The Fall Season 1 & 2
About a month ago a friend proceeded to tell me that I needed to watch The Fall and so I found the first season on Amazon Prime and binge-watched over a few days (there’s only 5 episodes so it wasn’t hard!). From the first instant I was hooked. The series follows two main characters: Paul Spector (the gorgeous Jamie Dornan aka Mr Grey) a serial killer who hunts and kills women in the Belfast region; and Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) from the Metropolitan Police who has been drafted into Belfast in order to help track down the serial killer.
What makes this series so compelling is that for the whole of the first series and the majority of the second Stella and her team have no idea who this killer is but find themselves slowly working their way towards Paul. As the audience we know from the get-go who the killer is but a difference from other police drama’s is that we are shown Paul intimately, getting to know him and his family – for he has a wife and two children who he clearly adores – making his character all the more mysterious as he seamlessly switches from family life to murderer. There are many times that you are drawn to his character (his good looks are one!) but are then repulsed by his actions, making for a confusing time as you struggle to hate this man when he seems so charming with his family.
Stella Gibson is also an interesting character, she is very aware of the power she has in her job and how many men feel intimidated by this. She also clearly has her own demons to contend with but we see her forge some good relationships within her team as they hunt down their killer. She is also an exceptional Detective, finding clues and hidden meanings where others fail.
Season 2 steps up a notch and we see Stella and her team close on the tail of Paul who has slipped up and effectively led them to him. I don’t want to give too much away but if you like psychological thrillers then The Fall is a must watch! You will be gripped right from the start as you follow all the twists and turns that the two series brings. The last episode of Series 2 is by far the best and had me on the edge of my seat trying to guess what would happen (I was completely wrong!) and it leaves you at a crucial point so I desperately await the third season – though I don’t believe they’ve started filming yet so I may be waiting awhile!!
The whole thing is set in Northern Ireland so there are a lot of lovely Irish accents. It’s nice to hear Jamie speaking in his normal accent and not American like in Fifty Shades and there are a few scenes which made me think of his role as Mr Grey! Overall though Jamie is superb as Paul and equally matched by Gillian Anderson in her role of Stella. The rest of the cast are also fantastic with a lot of known faces cropping up over the two series: Bronagh Waugh & Emmett J Scanlan previously from Hollyoaks, Game of Thrones regulars Ian McElhinney & Michael McElhatton and the lovely Colin Morgan from Merlin are but a few. I would definitely recommend you get started on this box set, there’s only 11 episodes in total so it shouldn’t take you long and I promise you, you won’t regret it!
