Episode Title: “Episode 4”
Writer: Neil Cross
Director: Farren Blackburn
Previously on “Luther:”
If you missed Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson) in the first three episodes of this series, she certainly makes up for it in this finale. Fresh off a jaunt in Berlin, Alice is back in London, ready and willing to help Luther (Idris Elba) out of his latest jam. And it’s quite a mess, indeed.
It’s seems Tom Marwood (Elliot Cowan), the vigilante killer who earned the public’s support by lynching pedophiles has turned his attention to Luther. Marwood claims it was Luther who made him shoot Ripley and Stark (David O’Hara) and Gray (Nikki Amuka-Bird) seem to agree. The duo arrests Luther for Ripley’s murder and the attempted murder of Mary Day. This feels like quite a stretch, but the two reason that Luther let Marwood have the “two more days” he asked for when he confronted the killer. To be fair, Marwood did have a shotgun pointed at Luther, but that doesn’t seem to matter to Stark and Gray.
Marwood’s sudden shift in character from heartbroken husband looking to keep London safe from the kind of scum who murdered his wife to a cold-hearted killer willing to a kidnap a pregnant woman is a little startling. In the last episode, Marwood told Luther he just wanted to keep people safe, now he’s kidnapping and shooting anyone who gets in his way. It doesn’t make much sense, but the assumption is that Marwood is a madman coming into his own.
Gray and Stark take Mary (Sienna Guillory) to a safe house after she narrowly escapes Marwood, who’s on the hunt for her. The pair also has Luther in custody. That is, until Alice shows up. She helps Luther escape and takes him to the luxury apartment she’s squatting in. Or maybe it belongs to her late husband. That’s right, Alice got married and now she gets to be what she’s dreamed of since she was a little girl: a widow, of course. It really is too bad Neil Cross saved the best for last with this character.
This isn’t the first time Alice has proven to be integral to Luther’s survival, but in this instance, it’s actually kind of heartwarming. Yes, she threatens to “kill and eat” Mary, if she ever betrays Luther again, but we know that’s just her way of saying she cares.
Mary and Alice are forced to work together when Marwood tracks down Stark and Gray’s safe house. Despite the fact that the murder of Ripley is all over the news, Marwood is still concerned about his public image and Alice has a videotape of the crazed killer threatening Luther.
As he searches the building for Mary, Marwood encounters Stark, whom he promptly shoots dead and then Gray, who tries to pass herself off as Mary. Marwood asks to see ID and learns the truth. Mary and Alice hear gunshots but we don’t see Marwood shoot Gray, which naturally means she survives. As I said before, I was hoping Gray made it out of the series alive as she’s a fascinating foil for Luther, but why would Marwood let her live when he killed Ripley and Stark without hesitation? The same could be said about his two prior encounters with Luther.
For all its faults, the finale comes through in the final moments in a climactic rooftop scene in which Marwood forces Luther to choose between Mary and Alice. He chooses Alice, which momentarily confuses Marwood and allows Mary to take a swipe at him. But it’s Alice who drives the nail in, literally. She’s later arrested, but Mary helps Alice pull the ole’ switcheroo. Luther finds Mary inside the police ambulance. Mary tells him she doesn’t care what Alice has done, she saved her life. Guess she got over that whole bit about “killing and eating her.”
The series closes with Alice and Luther reuniting on a bridge, where she insists he lose his trademark topcoat. Does this mean he’s finally ready to ditch his detective gig and run off with her? The finale leaves things pretty open-ended which is fine with me, as I’d follow these two wherever they decide to go.
