Most shows based off of crime and grit take on a “Whodunnit” route. The Fall, however, takes the route others have failed to- Why did they do it?
The hunky star of Fifty Shades of Grey, Jamie Dornan, plays Paul Spector. A husband, father, bereavement counselor, and most importantly: The Belfast Strangler. He is a sadistic sexually-motivated serial killer. We know this fact from the very start, which is what makes this series different from others.
The first few episodes, and the first season in its entirety, show how Paul Spector goes about his days while keeping his fantasies in the shadows. You see his home life, his work life, and his other life – one he calls “Bad Paul” in the journal he keeps, and how they all integrate together.
With The Belfast Strangler becoming a big problem in the country of Ireland, Detective Superintendent from London, Stella Gibson, played by Gillian Anderson, is sent in to look over the case as no suspect or leads have been identified. She correctly links several of the murders together and redirects the view of the station to look for just one man. They decide to make her the head of the Task Force and thus continue the investigation with more knowledge about the serial murderer they’re looking for.
Meanwhile, while Stella is getting her promotion and identifying the other murders, we also see Paul committing more murders and hunting down his next victims.
While Season 1 focuses more on introducing the characters and familiarizing the viewers with them, Season 2 gives us a deeper look. Spector introduces himself into the investigation and constantly taunts Gibson, repeatedly telling her that she’ll never catch him. He even gets away with conseling one of his victims. However, she finds him as a lead and orders extensive surveillance on him and his family. She tries to catch him on numerous occasions but his unpredictability wins. He confesses and continues hiding and hunting. In the final episode of the season, the two come face to face and without giving away any spoiler alerts, a MAJOR event in the series occurs.
Then comes Season 3. The events that happened in the final episode of Season 2 have left Paul physically and mentally damaged. This last and final season of the series focuses on trying to get him to survive and remember the crimes he has committed, amidst his claims of suffering from retrograde amnesia (which makes it hard for him to stand trial and provide information). By this point, everyone knows it’s him; his wife included. His daughter even sneaks a peek at a laptop and finds out herself as well. And Katie, the babysitter who is in love with Spector even knowing all of his darkest secrets, is in denial. Once again, refraining from spoiler alerts, the last episode is most definitely the best one of the entire series. It’s the scariest, most nerve-wrecking, and intense episode. All the questions you have are answered and you’re left with a heavy heart and keen interest.
It was quite difficult to sum up all three seasons without giving anything away, but even with everything I did say there is still so much more that happens. This is probably one of the creepiest yet most interesting shows I have ever watched. I admire Jamie Dornan as an actor and once I saw he was a part of the series I knew it would be good. I had to wait two years for the final season to come out, you now have it right at your fingertips. I highly suggest starting it. It just does not get boring. At all. You’ll be on your toes all the way up until the final episode. Even then, you’ll want to know more.