Personally without giving anything away I think series 3 has lost its way and brought in a typical US type thriller trope. Hitchcockian it is not.

I have no problem with the speed. I just do not like implausible plot twists. Amnesia has been done to death by Hitchcock alone. No idea who had the idea for an evil Jason Bourne but for me it just does not work. It feels tired and clichéd.

Still watching though mainly for Gillian Anderson who has been a revelation and as someone who does not watch X Files she is excellent.

I am sure I read somewhere that Jamie Dornan wouldn't be playing the role of Paul Spector again if there is another series.

He will definitely not be

In that case would they not have separated killer and victim as seems strange for that to happen for anything other than a plot device.

I completely agree

Some series just reach natural conclusions such as Homeland series 3 but then the writers because of its success push too hard and that can harm the previous excellent reputation of why it was good in the first place.

I agree. Wouldn't it have been better to give Stella an entirely new case ? The current serial killer story could surely have been satisfactorily wrapped up in two series ?
It just feels dragged out for no particular purpose. It's not even made any sense in the ratings. The last viewing figures I saw were for episode 2 of the current series and were down to overnight figures of 1.8m. That's not bad for BBC 2, but it's nothing like the figures it was getting for series 1 and 2.

The 7 day consolidated ratings for episodes 1&2 were 3.54M and 3.17M. Don't know how that compares to series 2, but a big audience for BBC 2 regardless.

She's been arrested and will no doubt be charged.

Well, the darkness - literal and metaphorical - continues.

Good to see the first ref to Stella's father out in the open.

What an unusual show! S1 and S2 dealt with the Belfast murders - we know Spector did it, everyone knows Spector did it, the only issue is whether he can convince our new Scandie friend of his bogus memory loss.

That's it, the hangover from S1/2 is reduced to that, plus Spector's family. Personally I don't find that very interesting though it's obv. necessary to conclude those arcs. Stella's empathy is also striking.

What I am finding very interesting is two things; the new case - 'Spector, the London Years'. Breakthrough obv. coming (aside: did he not work and pay tax in London?). Second, this portrayal of female sexuality and the attraction a high number of women have for the macabre and/or power as manifest in sexuality - at the end we were way into Aleister Crowley territory.

Rose Stagg has become a fascinating character - now we know she was effectively his girlfriend, actively playing out extreme sexual fantasies with him.

That scene of two talking heads - Rose and Stella - particularly resonated with me because I'm reminded of my mid/late 20s for several years being surprised and shocked by the tastes of girlfriends - professional, confident women like these two. Whoa! .. they were ahead of me ..

Difficult to know if Rose and Stella are of the same ilk or whether more lurks in Stella's background. I'm sure we'll find out a little more the next time dad crops up in her dreams ...

As for the nurse, perhaps she's attracted to a different kind of paternal power, perhaps serving as a moral counterpoint to the more *unusual* sexuality of others .. Cubitt does seem to favour that approach; witness religiously iconic/angelic wife, and especially the daughter.

Rewatching now as I missed the first 10 minutes when I watched it last Sunday but doesn't seem like I missed much.

That scene about Sally Ann and the children though was definitely hard to watch though, especially given a tragedy in Donegal earlier this year

Good to see Mr Wallander in this.

I think if we get a new series, I'd def like a new case for Stella, new killer(s) and less obsession with the murderer in the way she has with Spector. Maybe a female killer my help this (as he kiss with Archie's character was prob just a fleeting thing), or just not another male that intrigues (in that sexual sense) as well as horrifies.

My husband watches much US drama I e NCIS and CSI. Good in their way but cannot compete with something like the Fall.
I like the pace. I do not need everything rushing past me at speed. I think the acting is excellent especially Gillian Anderson. I have watched the previous 2 series and although I have at times watched various episodes of Holby City and Casualty,The Fall does not purport to play the scenes in the same way.
Yes you will always be able to pick faults if you want to but this is good drama and it is still keeping me guessing. I enjoy reading all the ideas on the posts.

I think season four will focus on filing. There's a huge amount of paperwork that needs carefully collating, boxing up - and for the finale some of it will need shredding with a cross cut shredder.

Indeed: Preach it!

Whilst those monster of the week procedurals do dominate there's plenty of shows that take their time with the story. I'd suggest trying out American Crime (not to be confused with American Crime Story)

The US version of The Killing or Secrets & Lies

Maybe True Detective though it's a bit stylized rather than realistic and possibly Murder in the First though it is a bit closer to the saccharine flavour of a CSI type procedural - it's not that bad and does follow the case per season format rather than monster of the week

Hardly comparable are they though ? Those are US series where stories are all done and dusted in weekly episodes of 50 minutes (without adverts). Compare The Fall with some of the best US series (Breaking Bad, The Wire etc) and it doesn't come close in terms of writing. One of my favourites is Fargo, a mixture of tongue-in-cheek humour and very dark themes.

Equally they don't compare; in US terms, the BBC is a 'network' station not a cable subscription service.

You don't get too many complaints of The Wire 'being slow', or having 'filler' - people know they're paying for intelligent programming. Some on here are yet to grasp the distinction between BBC1 and BBC2 drama.

It isn't so much that it is slow per se but that the slowness like the darkness seems to be an affectation. It has the feel of Emperor's new clothes to me and wouldn't take much for it to tip over the edge and be a laughing stock

There are some themes that have engaged me though as well as disgusted me such as Spector's very good looks and how females and his 'victims' relate to him because of that and because of his superficial charm. I loathe the way his nurse seems to be trying so hard with him and rather than just being professional it has tipped over into personal territory.

I'm also intrigued by the idea of memory loss and how it affects culpability. It's interesting the way he is disgusted at the the things he has done and if it is the truth then you can see how difficult it would be to satisfactorily try him.

I thought the personal interaction of the nurse to her patient was disconcerting. Yes, she was on the whole being professional but on a few occasions stepped over the line in my view. Plenty of close up shots of her face appearing to be lusting after him with dreamy eyes.
Passing him the note was unprofessional too but suppose it helped to pad out the episode and give Stella something else to look for.

My thoughts exactly. In fact, given the nature of what he is accused of, I couldn't believe they would give him a young, pretty female nurse. Are they mad? At least now he has a male nurse, about time too!

And I don't believe for a second that he has any kind of memory loss.

Yep, you could almost think there should be an armed officer just outside the door .. oh wait.

I dont think its as simple as giving him a male nurse, sure the nurse may be his vicitm type, but serial killers are always going to be type A dominant types, he may manipulate a male nurse in another way. See also the other inmate at the jail.

Rose is an intriguing character