So many of the reviews here assume that this is a police procedural and should basically conform to basic expectations of police behavior and situational engagement with some allowances for pushing the boundaries. After all, this is a tv thrilller and should have unexpected moments and encounters which mostly revolve around difficult moral dilemmas. These reviewers are disappointed that their expectations are unmet. But, I think they have missed the point of the show which is a deep dive into the extremes of criminal psychology and the dark shadow of lawlessness that can reside in coppers sworn to uphold the law. This is not about crime but about psychosis and psychopathology in its most dysfunctional and virulent forms and that deep repressed personal aspect called our shadow. It is hard to watch as we are taken into a world so unfamiliar and irrational that our minds seek to return to our familiar world of shared values and standards but not here. We are brought face to face with a dark realm as our main character, Luther, is compulsively engaged in mortal combat with his shadow in the form of the criminals he chases and pure evil that is revealed to be extreme psychosis. Luther's obsession reminds us of another famous epic struggle of Ahab and the white whale Moby Dick.... The devil comes to Luther in the form of the seductress Alice who is both ally and friend yet depraved criminal who without remorse murdered her parents who tempts Luther to disgard his contrived integrity. . We find ourselves in a world without a moral compass desperate to find our way to the light but betrayed by our emotions and needs.... This is a complex show with many parts to unravel...
