The Fall (RTE1/BBC2) [** Spoilers **]

HamsterFace

Bit of a crap ending? Fairly drawn out, he tells them where she is and they find her.
Fella who was trying to kill him, and was in the vicinity, kills him.
Scully probably fancied him after all.

After all the intrigue it was fairly standard, could have been the Bill.

And the young wan never ****ed her friend up!

Will there be another series?

Dan_Solo

WTFFFFFFFFFFF.
Nothing, absolutely nothing at all tied up. What was the whole "corruption" side story about? Or the pathologist shagging Tom Stagg? Once again a police cordon can't even see a car approaching... even when they have a helicopter? What the hell was that IRA dude's problem too? Walking into a circle of 10 armed cops with a gun? Ah come off it!
Katy... nothing happened at all really.
Gibson shagging yer man FFS.
No lads, just NO.

Murray007

Hated that ending, why have good dramas not mastered the good ending.

roise2000

What a pile of ****e

Dan_Solo

HamsterFace wrote: »

Bit of a crap ending? Fairly drawn out, he tells them where she is and they find her.
Fella who was trying to kill him, and was in the vicinity, kills him.
Scully probably fancied him after all.

After all the intrigue it was fairly standard, could have been the Bill.

It's literally like they had a story with a sum total of zero twists... what was the point of it all?

Hrududu

They really dragged that out. The interview scene between Spector an Gibson was all over the place. Some of his lines were almost laughable. Especially all the stuff that was supposed to make him sound deep.

The show started off with a lot of promise but the 2nd series was a real dip in quality.

Murray007

All dramas seem to end like that nowadays. What happened to the shock and surprise ending of the traditional thriller best seller book? Why can't they transpose that to TV?

Dan_Solo

Hrududu wrote: »

They really dragged that out. The interview scene between Spector an Gibson was all over the place. Some of his lines were almost laughable. Especially all the stuff that was supposed to make him sound deep.

The show started off with a lot of promise but the 2nd series was a real dip in quality.

One minute he's cracking, the next he's 100% cool and handy. Gibson crying when the kid was being interviewed, was that the first time in the whole series? All just seemed random or else the actors were so bad they just couldn't do the emotions asked of them?

tayto lover

Far too many loose ends in that. Questions unanswered. Poor ending.

ruarua

It looks like they got one of the child actors to randomly press the stop button and end it!
So disappointing.

Synchronicity

Just absolute pish. A mess.

The Black Oil

2.06

Considering this show has had misogyny laid at its door, those making such allegations would do well to watch this episode. It was virtually entirely about victims. I would include Spector's daughter, btw. Look at CSI et al where they are frequently an afterthought, a prop, discarded and quickly forgotten.

We begin on familiar ground. The abandoned farmhouse, that emphasis on the empty chair and tripod was prelude of what was to come. Meanwhile, Spector was only too comfortable in his cell. They serve oranges and toast, apparently. Other active threads include the media hack, Sally Ann, Katie, the hotel tapes and Jimmy - admittedly, the scene where he found his wife wasn't the the most impactful - the one with Spector's daughter was better. Stella later waking up with the detective (a sign of death, usually) is also full circle to ep 1.01 and I suppose of the 'people don't change', variety. And El Beardo continues to caught up in his usual personal bollocksology. Let it go, man.

RTE deserve credit for not taking an ad break during the key interrogation scene. Allow Spector to indulge his ego somewhat, put him off kilter. The camera angles were telling here. Close ups of Stella's eyes and responses.

As for the third act, something in the set up felt awfully familiar here - see David Fincher's Se7en. That's not the first time it's been, how we shall we say, borrowed. The very final scene does take the sheen off a little, but otherwise, this was keenly observed finale - simmering, probing.

eternal

Is it over now for good?

cloudatlas

I abandoned this the episode that he broke into her hotel room and read her diary. I take it there is no point in me going back and finishing the series now?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I liked the ending, although I had figured it out as soon as they were lining up the cars to take him outside.

I'm not sure what exactly people wanted to see happen? They got him, he explained his thinking for most of it, they found the missing woman, Katie's going to get locked up, the wife knows what he did. What else is there? I'd have been annoyed if it was just wrapped up with him being charged and then everyone high fives and goes for pints. Unless you were rooting for him to get away I can't think of what way you wanted it to end?

How about instead of three word posts calling it ****e you tell us how you'd have done it?

Dan_Solo

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

How about instead of three word posts calling it ****e you tell us how you'd have done it?

In fairness, nobody here is pretending to be a screenwriter as far as I can see, but we're well entitled to say the TV we pay for is good or bad if we like.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Dan_Solo wrote: »

In fairness, nobody here is pretending to be a screenwriter as far as I can see, but we're well entitled to say the TV we pay for is good or bad if we like.

