‘Luther’ Recap: ‘Season 5, Episode 4’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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While a great deal of old sayings no longer carry the weight they once did, one that still remains relevant in this day and age is the adage, ‘you reap what you sow’. Because there are indeed consequences, both good and bad, when it comes to our actions in life and while most of us find said statement satisfying, since we’ve seen hard work pay off in spades throughout our lives, there are some who get chills when they hear those words. Because these are the folks who are still trying to set wrongs right, or are hoping to avoid the storm that will eventually surround them when their actions catch up with them, and it just so happens, that reaping what one sows, turned out to be the focus of the season five finale of Luther.
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Because there was no escaping the fact that everything fell to pieces in the prior episode of this tale, meaning that Luther was going to have to work overtime to solve his own personal nightmare. But, before we dive too deep into that particular quagmire, let’s take a moment and celebrate the most bittersweet portion of this particular tale, the fact that John and Halliday were able to bring Jeremy Lake down at long last. Granted, that was no easy task since Vivian did everything to stonewall police efforts to solve the case. But John’s ability to cut through her lies helped narrow down the fact that Jeremy set up shop in the house that was owned by the schoolteacher we met in the season premiere so that he could finish his masterpiece and while Luther and Halliday were able to capture him in tense fashion, what makes this so bittersweet is the sheer fact that Jeremy satisfied some of his bloodlust before Luther hit the scene since the house was filled to the brim with dead bodies.

But, with that out of the way, it’s time to settle in and discuss John’s problems in this tale, because they simply kept piling up in this finale, despite his best efforts to settle them all. Which is a shame because at first glance, it seemed as though he finally had put an end to his feud with George, since a face to face meeting with the grieving crime boss eventually led to the release of Alice and Mark, after a little bloodshed involving that master assassin, of course. But the discovery of Benny’s body, and the CCTV cameras in the lot where he was found, prompted Martin to get involved personally to uncover the truth of what happened to poor Benny, and seeing George on camera prompted a little SWAT team visit to the gangster’s posh estate, wherein ol’ Georgie pulled out his ‘get out of jail’ card by revealing that John was at the scene as well, which in turn motivated Martin to bring the legendary DCI in for questioning.

Yet that wasn’t the end of John’s woes in this tale. Because George living to see another day, didn’t settle well with Alice, and it quite frankly, drove her mad. And it put her on a path of destruction that not even John could talk her down from, and after an unfortunate gun battle on the street, one that ended the life of Halliday, a cat and mouse game between John and Alice ensued, one that saw our favorite DCI badly wounded as he tried to talk some sense into his love. But she was too far gone, and his best efforts failed and in a harrowing sequence of events, Alice fell to her death, and John found himself at the end of several gun barrels as Martin placed the cuffs upon him and well, that’s one hell of a way to end a powerhouse season.

Because John’s past finally caught up with him, and now he faces quite the uncertain future since we haven’t a clue what kind of charges will be brought against him, or whether or not his work on the Lake case will help him when he stands before the judge and well, I suppose the down side of this being my first experience to Luther’s world is that, now I’m dying to see what happens next, but alas, I’ll have to simply wait and see, and you know what? I’m okay with that. Because while I wait see what comes next for DCI John Luther, I can watch the entire series, in order, to be properly prepared when season six drops and if the prior seasons are anything like this one, then wow, I am in for a treat and well, I am quite sad that this journey has come to an end for now. Because this really is one of the finest police serials I’ve ever seen, and I’ll definitely be keeping a close watch on the web, in order to rejoice in the announcement that a new season is on its way. Until next year. 

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