My response would be - some people can't recognise first rate drama when they watch it.

You have expressed my own view of this excellent series most eloquently and for that I thank you.

To those criticising the guards . When you think about attacks there have been in places , I mean as in how did anyone manage to take their eye off Peter Sutcliffe enough for him to be attacked ?
Guards eyes can't be everywhere ? In the fracas ginger caused it was only reasonable for them to get it sorted surely ? Wouldn't that occur if it happened in real life ?

Well, that's 6 hours I won't get back.

They might as well have just let him die at the end of series 2 and spared us that borefest. Not only was it dull, it was also incredibly unrealistic. I mean, Spector had just brutally beaten a female detective and broken another detective's arm, yet no one at the psychiatric unit seemed concerned. Yeah, let's put all members of staff in one place to allow any patient to run riot. Makes perfect sense.

I'm going to stop before I get angry.

Such a shame because series 1 was amazing and I love Gillian Anderson. Ah well.

A mystery from series two has also been solved.

Big Foot Chester, the name Spector used as his chat name with Katie, is a real-life blues band.

Check out the names of the tracks on their album "The Devil In Me" for a chill, particularly the last one. Knowing Allan Cubitt's interest in music - naming all the characters after guitars - this is hardly a surprise.
https://www.discogs.com/Big-Foot-Che...elease/1446146

Is that all you and others can keep banging on about ? Incredibly unrealistic ?
Some of us were watching,listening intently to the dialogue ,in particular Spector's when he said he wanted to find out which thing had made him as he was .You just knew that Stella provoking him into facing up to what he'd done would distress him , rile him ,get the anger going.
Where you got the idea from that no one in the unit was unconcerned I don't know . What level of excitement you must need if you thought this series was dull I can't guess .
Series three was absolutely necessary .

I agree with you Casmana. I was mesmerised by the whole series. It was brilliant.

I think I said it before and a few others did as well but there definitely has to be credit sent towards the music editors, the soundtrack was fantastic.

I don't know what you were watching but I was watching incredible acting and chilling scenes between killer and his nemesis

*shrug*

Just my view. I'm not saying I'm 'right' or that my point of view should be agreed with by everyone. I just found it quite dull. Six hours of not a lot.

Isn't giving viewpoints (whether favourable or critical) the point of a discussion board?

Indeed and just because someone has a different viewpoint does not mean they weren't listening intently.

Love this little bit of trivia 👍

I felt mixed about the ending.

On the one hand I was annoyed Spector didn't have to take any responsibility for what he had done in the long miserable term. Yes, the moment of dying probably woudn't have been that enjoyable for him, but he still got to die on his own terms, when he wanted to, and did so because he didn't want to endure being couped up in the mental place at best, or prison at worst. He got more choice of the end of his life than his victims, and oh yeah, got the enjoyment of hurting some people in the process. Stella said when interviewing him that death and avoiding system justice would have been too easy and he certainly understood that. His mind must have been a mightmare to live in anyway when free, so he prob couldn't foresee living behind locked doors for years not being able to at least prowl for a victim to get his releases.

On the other hand, while I'd have def wanted to see Paul convicted and the official conclusion come to that he was indeed a murdering lying scumbag, I think the ending prob put forward the message that there are plenty of unhappy endings where those that should pay for their crimes, don't always, and plenty never get justice and the misery of life continues. I think Stella looked upset when she saw Paul's body, not because he had died, but because it went right back to what she said about death being too easy for him and all that work, pain (mental and eventually physically) felt like it hadn't been wholey worth it. He was dead and relieved of responsibility, while a destroyed wife, fatherless daughter/son and dead/living victims all paying some price of unfortuinately coming into to his life. I wanted to see Stella and team finally get their man (after all his pathetic games), but this miserable ending for all in way felt like a very plausible reality to show too. We couldn't even feel sorry for Paul being abused as a child, because he never allowed us anyway, and due to his way of dealing with it as just not something to look beyond despite his childhood the cause/stirring of his ways. He was sick and wanted to stay sick, whereas as other sickos (of abuse) have tried at least to get better. He pref attention and the pain of others, rather than trying to be happy with others.

