The Fall (Pilot)

This post is quite spoiler free.

The few times I’ve reviewed just the pilot episode of a certain series, I have ended up disliking it and consequentially stopped watching it all together. This will most likely not happen to The Fall as I absolutely loved the pilot episode and will continue to tune in for this very interesting series among the crime genre – which seems to be my favorite lately!

Now, before I start expressing my endless love for this show, I should apologize for the large double gif image. It is most likely too big and it takes up the whole screen or in my case, more than that, but I couldn’t help myself. Those two little snippets from the beginning of the episode were just utterly brilliant. Not just for the story line aspect but in terms of cinematography – we as viewers see what he sees and it’s just amazing, that’s what it is. So as I couldn’t choose between them I decided to show both, if not for my viewers, then for me because I’m going to be staring at these gifs as often as I can.

Besides the fact that the show looks visually good, the plot itself is something refreshing. We have to parallel story lines, one following detective Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) and the other focusing on Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan). Gibson is your typical smart and in control type of character, straight forward and doesn’t really care what others think – at least that’s what I was sensing during the pilot. Clearly she has a hard time holding a relationship as well, most likely because of her work. Characters like Gibson have been common, we’ve all seen her, we know her, I’m interested to see where The Fall takes her. Paul Spector on the other hand, now he’s the intriguing part!

Spector is clearly a sociopath, he stalks women and though the first episode clearly doesn’t show him as a killer, it is implied through an open case Gibson has been sent to solve. He is also a psychologist, happily married and a loving father for two little kids – everything points to him being one of the most interesting characters on TV. What I like about him, besides the fact that I tend to go for the serial killers, is that there hasn’t been a leading role like this before. Sure, Dexter is a serial killer, but he only murders bad guys – Spector is hunting women and there’s no moral doubt about his actions. This years newcomers The Following and Hannibal also kind of approach this type of killer as a leading role but I still think  Spector’s scenarios are far more interesting – based on the pilot at least.

When I was a kid I remember glimpses of the X-Files as my parents watched it – I didn’t pay much attention but I guess Anderson was as good then as she is now. She seems well suited for this role as is Dornan. I wouldn’t say I want to see him as a serial killer but as long as I can stare at him exercising nude he can stalk and kill as many women as he fancies. No, honestly, he is very good to look at and I’ve known it since he was in  Once Upon a Time that stupidly killed him off. Well, their loss and The Fall’s gain, I guess. By the way, he has a beard and I know how much you ladies love the beard!

Sadly the first season only has 5 episodes, which is typical for the British because they like to torture us, but it’s already picked up for a second season. I’ve yet to watch the following episodes but I’m fairly certain I’ll love it based on the mental thrill the pilot managed to create for me. This might not be for everyone’s taste, as it seems to develop rather realistically and hopefully doesn’t escalate as fast as American shows tend to, but I’m loving it so far. It sounds a bit hasty to say that I’m already loving the show but I’m confident that The Fall won’t end up disappointing me. Also, I need to point out that Dornan and his beard are not the only reasons I loved the pilot, I promise!

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