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"Luther" S05, Ep2: George and Alice Face Off (SPOILER REVIEW)
The second episode of this fifth season of Luther opens with a little trip back down memory lane, and we find out exactly how it is that Alice (Ruth Wilson) survived her run in with George Cornelius' (Patrick Malahide) thugs. There is absolutely no finesse to the beat-down, it's just brutal and quick.
Flash forward to present day London, and Alice is the bad penny at John Luther's (Idris Elba) doorstep. She just wants a place to hide. And maybe a cup of tea.
It looks like Alice is still tied in to some mischief with George, and has abducted his son. She's trying to shake him down, and gets a hip full of buckshot for her trouble.
Ugh. Meat. I hate it when they show the meat during buckshot extraction. Blegh.
Luther's boss, DSU Martin Schenk (Dermot Crowley) and his new partner DS Catherine Halladay (Wunmi Mosaku) arrive at Luther's house. Halladay has concerns about the suspect they tried to apprehend, who slit his own throat to avoid capture.
Schenk goes upstairs and finds evidence of Alice's impromptu surgery. She's almost found out, but Luther calls Schenk back downstairs to work on the case. Something about his case doesn't make sense, and Halladay is increasingly worried that they may have nabbed the wrong person.
The happier the marriage is, the easier it is to weaponize it
DS Halladay and boss leave to pay Dr. Vivien Lake's (Hermione Norris) husband, Jeremy Lake (Enzo Cilenti), a visit, and that's when George and his playful bunch decide to stop by to say hi to John and Alice.
John needs to learn not to leave surgical equipment laying about. George and his goons shoot up the attic, where Luther and Alice are hiding. They make their escape out into greater London, and John finds out where Alice has the Cornelius boy.
The Lakes are so creepy, talking about murder like it was a day of play at the park. She's concerned about his impulse control, he's talking about the girl he murdered on the bus like it was something exciting he saw on a sports show.
He is definitely losing control, though, at one point telling a patient at his medical practice that she was "a diseased whore", and how he was going to kill her during surgery. The relationship between the Lakes is interesting, and they have genuine affection for each other- but she's seriously lost site of her duty as a psychiatrist, and he's clearly going to kill again.
Speaking of dynamics, it's amazing how much chemistry Elba and Wilson have with each other. Luther and Alice should stay on opposite continents from one another, but it's clear to see how much they care for each other.
It's also clear why they can't be together. Alice decides that she's tired of being on the run, and does something so incredibly rash that it's probably going to get a lot of people killed.
This is classic Luther, kids. If you're a fan of hard-boiled crime thrillers, this is exactly your cup of tea.
Luther airs Sunday nights on BBC America.