Luther – Series Three, Episode Four

• Title: Luther – Series Three, Episode Four
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The final episode of Series Three begins with Luther (Idris Elba) arrested by Gray (Nikki Amuka-Bird) and Stark (David O’Hara) and charged as an accomplice in vigilante Tom Marwood’s (Elliot Cowan) murder of Ripley (Warren Brown) and attempted murder of Mary Day (Sienna Guillory). Despite not being complicit at all in either attack, Stark and Gray bend the facts in a way to make them prove the version of Luther they believe is true. However, the pair quickly loose their prisoner in transport when Luther is abducted by a masked figure who turns out to be Luther’s old friend Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson).

With Alice’s help, by the end of the episode Luther will capture Marwood, clear his name, save Mary, and see the two cops who are acting every bit as dirty as they claim Luther has been get their comeuppance at the hands of Marwood’s righteous fury. The episode ends with Luther in a stand-off between Marwood who makes Luther choose between the lives of Alice and Mary and a nice little twist that allows Alice to go free and Luther and Mary to bury their recent troubles.

Although Stark gets what’s coming to him, I do have to complain about the show allowing Gray to survive (not only because her vendetta against Luther has grown tiresome but I see no possible reason Marwood would have allowed her to live other than the fact the series didn’t want to kill off another major character). Her survival seems more to be about setting up new trouble for Luther in the future, or her being forced to reconsider her opinion of the man, even if it doesn’t really make sense.

I enjoyed the return of Wilson and the show picking up Luther and Alice’s odd friendship, even if I never believed either she or Mary would meet a tragic end on the rooftop. I’ll also give the show a nice nod for the unexpected friendship and loyalty Alice garners from Mary whose understanding of Alice help her understand Luther all the more. Given the number of cards stacked against him at the beginning of the episode, Luther proves truly formidable in foiling all his enemies and finds a way to take his own righteous fury out on Marwod without killing the man for Ripley’s murder.