I have no problem with people not liking the show, I've said that multiple times but nobody seems to be able to offer anything more than "I don't like it".

If you have a problem with the ending you must have some idea of how you wanted it to end, or ideas of an alternative to what they did.

SimonTemplar

I had expected Stella to find her pathologist friend dead in the forest, although I can't remember the previous episodes of the timelines where she last saw her and Spector getting arrested, so I'm not sure if it would have been possible. It would have made for an interesting twist though. There was so much build up to Stella's walk through the woods, I would have liked something a little impactful than simply finding Rose alive. I mean, why would the filmmakers create so much tension only for the plan to work exactly as expected. It's like Hitchcock always said about expecting a bomb to go off but then it doesn't. It draws in the audience because they don't know what to expect. The final act of this episodes played out exactly as one would expect.

The journalist finding out about Spector's journey from his informant and then telling the husband guy who shoots Spector all seems very contrived, mechanical and convenient to me. I knew what would happen the moment the journalist spoke to the husband about the woods and therefore any tension was lost to me.

And the two season long arc involving that stupid Katie character ultimately went nowhere at all. Annoying character and useless subplot.

Having said that, I do like the character of Stella and Anderson plays her well so I would like to see her return on a different case, perhaps set in London this time.

I have gone from loving season one to feeling I have to watch season two just for the closure.

Dub.

Dan_Solo wrote: »

WTFFFFFFFFFFF.
Nothing, absolutely nothing at all tied up. What was the whole "corruption" side story about? Or the pathologist shagging Tom Stagg? Once again a police cordon can't even see a car approaching... even when they have a helicopter? What the hell was that IRA dude's problem too? .

You haven`t been watching it very closely if you thought the Loyalist hard man was IRA .

Betty Bloggs

I thought it was a great episode. I'm much happier with this ending than with the finale of The Missing.

I think Katie might end up just like Paul when she's older. So in a way he helped spawn another psycho.

Found all the scenes with the daughter excellent in this episode, especially when she was lying to protect him although as Stella said it was even though she didn't know exactly what she was protecting him from, just a natural urge to somehow help her father.

I also enjoyed the interview with Gibson where she managed to rile him enough to piss him off.

One thing I'm interested in though is Stella mentioned to him a username that he used online and asked who is this person. He seemed surprised she knew of it but it was not explained by him. I wonder if he was in contact with other serial killers online?

Doesn't matter much now I guess if there's no season 3, but overall I'm very happy with both series and really enjoyed them.

Dan_Solo

Dub. wrote: »

You haven`t been watching it very closely if you thought the Loyalist hard man was IRA .

You will now explain to us why this makes any difference I'm sure. Can't wait!

jezzer

Well, hate to say i told you so but i was right, what absolute dirt, such an ending, who do they think they are, love/hate? the cops could find the photographer but couldnt see the loyalist walking up with a gun??? very badly filmed, then there was cantona, nothing about the whole munroe affair and he was walking about the station aimlessly trying to fit him into scenes and of course it wouldnt be the fall without scully getting up on someone, in this case the young detective that she previously singled out for a ride. And the worst part of the whole show, spector just goes and admits the whole thing to scully, the whole katie thing was pure pointless and they tried to cover the whole thing with psychological mumbo jumbo coming out of spectors mouth, the finale was befitting the whole season, absolute rubbish, and what cops ever go around speaking in monotones all the time??? thankfully its over

jezzer

Dan_Solo wrote: »

WTFFFFFFFFFFF.
Nothing, absolutely nothing at all tied up. What was the whole "corruption" side story about? Or the pathologist shagging Tom Stagg? Once again a police cordon can't even see a car approaching... even when they have a helicopter? What the hell was that IRA dude's problem too? Walking into a circle of 10 armed cops with a gun? Ah come off it!
Katy... nothing happened at all really.
Gibson shagging yer man FFS.
No lads, just NO.

100% correct dan

Dan_Solo

jezzer wrote: »

the cops could find the photographer but couldnt see the loyalist walking up with a gun???r

I could almost forgive them for missing one guy walking around, but how did they miss the car they arrived in completely? Much like Spector doing a u-ey at his cottage, it just beggars belief.

jezzer wrote: »

then there was cantona, nothing about the whole munroe affair and he was walking about the station aimlessly trying to fit him into scenes

No, no, he served a purpose. Scully got to say, yet again, that men are ****, oh and here's four different phrases for sex to make her sound like a dirty ho at the same time. Bizarre scene altogether.
As suspected, there were just too many plot holes and dead ends accumulating and it just didn't look like the last episode could possibly tie it all up. If it did I could have forgiven the show, but nope. Absolutely nothing.

