What in the world happened in season 5 of Luther? OMG to the 100th power! First of all, Alice, what did you do?! The story of the scorpion and the duck comes to mind, here. That said, Luther certainly knows how to leave audiences wanting more. First of all, Luther broke one of the most important rules – don’t make Alice mad. The thin thread keeping her from going full-on, blazing, no remorse, end-any-and-everything-in-her-path psycho just snapped.
Luther has been a popular show since it premiered, thanks in large part to the incredible writing (Neil Cross), direction (Jamie Payne), and phenomenal performances by Idris Elba (Luther) and Ruth Wilson (Alice), along with an amazing slew of supporting cast. Season 5 was no less jaw-dropping and we have some questions.
For your reading enjoyment, here is Luther: 10 Questions We Still Have After Season 5 (warning, spoilers ahead).
WHAT HAPPENED TO ALICE?
While there’s possibly a certain danger in our societal idolization of charming psychopathic characters, it can’t be denied that Alice is one tough femme fatale. Characters like Alice tap into a warrior/survival aspect of the human psyche and fans vicariously get joy and relief out of her being able to best her opponents, no matter how dire her circumstances. She evolved into a Dexter-esque anti-hero, making her more palatable as someone audiences could cheer on without feeling too bad about it (until the end of season 5, that is).
When Alice is reintroduced, we get a recap of the diamond heist gone wrong. While that’s all well and good, there are still some unanswered questions. For one thing, what was the deal with her and Megan Cantor (Laura Haddock)? For a time, it seemed that Megan was possibly impersonating Alice, pretending to be her after an extensive surgery. Whatever the case, there seems to be more to the story.
SINCE WHEN IS ALICE NOT A PSYCHOPATH?
Okay, this one is simply an incredulous response to Mark’s (Paul McGann) statement to Alice that she’s not a psychopath and can’t continue living the way she was living. Alice responds that she knows this, and it’s kind of a “what?” moment.
Seriously, Alice is a fantastic character, but she fits the tenets of a psychopath pretty clearly, as established in season 1. She’s a cold-blooded ender of lives with little to no regard for people’s feelings. There’s a sliding scale, but just because she does care about Luther and didn’t end Mark’s life, that doesn’t mean she wasn’t a psychopath. She was just, maybe, less of a villain than others that took people’s lives on the show.
WHY KEEP BENNY’S TRAGIC ENDING A SECRET?
One thing that leads to Luther getting arrested is the fact that, thanks to Cornelius (Patrick Malahide), DSU Martin (Dermot Crowley) finds out that Luther knew about Benny’s (Michael Smiley) fate and ended the life of the hitman (Anthony Howell). Of course, they don’t know the full details of what happened, and that’s the rub, “innit?"
The most obvious reason is the rabbit hole of questions that would eventually lead to Alice, and Luther’s dealings with Cornelius. But he had to realize they’d find out the truth, or some of it – especially with no clean-up on scene, no searching for and removing anything that could tie him and George to the crime, not to mention the security cams. It’s a bit of a puzzler, but not outside the realm of believability.
WHAT IS DS HALLIDAY’S HISTORY?
Before her tragic ending, there was certainly a question as to DS Halliday’s (Wunmi Mosaku) history. In the beginning, DSU Martin simply says that she was inexperienced. Where did she come from? How much of her background informed her beliefs about Luther – for instance, she starts off admiring him. But before she is offed, she questions his motivations.
In their final confrontation, she truly believed Luther used her as bait, even though he didn’t. Given that the character passed away, will these questions be answered? Maybe not. Or perhaps they will come to the forefront in the form of someone who believes Luther did kill her or is responsible for her death, despite evidence to the contrary, and pursues him because of it.
WHY END DS HALLIDAY?
When Halliday falls and it’s revealed that Alice is the culprit, it’s a jaw-dropping moment of monumental proportions. Why, Alice, why?! Because she’s Alice, that’s why. But really, it begs the question – does she believe her relationship with Luther will remain largely unchanged? That he loves her so much, or that he’s so far gone, that – eventually - he’ll forgive her for offing a completely innocent person he liked right in front of him?
Or is it that in her mania she was simply so hurt it didn’t matter anymore? Her psychology suggests that, being a psychopath, she simply didn’t care anymore. As we’ve seen, though, there are layers to Alice. And while she wanted to hurt him, it seems that there could have been another angle at play.
WHAT THE ACTUAL… WHAT NOW?
So we see DCI Luther lead out in handcuffs, on the hook for two murders, Alice gone, and questions remaining. Where is this going to go? Fans certainly won’t accept Luther being locked away for long for any reason. And we’ve seen the reaction to the possibility of Alice not being a part of the show, so…
A while back there was talk of setting Luther in the USA (as a remake…). That fizzled out, but as things stand now, anything is possible. Will he (original Luther) chase Alice (original) to New York, as suggested for the US series? Will he be on the hook for DS Halliday’s murder? Will he still be a DCI after it’s revealed how/why Benny passed away?
IS ALICE GONE?
The best answer to that question is, she better damn well not be! If Alice is no more, fans riot! But of course, in any show, there are no guarantees. She could be gone for good. But, let’s face it, that’s not highly likely. The fall wasn’t even that steep. Given Alice’s constitution, she probably wasn’t knocked out - just waiting until DCI Luther did whatever he was going to do.
No, the real question is, where is Alice now? And a few others – where will she go, what will she do? Will she run, or will she stay and make Luther her newest enemy, once again taunting and tormenting him like she did before their relationship changed? Hopefully not, but whatever the case, we’ll find out next season.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BAD GUY?
This season, while the bad guys - Vivien (Hermione Norris) and Jeremy Lake (Enzo Cilenti) - were important to the storyline, they weren’t the main focus. Things largely revolved around George Cornelius, Luther and Alice resolving (not so much) the crazy issues going on between them.
So it’s understandable that fans would want to see how that was resolved and be satisfied with the bad guy handcuffed to the radiator. But, come on, people like that aren’t necessarily going to let a little thing like one handcuffed wrist stop them. His other hand was free, so it’s entirely possible that he used the knife (if within reach) or something else to pick his way to freedom. Leaving Luther not only likely suspected of other murders, but not even getting the kudos for capturing the culprit they were all after.
HOW WILL LUTHER RECOVER?
One has to wonder exactly how Luther will recover from this. Will he give up Alice? Will he leave her out of it but explain things in such a way that he’s cleared? Will he try to escape? It’s possible that given the relationships he’s established and his rep., it will be somehow swept under the rug. But that’s doubtful, at least without some intense steps beforehand.
It’s also possible that given some space from everything, he will give Alice up and go after her. History suggests that he will subtly spin his way out of it with enough of the truth, even though everyone clearly knows it’s not the whole story. And from there, he will pursue Alice, possibly in secret (or not).
WILL THEY COME BACK FROM THIS?
Some lines should never be crossed, what’s done can not be undone. So the question is, can Alice and Luther’s relationship ever recover from her ending the life of DS Halliday? While it might be what fans want to see, it does make sense that this would change their relationship forever. There are so many complications around what Alice did that go beyond simply ending an innocent.
While Luther may be drawn to her because of a similar inner drive, there are some things Luther wouldn’t do and probably can’t abide. This fact was also central to their division in this season. Luther was repeatedly concerned with saving people, while Alice wanted him to abandon the quest to save others. If their relationship does recover, it might be more than a little awkward (then again, tense situations can make for strange bedfellows).
