porn and procedural ever), but mostly how it does it; that is, when it uses the shot composition … Continue reading
Luther: Series 2, Episode 3
It is a unspoken rule that if the camera singles out and follows a random woman doing anything insignificant, that woman is about to have something bad done to her. It’s cinematic shorthand, along with dramatic strings, bum-bum-BUMs, and people reacting in full sentences. As you may have noticed, I’m much less thrilled with Luther’s second … Continue reading
Luther: Series 2, Episode 2
(continued from Episode 1) When the ‘previously on’ montage rolled, I wanted nothing more than to see Luther jettison its entire 2nd season premise (more solving of murders, but with a new group of faces in a new office, blah blah blah) and take Luther and Alice on the lam. I immediately came back to … Continue reading
Luther: Series 2, Episode 1
Telling that the episode – and the entire second series – opens on Alice. Then Alice’s first few sentences explain who John. Luther. is. “My friend . . . we were simpatico.” Most of the rest is part truth, part smokescreen, part exposition to the audience. The game’s afoot. Luther doesn’t actually give us an … Continue reading
Luther: Series 1, Episode 6
Episode 1.5 was what most shows would play as a season finale. This episode, 1.6, would be the premiere four months later. Whether because it’s essentially a miniseries, or because it’s The BBC and they can do whatever they damn well please, Luther subverted the usual cliffhanger, perhaps in favor of a better one. The episode … Continue reading
Luther: Series 1, Episode 5
In the opening sequence of continuously moving clips, we get a shot where the main characters are almost out-of-frame. The camera is less concerned with them than it is with the mood, the look. The camera fades to black before the graphic climax, as well. Yes, we’ve gotten to the point where even cold opens … Continue reading
Luther: Series 1, Episode 4
*cue opening minor-chord music* Crap. Another middle-aged, white, male serial killer doing creepy ritualistic things to some woman. *cut to credits* More on these in the Stray Observations. *cut to Luther waking up in only the bottom 3rd of the screen.* Phone ringing to wake him up: cliched choice. Purple sheets: good choice. No Zoe: … Continue reading
Luther: Series 1, Episode 3
Most procedurals wait until at least double digits to play the ‘creepy as all fuck’ card. Not Luther. Is this a sign of where the series is going to go, or just a sign of how high the bar has been raised for what is needed to shock general viewers? We know who the abductor is from … Continue reading
Mel Killingsworth - Film and TV blog 