I did like the hug with Dani and Stella at the end (Stella couldn't really bring herself to return it, but I'm sure she needed it). Their relationship felt one of the most genuine, as Stella didn't need any sexual/romantic element there to benifit some urge/use as momentary unmeaningful distraction. She just trusted Dani and liked her as a person and I think cared for her without needing to say so or overtly show.

As she's back in England, does this mean we won't get another series. I want to see Stella again, now that we've finally been released from Paul, but they won't want to move away from the Irish angle of the show, so a new series could only happen if she was sent back to N.Ireland for another case. It would look bad though if the police team there had to always have a english bobby come and help them close a case, so surely after three series they'd remain Londonside if there was a new series. I wouldn't mind a Londside Stella, but can see they'd not want to turn divert from an Ireland location.

I think that moment, that look, was possibly my favourite bit of the whole three series. Jamie Dornan was so good in that moment.

Well it's 6 hours that I enjoyed every second of.

Who cares if it's unrealistic it's still gripping and provided us with entertainment.
Realism is boring anyway.

Include me too!! Utterly fantastic and compelling

I wonder if series four is an enquiry into the circumstances of Paul Spector's killing of the inmate and the doctor and his subsequent death.

Having watched the series in two lots of three episodes this week I thought it was an excellent end to the story of Spector and his psychological war with Stella.

In his own way he won.

It looked like he orgasmed after killing the murderous ginger nut and then died as he wanted to under his own power and with his own method instead of facing a lifetime in prison.

The acting was universally excellent and I had no problems with the pace either, if someone wanted to watch explosions and car chases every four seconds then this was not a series for them.

The exploration of the effect that trauma had both on his family and his victims was superbly done as well.

I thought the psychology aspects were very plausible - and the atrocious experiences of Paul in the orphanage were horrific enough just to give a slight bit of ambiguity as to whether he was born or made evil (psychopaths are born actually but most make everyones else's lives a misery without ending up in jail).

As to his amnesia it was obvious he was faking it from the end of episode three when the slight twitch of his eyebrow basically said **** you to his nurse and everyone else.

You could see it in the various interviews (with the lawyers for example) with only a very subtle eye movement or expression from Jamie - the bloke may be an ex-model but he can bloody well act.

The last two episodes were real crackers with plenty of shocks and ultra-violence which showed just how dangerous the man really was.

A few small niggles - why was Aisling Bea allowed to wear clothes?

Why did Merlin not say 'armusrepairus'?

Finally how on earth did Stella have any face or teeth left after what Spector did to her?

Because poor old Wallander looked like he has been run over by a train!

I really enjoyed it and I have not really been in the mood to watch any telly at all recently.

Yeah but there should always be someone in a place like that who's job is to monitor all cameras and see all rooms, these are major criminals, it was mad to put all your man power on one skinny bloke, two security guys would of been able to restrain him.

To be fair Wallander got more of a pasting, I thought he'd be dead the way he battered him.

I am not being funny but what is realistic these days when it comes to television. I have never watched television for realism. I've seen television shows and movies based on real life people and real events and there have been moments that have been unrealistic. Thankfully this is a scripted television show about fictional characters. Not a hard hitting real life story on the crime channel.

Things are always altered in television to make things entertaining. Realism is quite boring.

True. I mean even Line Of Duty which was as realistic as it could be even went all Hollywood when Fleming decided to go all action hero in the final 10 minutes of the show.

Thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing, particularly the characterisation. I was literally hanging on every sentence, every scene. I though the scene with Stella and Katie was touching and you could really see Stella’s words having an effect.

Spetor’s eyes almost turned black in that final interview and I thought oh lord, here it comes but it was still slightly unexpected when he attacked Stella.

I would have liked to see Tom Anderson at the end, just to see he was OK.
But loved it, and it’s such a treat / change to see some real depth and layers of characterisation to a programme, rather than the shallow stuff that gets dished out daily.

The suicide scene was realistic – although I had to look away as it wasn’t doing too much for my claustrophobia!

the last two episodes were superb, its just a shame this series took so long to get there.

Jamie Dornan you were incredible. Truly captivating.

(Oh and thanks for the shower scene)