The moral gray area is something North American TV refuses to touch very often. That’s why we must be consistently thankful for those who choose to license content from the BBC.
Luther would be the best thing Idris Elba ever did, if not for his star turn in The Wire. The story of a London cop sitting in the darkest heart of the gray areas of moral ambiguity, it’s the kind of show that will make you swear off Criminal Minds and NCIS forever.
It’s not a nice show. This is a show about a guy whose job drove him to a mental breakdown. He’s as nasty as the people he busts and his dedication to his job will likely cost him everything. He doesn’t care and he likes it that way. North American TV would butcher this, make it either overly camp or toothless.
Elba plays the role perfectly, seething with unresolved everything and the bad vibes he emits quietly infect everything. It’s a fight and the script writing reflects it beautifully. This isn’t your mom’s London either, it’s the sooty underbelly, the place where the street lights don’t hit. Tower block heaven meets estate hill.
I’m sure somebody at a US network will pick it up and adapt it — it’s just that good. When that happens, it’ll lose something. For the moment, we can only be thankful for what showcase provides and continue looking down river, preparing for the darkness of one man’s heart and what we find there.