The Fall series three, episode five: Making a murderer

I don’t know exactly when this series was written, but surely it must have been after the release of Making a Murderer. Anyone who watched the footage of poor Brendan Dassey being grilled will have had deja vu hearing the interview tactics used to get Spector’s former friend to confess to a terrible crime he didn’t commit.

I’d been concerned the last two episodes of this series would be rushed, but here things keep ticking along at just the same pace and with just the same assured control. The police keep on policing, the lawyers keep on lawyering and there’s still time for plenty of lingering shots of people and places.

Jim, the idiot, finally makes himself useful by passing on some crucial information about the nature of the abuse the boys experienced at Gortnacull children’s home – which proves key to finding out why Alvarez might have felt indebted to Spector (or Baldwin, as he was at the time). What’s interesting here is how Jamie Dornan’s good looks become ever more relevant to the plot – they were a curse rather than a blessing for the young Peter.

Meanwhile, the same lawyers who have raised questions about Stella’s feelings for Spector are throwing around theories about her setting him up to be shot. Just how much evidence is going to be left when they’ve finished picking holes? Will we actually see a trial in the final episode? I can’t imagine how things can possibly be resolved.

The scenes in the psychiatric hospital have enough tension to suggest it could be the scene of some drama, but I suspect this is another misdirect. Belfast General Hospital might have been ridiculously lax with its security but there’s surely no scope for any funny business here. Spector seems to be telling the truth to Dr Larson about his mother’s death and the motives for his voyeuristic behaviour. I’m still not sure if he’s faking the amnesia but the comment about the police being clever seemed to suggest he might be. Either that or he really has forgotten the last six years but is only pretending to be surprised to learn that he’s been busy murdering for much of that time.

Meanwhile, thanks to Stella’s dream diary she finds herself on Larson’s couch herself. She seems to trust him, but could he become part of the plot to discredit her? Not long to find out!