Season 4 of "Luther"

The new season of "Luther" has arrived on Netflix and its only two episodes long.  I'm not sure why.  It doesn't allow for a lot of character development and as much psychological intrigue.  Furthermore, an agreeable character from the first three seasons are shoddily done away with and haphazardly and dismissively written off the fourth season.  I won't spoil for you who that is.  It may be obvious.  Perhaps this is only temporary but I wasn't happy with that characters' sudden absence.

Another things that continues to bother me about this show is the increasingly ludicrous and outlandish nature of the murders and perpetrators.  In this season, the serial killer is a cannibalistic madman who's idiosyncratic ticks make him like an overdrawn cartoon character.  This show should take a lesson from other European cop shows like "The Fall" and "Happy Valley" where serial killers are apparently ordinary citizens with some human qualities that makes the viewer find it difficult to accept and mistake them for their true, malicious identities.

Idris Elba is a charismatic leading man and some of the new characters are OK.  Season four of "Luther" may, however, leave you with a feeling of mental-undernourishment and dissatisfaction. Hopefully, future seasons will be longer, more psychologically-realistic, and a return to its previous strengths.