The Fall depicts the journey of DSI Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) from the London Metropolitan Police to the infamously troubled Northern Ireland to review an unsolved murder case in Belfast. The horrific strangulations of two brunette 30 something professional women have not been linked, making it more likely the killer will strike again.
Within the first five minutes of the introductory scene, I had dismissed The Fall as BBC's hastily scraped together rip off of Broadchurch after seeing the success the thriller had gained their rival, ITV. Watching DSI Gibson clean her bathroom with a face mask on wasn't particularly entertaining, nor was the anticlimax when you began to suspect maybe the audience was being used as a voyeur to reflect somebody watching her in her house and then this was tarnished as she just packed a suitcase and the scene ended. However, by the end of the episode, I was pleasantly surprised to see my opinion had changed (this rarely happens to me!).What sets this thriller apart from the tidal wave of crime thrillers that have been on television recently is the fact that we are immediately introduced to the murderer. Seeing his perspective throughout the whole of the series will ensure that the audience is unable to dismiss him as just a psycho obsessed with successful women. We see Paul Spector (played by former model Jamie Dornan) juggling a career as a grief counsellor with home life with his wife and two children. Of course, we don't know the 'nice' side to him until after we've seen him break into his soon to be victim's house, torment her by subtley changing things and leaving underwear lying out on her bed. It's a shock to see our moral judgement completely shattered in a split second as we realise he isn't evil to his core. He is capable of paternal love and genuine gentleness.
But how can such a normal (on the surface) man have the capability of planning, stalking, and killing strangers? And how can he then go home and kiss his children goodnight? It seems like a modern adaptation on the traditional gothic 'Jekyll & Hyde' disorder.
A particular scene exemplified this brilliantly in Episode 1; Spector's young daughter has learnt a dance routine and dolled herself up to perform in front of her mummy and daddy, but her daddy is only half-heartedly watching as his attention is instead grabbed by something much more sinister. Lying on the coffee table is a national newspaper documenting the murder of a professional woman in her early 30s. The very woman Spector killed, and has seemingly gotten away with.
Another scene which succeeded in sending shivers down my spine showed Spector and his wife romantically 'spooning' in their daughter's bed after she had had a nightmare. Spector soothingly said "no one knows what's going on inside someone else's mind and life would be intolerable if we did" as he stroked his wife's arm. All very ironic as he hastily clutches a psychotic stalker journal documenting his latest victims every move during a day as well as disturbing sketches of her naked marking where he'd like to hurt her. I do think it would be pretty intolerable if his wife knew that was going on inside his head.
The complex continuum the audience is on with Spector makes this show captivating and very confusing at times!
A lot of national newspapers and magazines have focused greatly on the depiction of the Trouble in Northern Ireland: the religious turmoil that has dominated the country for over 30 years. Although I noticed it was briefly mentioned when DSI Gibson arrived in Ireland, I don't believe that this will play a major part in the drama. Indeed, I feel it would tarnish the show and so hope the BBC were wise not to aggravate viewers and disrupt their already brilliant plot-line.
If you haven't seen The Fall yet, and are feeling the withdrawal symptoms after the conclusion of Broadchurch, you can catch the first episode on iPlayer here.
Episode Two will be broadcast on BBC Two, next Monday at 9pm.
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