By Llwynog45

I realise that there have been many reviews of the new series of 'The Fall' online, but did any of them notice that although it's set literally moments after the end of Series 2, one character (Spector's wife) has miraculously lost about three stone in weight in a heart beat. Perhaps she threw up so many times after hearing about her husband’s vile crimes that it became the most efficient diet ever created. Now there's a thought, 'The Finding Out Your Husband's a Serial Killer Diet', it could catch-on!

But seriously, this is a hollow and sparse sequel, which somehow parodies itself! All the main characters are back, including DSI Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson), who seems to be whispering even more than before, and symbolically drenched with the blood of Spector (Jamie Dornan). Her role as a detective seems to involve looking glamorous, ordering people to fetch her sexy lingerie and blouses from her five star hotel room, and wandering around the emptiest hospital you ever did see. No waiting lists here it seems. Originally ‘The Fall” seemed to be a gritty Belfast based psycholoigical thriller , with a dark edge, what we have here is Holby City on crack, suffering from a power cut, tons of medical jargon, and a soundtrack that actually does most of the work of providing thrills.

Surgeons seem to be literally tunneling into Spector’s stomach, his guts and spleen are everywhere and there’s more blood here than in a Halal slaughterhouse. I mention tunnels as there are several ‘dream’ sequences featuring Spector’s near death experiences which seem to be set in an empty underground station. I think a word that sums this up is ‘empty’. Empty script, empty hospital and an emptiness of atmosphere.

Don’t get me wrong, I quite liked this, at least it was different, but it really lacked something. The whole thing ended with Spector twitching, machines flashed, as a nurse nearby writes some notes (ammending the script perhaps ?). It’s apt that the nurse is played by comedienne Aisling Bea, because one thing ‘The Fall’ series 3 made me do, was laugh. Not throughout, but there were moments, mostly featuring Stella, that I just didn’t go with. Perhaps it was the script, or perhaps that Gillian Anderson in this role isn’t really that believable, I don’t know, but somehow, through the darkness and emptiness it made me giggle.

I look forward to the next installment only to see the nurse’s reaction when she turns around and realises that Spector’s looking at her, murdering her with his blue eyes, because we all know, the nurse looks just like all his other victims. If I was the nurse I’d leg it out of there, and leave Stella and Spector to their mind games, in an empty hospital.