Luther

:

Season 4
Season #: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
68

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
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Critic Reviews

  1. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Emily L. Stephens
    Dec 14, 2015
    83
    The season-four miniseries never exceeds the brazen hilarity of previous seasons, but it continues apace, and for a show so full of intense action, keen performances, and self-aware humor, that’s plenty.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Mary McNamara
    Dec 17, 2015
    80
    An emotional, necessarily freaky but surprisingly logical and altogether satisfying story and, one hopes, a reset for future seasons.
  3. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    Dec 10, 2015
    80
    [The] one-night movie comeback is as psychologically intense and disturbingly nerve-racking as fans could hope for (or dread).... taut urban thriller. [7-20 Dec 2015, p.17]
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  5. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Elisabeth Vincentelli
    Dec 16, 2015
    75
    Elba, fortunately, has a determined clenched jaw and wide shoulders, and he easily carries the entire evening, which runs nearly three hours.
  6. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Verne Gay
    Dec 16, 2015
    75
    The story feels recycled, but Idris Elba’s Luther certainly doesn’t. He continues to fully inhabit this groundbreaking--and star-making--role.
  7. Slant Magazine
    Reviewed by: Chuck Bowen
    Dec 11, 2015
    75
    Luther feels just a bit more ordinary than usual this season, though it serves as another reminder of how magnificently, expressively physical Elba is as a performer.
  8. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    Dec 15, 2015
    70
    Yet if the fourth installment, presented by BBC America as one long movie, has a certain rote quality to it--especially after the title character’s break from the grind last time out--there’s still fun to be had in watching Elba occupy this role.
  9. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Kyle Anderson
    Dec 17, 2015
    67
    Luther: Outlaw clearly wants to be a hard reset for the direction of the show, but it can’t seem to shake the clichés of its main story, which follows a serial killer whose tics are lifted directly from various incarnations of Hannibal Lecter, with a bit of Kevin Spacey’s Se7en killer for additional seasoning.
  10. Boston Herald
    Reviewed by: Mark A. Perigard
    Dec 16, 2015
    58
    This is one overstuffed show.
  11. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Mike Hale
    Dec 15, 2015
    50
    Overall, though, nothing lives up to Mr. Cross’s previous standard of breathless improbability. The murderer, the mystery and the gruesome tableaus all feel tepid and familiar.... Mr. Elba, as Luther, is still gratifyingly larger than life.
  12. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    Dec 17, 2015
    40
    By the end, I was wrung out from disappointment, from the awareness that Cross’s script was woefully underdeveloped, more like a double episode of a “Criminal Minds”-like procedural than part of an outstanding franchise.

Awards & Rankings

78
#78 Most Shared TV Season of 2015

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
4.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 115 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 115
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 115
  3. Negative: 56 out of 115
  1. shellview
    Dec 25, 2015
    3
    For a show to work it has to make sense within itself and this season does not. More holes than my grandsons' socks. The acting is good butFor a show to work it has to make sense within itself and this season does not. More holes than my grandsons' socks. The acting is good but the writing or editing or both made this permutation disappointing. The serial killer is not consistent in what and why he does what he does. The timing of what happens borders on silliness, he ties up a family, loads them in a van and makes a clean getaway before the police get there. really? Luther realizes the ex-girlfriend connection at the same time the killer goes after her and her family, really? The female detective hides until all hell is breaking loose before she takes any action, really? Too shoddy this go-round.… Full Review »
  2. mark_sf
    Jan 3, 2016
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. The writing is just terrible. The main villain doesn't make any sense, and the way the police handle it is ridiculous.

    mild spoilers:

    For example: The detective Emma Jones (the Game of Thrones actress) is assigned to interview everybody the serial killer knows, to see what she can turn up. This is after he's already killed many people, eating various body parts, mind you. She complains that it's "busywork"! So I'm supposed to believe there is a delusional serial killer on the loose, and not only have the police not bothered to do basic investigation, the lead detectives actually complain about it?

    This is just one of dozen things I saw that make no sense at all, and show the writers are not competent to create a story for such a high budget production . Seriously, I think high school students could have done a better job. Production values, and pretty faces help the show go down a bit easier, but I really feel like I just filled up on bad junk food.    … Full Review »
  3. sonder
    Dec 18, 2015
    10
    With fractions, I would give the start of Luther, season 4, a 9.6. But, Luther is a critically unappreciated series, and season 4 is the bestWith fractions, I would give the start of Luther, season 4, a 9.6. But, Luther is a critically unappreciated series, and season 4 is the best season to date, and season 4 rounds up to a perfect 10. There are emotion-packed moments in this season that you won't ever forget. If you've watched from the beginning, it's not enough to watch one of the episodes once.

    Luther takes the sad trope of the weekly crime drama, and turns it on its head. The star is an anti-hero who is an uncomfortably compromised character. Story arcs with certain characters veer where one would guess writers wouldn't dare go. The ride is always entertaining.

    Luther, and it's lead actor, Idris Elba, deserve their place in the Hall of Fame of the Golden Age of Television. Idris Elba's Stringer Bell character in The Wire was the best character in TV's best show. The man deserves a the role of Bond, if Sony had any guts, or desire to do more than clone a sequel.

    But, what we do get is Luther, and we do get those moments worth coming back to. It's time to nuke U.S. network TV, and make room for fare that's truly worth watching.

    Also: Shout out to Ygritte! It's good to see that she landed in a role worthy of her talents.    … Full Review »
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