Redo the math

The most recent edition of Mental Floss includes a sidebar full of simple math regarding shows from the BBC. Most of them looked fairly terrible, but one caught my eye. According to the formula, if you take The Wire and add Sherlock Holmes, then you get a BBC series called Luther. Intrigued, I added the first season to my Netflix queue.

The Mental Floss equation works if The Wire is equal to crime plus Idris Elba and Sherlock Holmes is equal to crime plus England. A more appropriate formula would have been Dexter plus 24 only with British accents.

Detective John Luther divides his time between chasing graphically brutal serial killers and having violent temper tantrums about his failing marriage. Dear American media: this is what happens when you give other countries the impression that it’s okay to base a show largely on bloody torture and a black guy with anger control issues.

Nor are matters helped by Alice (Ruth Wilson), the protagonist’s clever serial killing helper character. Just what the world’s been waiting for: Hannibal Lecter in a dress.

I probably won’t do a full series write-up for the Television section of 8sails. The first season was only six episodes, which doesn’t give me a ton to work with. The second season isn’t currently available, and from what I’ve seen so far I’m unlikely to anxiously await its release.