The Fall (2013) Review: A Chase Without a Mystery

Is The Fall worth watching?

Yes. The Fall is a gripping, unusually thoughtful serial-killer drama, anchored by Gillian Anderson’s commanding performance as a detective who refuses to play by anyone’s rules but her own. It stands apart from the genre by showing the killer’s identity from the start, turning the story into a study of two people rather than a whodunit. The main reservation is that the three seasons are uneven, with the last one stretching thin material, and the violence against women is hard to watch.

What is The Fall about?

When the Police Service of Northern Ireland cannot close a murder case within 28 days, Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson (Anderson) of London’s Metropolitan Police is brought in to review it. Under her leadership, the local detectives come to realise they are hunting a serial killer who is terrorising Belfast. Running alongside the investigation is the life of the man responsible, played by Jamie Dornan, who appears to be a devoted family man with an ordinary job.

The Fall is a British production in English, created and written by Allan Cubitt and broadcast by the BBC. The supporting cast includes John Lynch, Niamh McGrady, Colin Morgan, Stuart Graham, Valene Kane and Bronagh Waugh. This review covers the complete series: three seasons and 17 episodes that aired between 2013 and 2016, and the story is finished.

Anderson’s Stella Gibson is the show’s cold heart

Anderson makes Stella one of television’s great detectives by refusing to soften her. She is precise, self-possessed and unapologetic about her private life, and she treats the casual sexism of the institution around her with withering calm. Anderson’s stillness is the performance: she can dismantle a colleague with a single look or a flatly delivered line, and the show lets her silences do as much work as the dialogue.

Stella is also the voice of the series’ argument. Through her, The Fall keeps returning to how society talks about violent men and the women they target, from newspaper language to police procedure. That preoccupation gives the drama a point of view that most procedurals lack.

Dornan makes the ordinary frightening

Jamie Dornan’s performance is the other half of the show’s power. His killer is a husband and father whose domestic life looks entirely normal, and the series cuts between his routines at home and his crimes in ways that are deeply unsettling. Dornan plays him with a controlled blankness that makes the character more disturbing than any theatrical villain.

Cubitt’s decision to reveal the killer at the outset shifts the suspense from who to how and when. The parallel editing between hunter and hunted, both methodical and both living guarded lives, builds a slow, suffocating tension. Belfast itself, shown as a city still shaped by its recent past, adds atmosphere without becoming a tourist backdrop.

Where the grip starts to slip

The first season is taut and the second is arguably stronger, but the third is widely seen as the weakest. It slows almost to a halt and spends long stretches on material that does not sustain the running time, and its conclusion divides viewers. The show’s focus on the killer’s perspective also raises a real concern: however critical its intentions, it spends a lot of time watching women suffer, and some viewers will feel it lingers too long.

Who should watch The Fall?

It is best suited to adults who like slow-burn psychological crime drama and strong central performances, particularly anyone who admires Anderson’s later work or wants to see Dornan in a role far darker than his better-known ones. Seventeen episodes over three seasons make for a moderate commitment. The series contains graphic violence, sexual violence themes and scenes of stalking and threat, and it earned adult ratings in most territories.

If it works for you, these are strong follow-ups from the crime shelf:

• Happy Valley for another tough, uncompromising British police drama led by a formidable woman.
• Adolescence for a more recent British series examining male violence and where it comes from.
• More British drama on the BBC hub.

The verdict

The Fall is a sophisticated, chilling crime drama that turns a familiar premise into a serious look at violence, power and gender, with Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan both at their best. The third season sags and the subject matter is heavy, but the first two seasons are among the finest British crime television of their decade.

Rating: 4/5