Ceist_Beag

I thought it was a poor enough ending as well. Tickle_Me_Elmo the problem I have with it is that it was all too convenient. As has been pointed out, the helicopter can see the journo in his brown coat under the canopy of trees, yet they can't spot the silver car driving along? Jimmy then bursts out of the trees firing his gun yet those standing around didn't see him approach or even hear him? The journo and loyalist knew exactly where to go as well even though Stella and the gang were only what turn offs to take seconds before taking them?
The interview scene between Stella and Spector were cringeworthy at times. It would have read well in a book and given the right actor for Spector could have been chilling but unfortunately Dornan was not credible in his performance here. And as for Cantona, what a tosser and waste of a script that character was.
The whole thing just lacked any real tension or credibility which is a pity because there was a good story in there which could have been delivered so much better.

Dan_Solo

Ceist_Beag wrote: »

The interview scene between Stella and Spector were cringeworthy at times. It would have read well in a book and given the right actor for Spector could have been chilling but unfortunately Dornan was not credible in his performance here.

If they'd just left Spector blanking them with a sly smile I could probably have bought that whole scene myself. For some reason they had to show Gibson getting to him, and Dornan either couldn't act it or what he was being told to act made no sense. It just seemed so out of character for him to get emotional when Gibson mentioned his childhood etc., especially as he was obviously expecting it all.

I know there were holes in the plot but overall I enjoyed the series - and I was pleased enough with the ending. There were lots of gripping scenes particularly early on in the series and Spectre was really well cast.

Meathlass

I watched it this morning before work and really enjoyed it.

After all Paul's talk of having the power of life and death in his hands and watching someone die, Stella got to do the same to him. She cradled him as if he was a lover and genuinely distraught at his death.

The scene where Jimmy finds his wife was terrifying. I thought he would beat her to death. Olivia's interaction with her father in the police station showed her innocence (and gullibility - how did she not realize he was in jail?) and his tenderness.

They emphasized time and time again that rape and sexual crimes are not about sex but about power - Paul categorically insisting that he never performed sexual acts on his victims, Stella's story about women fearing men will kill them while men are only worried about being laughed at, Stella's rebuttal of Cantona for his attack on her ("you crossed a line, I said no and you kept going").

Sure they were huge plot holes and I found Katie to be purely a source of titillation for the viewer. Paul was unable to answer the question as to why she as a child wasn't to be protected like Olivia. I'd love to see her reaction when she finds out he's dead (hopefully).

I don't mind that they didn't tie up the loose ends. Perhaps they're mimicking the media. Once a suspect has been arrested the public lose focus on the details of a case and will move on to the next media storm forgetting about all the victims.

Bacchus

Thought it was a good but not great finale. There was great tension through it and some fine scenes between the various characters but the interview process felt juuuust a little bit drawn out. I also think that Jimmy was just too conveniently able to get away from the helicopter. Whatever about skulking through the woods to sneak up on the convoy, how did he ditch them in the car?

Great ending though, so sudden and yet on reflection had everything wrapped up that need to be. I liked the slight 'will he survive' ending to Spector's story. Ultimately, it does not matter, he is caught but that little question mark was a nice way to end. Also, cool to see Stella show her true colours at the final moment. She raced to aid Spector, not her fellow officer (and toy boy). It was a good way to bring their relationship to a close.

Katies' story ended well too. She's almost as big a psycho as Spector. Got the feeling in her chat with her mate that she'll be acting out Spector's little plan on her in the not too distant future. Again, I quite liked that that thread is left dangling. Spector may be dead/going to jail but the evil that was in him lives on.

@Dan_Solo - Why does the corruption side story or who's banging who need to be resolved? They were just window dressing to the main story. Jimmy's problem was that he thought Spector was banging his wife. Thought that was made very clear. 10 armed cops? 4 at most. There were 4-6 of them there before 2 left to go nab the reporter. That left 2-4 armed cops plus Spector & Stella's bit on the side. Jimmy got put down pretty quickly too. As I mentioned above, ditching the chopper in the car is a bit 'WTF' but sneaking through the woods while the cops are focused on a crime scene isn't that much of a stretch.

Bacchus

SimonTemplar wrote: »

The journalist finding out about Spector's journey from his informant and then telling the husband guy who shoots Spector all seems very contrived, mechanical and convenient to me. I knew what would happen the moment the journalist spoke to the husband about the woods and therefore any tension was lost to me.

Me too. I've liked that subplot that has gone through the series but it feels like things could have been tee'd up a bit neater in the run up to the finale. As it was done, things just feel in to place a bit too easily and it made it quite obvious early on that he was going to kill Spector.

SimonTemplar wrote: »

And the two season long arc involving that stupid Katie character ultimately went nowhere at all. Annoying character and useless subplot.

I thought her arc was one of the most interesting over the 2 seasons. She transformed from innocent babysitter to a girl with an obsession with a serial killer, forming dark/disturbing fantasies of her own. Her transition has been unsettling and though Spector is dead, she is there to carry on - mind you she'll likely go to jail for a few years first.