Easy to fall for this thrilling series
Plenty of red herrings in this crime drama have us hooked,
SOMETIMES the calibre of the cast of a series makes it impossible to miss. The Fall is one such show. It has Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey) and Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) as the leads. That’s not forgetting Colin Morgan, who fans of the fantasy TV series Merlin will remember well.
Of course, this crime drama is different from their previous work. And that’s what I love about it.
Rather than follow a pedestrian path with the narrative, the writers have planted plenty of red herrings to ensure the audience never gets bored. Aside from throwing whodunnit experts off their game, the characters are ingeniously etched.
Aside from the backstories, personal demons and professional agendas, there is psychological manipulation at play too.
In this first season, Superintendent Stella Gibson (Anderson) is tasked with supervising a 28-day review of the case of Alice Monroe. She is encouraged to look at the case from every aspect.
Meanwhile, Paul Spector (Dornan), a father and husband, has latched on to his next victim – 30-something lawyer Sarah Kay (Laura Donnelly).
And pretty soon, these seemingly unrelated events reveal a disturbing pattern with Paul at the heart of it.
There’s nothing straightforward about how the investigation unfolds. It’s akin to those twisted catand-mouse chases witnessed in The Following with James Purefoy and Hannibal with Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen.
Anderson, looking more ravishing than ever, channels her English roots. Immediately, this distinguishes her from previous roles. She’s tenacious as Stella and there’s no pulling the wool over her eyes. However, she’s not as well-rounded as she appears – she remains haunted by a few bad decisions.
As far as anchoring the show goes, she does a stellar job.
Meanwhile, Dornan is enigmatic. There is a veneer of charm that comes through. But his dangerous streak makes it difficult to have a clearcut opinion of the character.
Is there trauma from his childhood that moulded him into this beast? There are plenty of questions and he is a great candidate to study.
But time is running out and there are too many people becoming collateral damage in this unrelenting search for answers.
The Fall intrigues to no end with fallible characters and others with deep, dark desires. The truth may be the objective, but there are too many hidden agendas tainting it.
In an interview with DigitalSpy, Dornan revealed: “There definitely are times we’re together. But Allan (Cubitt, series creator) loves to tease and he loves to maintain the separation, and the cat-andmouse aspect of it. That distance is important, I think – it’s maybe more enticing for an audience.”
The Fall has definitely cultivated interest as the network has renewed the series for three seasons.
The Fall airs on Tuesdays on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) at 10.40pm.