Luther - Season 2 - DVD

Content: DCI John Luther (Idris Elba) resumes duty. After his ex-wife Zoe was killed by his longtime friend and colleague Ian Reed at the end of <link cinema s film luther-season-1-dvd-great-united-kingdom-2010.html _blank>season one, Alice Reed (Ruth Wilson) took the punishment into her own hands and shot Reed in front of Luther. As a result, Alice was committed to a mental institution, but that doesn't mean the end of her very special relationship with Luther. Luther now has a lot of other problems to deal with. With a new team at his side, including his trusted colleague DS Justin Ripley (Warren Brown), Luther must hunt down a serial killer who ambushes his victims with a harlequin mask and then brutally murders them. When they manage to identify the killer after a direct confrontation with Luther, investigators seem to be close to solving the case. But the killer has only just begun his sick game with the police. And when he then kidnaps Ripley, things threaten to escalate.

The second case of this far-too-short season is no less exciting: a sinister killer seems to be guided by dice. These determine where and how he strikes, and whether a victim is merely injured or killed. After the killer strikes a few times seemingly at random, Luther and his team manage to arrest the deranged man. But when another crime follows the exact same pattern a short time later, the team realizes that the perverted game is far from over.

And as if Luther didn't have enough on his plate solving these cases, he is also sought out by Caroline Jones, whose husband put Luther behind bars years ago for the alleged murder of a prostitute. Since she blames Luther for breaking up her family over the conviction, the cop is now expected to help her free her daughter Jenny (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) from the hands of a porn ring. True, Luther manages to find the girl and hide her. But her ruthless boss Barbara isn't going to let a lucrative horse be stolen from her stable so easily. She demands compensation that could put Luther in dire straits...

The second season of Luther unfortunately only has four 45-minute episodes to offer, which have been condensed into two feature-length episodes in Germany. But even if the pleasure is only relatively short, this second season is definitely worth it. Because in terms of tension and intensity, the creators have almost gone one better. All storylines, both the two main cases, as well as the both films encompassing story around Jenny Jones, are gripping and staged without even a noticeable length.

Sure, the wheel is not reinvented here. But although the stories themselves make use of many familiar elements, the way they are put together is so clever, entertaining and exciting that the viewer remains riveted, even if he should have guessed the resolution long ago. The series also lives from the enormous presence of its lead actor Idris Elba, who gives the multi-faceted and not always easy to understand character of John Luther a depth that is not necessarily self-evident for crime series. But also the supporting characters are very well cast, although season 2 suffers a little from the fact that Ruth Wilson has only taken on a relatively small role. On the other hand, the roles of the villains are again extremely well cast. Lee Igby, known from the series George Gently, who plays Luther's antagonist in the first case, and Steven Robertson, play the disturbed killers with an intensity that is fascinating and frightening at the same time.

All these elements ensure that the second season of Luther also offers crime entertainment on a very high level and delivers an impressive testimony to the high quality of some contemporary TV productions. And therefore applies: absolutely recommendable! And who has not yet reached for the <link cinema s film luther-staffel-1-dvd-grossbritannien-2010.html _blank>first season, this should definitely catch up!

Picture + Sound: As with the first season, the technical realization of the two new episodes can absolutely convince. The picture is clean, the rather reduced color scheme very atmospheric and only in the darker scenes, slight image noise can be discerned. The sound with its very directional mixed dialogues and only very isolated surround effects as in the first season again on a good TV level.

Extras: Bonus material has the second season unfortunately not to offer.

Conclusion: Luther increases in the second season after the already great first episodes qualitatively even more. Even though there are only two new episodes, they have more suspense and intensity to offer than many a series in all seasons combined. If you appreciate high quality crime entertainment of the darker kind, you should definitely get this one - even if this second season unfortunately has no bonus material to offer. Absolutely recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp