The Fall – murder never looked so good

As well as gaining a lot of praise, new BBC Two crime drama The Fall has also come in for criticism over its portrayal of a Belfast serial killer and his pursuit by an enigmatic police detective.

The murder of young women at the hands of male perpetrators is nothing new in crime shows. In fact, it’s a staple of the genre, including the most critically acclaimed continental dramas of the last few years such as Spiral and The Killing (which The Fall has been compared to). So why has The Fall been criticised so much?

Is it perhaps because we see the killer at work? Does the idea that Paul Spector (played by Jamie Dornan) can have a successful career as a grief counsellor somehow go against our image of an average serial killer? Or is it because we see that he has a family life? That he takes his kids to the park and cuddles them at night? Is the problem that we see him being a loving father?

Some of the criticism of the show has been levelled at the fact that the audience actually sees Spector commit his crimes on screen. This is a departure from the way these stories are usually told, and an interesting twist that was bound to get the show more attention, but for me it isn’t the real problem with The Fall, that lies elsewhere.

There’s a lot I like about The Fall. I like the writing, I like the setting, I like the performances – Gillian Anderson is superb as DSI Stella Gibson. But my problem is this: I like how it looks.

It looks GREAT – from the handsome cast to the handsome shots of the handsome locations. But what drama doesn’t look great at the moment? Have you seen the dental care that’s clearly available in the post-apocalyptic world of Sky’s Revolution?

Maybe it’s a US influence, maybe it’s a reflection of how we want to see ourselves now, but it seems to me every TV show, and everybody in a TV show, has to look great these days. Even if you’re a serial killer, you have to be a goddamn sexy serial killer.

Now, I’m not saying that bad people have to be ugly, I’d just rather have drama reflect reality a little more. And yes, I realise that the desire for the money to be seen on screen has always been around but it seems to me with the coming of HD, that desire has become more readily realised.

Let’s face it, the reality of murder is hideous (I imagine). And the juxtaposition of the glamorous, high definition portrayal of murder on television and its hideous reality is hard to take.

So I guess that’s my problem with The Fall – it makes murder sexy. And obviously it’s not. Unless it’s on TV.