Strike was back on our TV screens on Sunday and Monday so in anticipation I decided to watch the previous three series before then. Obviously these reviews are written ever so slightly in advance so I will not be able to review series 4 due to it having four episodes until they have aired, please stay tuned though as a separate review will follow unless they show all four over two nights in which case I'll add them on the end of here.
Strike was another one where my mum told me to watch it and I've only just gotten round to it. I wanted to read the books first and those of you who have me on goodreads will see The Cuckoo's calling has been in my 'currently reading' shelf since 2017. This is due to the simple reason I started it one Saturday lunchtime, then put it down and never came across it again, (I have since moved it to the TBR shelf). But I scrapped this notion and bought the series on Prime (if I had known iplayer would soon have the collection I would have held off but c'est la vie), so bit by bit I've been watching on my days off and I have to say I've thoroughly enjoyed them.
I feel I should mention at this point as it's common knowledge, but Strike only has one leg and is often referred to as the one legged detective, now obviously Tom Burke has both of his legs to my knowledge, but as my mum keeps pointing out, can we note how brilliant and convincing the special effects are to make this believable? As mum said, back in the day you'd have the actor kneeling and it would be a bare pass, Strike's amputation is just below the knee I believe, and there is even a scene where he is rubbing Savlon into the stump, just wow.
Another thing that came to mind was the series three finale. More specifically Robin's wedding. I'm sad she went through with it as there is clearly chemistry between her and Strike, but it made my heart warm that despite his disappointment she went through with it, he still made it his priority to be there. On a side note to this, I really despise Matt, he just seems very controlling and is doing all he can so Robin can't be independent away from him and do what makes her happy. He's phrasing it as he thinks she'll cheat, despite doing so himself, but in reality he's frightened that Strike treats her so much better than he does, and she is only steps away from the escape tunnel.
The thing I like most about the Strike series is that it's very easy. We aren't talking about a complicated murder, it's all things which we would expect to happen from that type of world. Not as far as stereotypical murder, but money motives, cult references, and body parts sent to our main characters are always partially expected. It's one of those things where we let our imagination run away with us and can fully indulge in the fact that our wildest, gory dreams can be played out in front of us like an enormous game of Cluedo. I find that's something J.K is very good at so I hope this is a quality taken from the books. If we just nip across to one of her other creations from a very different world, Harry Potter is a complete dream, she relied on witch and wizard stereotypes and warped them to her needs meaning that literally anything we could dream of we could do. The Potter world is a haven for imagination. Someone somewhere would have thought about chocolate frogs or shape-shifting so your hair changes colour, it meets everyone's needs and if you understand what I mean then as an adult you'll find when watching crime dramas you get that niggling from your childhood imagination in the back of your head that allows you to come up with all these things you'd like to see happen, it's familiar, we are part of this, there's no excessive thinking on our part.
Based on this fact then it comes as no surprise that one of our characters is a drunk deadbeat and the other is wildly ambitious yet trapped in the realm of ordinary where her boyfriend wants to keep her. It means they can evolve, and with any luck it may evolve into a happy ending for the two of them, although don't hold your breath, I don't fully trust Rowling/Galbraith, especially after the Deathly Hallows massacre.
I think my favourite series is the second one, out of the three this is the one that stands out for me and it's solely down to my warped personality. This is the story where Strike had to investigate the murder of a rather unpleasant author. With cult-like references and a gory corpse discovery scene, it mixed the mystic with the murder and it just appealed to me. Also the foreshadowing within the foreshadowing was immense. The author had written a book slating his friends and family within this cult like novel, he then died in the exact same manner the hero of the book had, publicity at its best and there I will leave it so you can have a think on who the murderer was if you haven't seen it.
I do wonder why the first series is three episodes and then the second and third series are of only two parts. I suppose it depends on the story as series four is set to be four episodes. Regardless it reminds me a little bit of the other adaptations the BBC have taken under their wing. For example they did Dracula over new years, of which I only saw the first episode as I was out partying, and obviously their take on Sherlock was a winner, and this follows much the same formula as Sherlock did, two characters from vastly different backgrounds come together to solve crimes while facing very real issues.
During the third series it becomes apparent Robin was attacked and raped in her youth causing her to drop out of Uni and get with Matt. I think this is why she went with him, he kept her safe and secluded but now she's breaking out of that box. She just goes to show that some experiences, while not forgotten, are not needed to be pitied, as strong men and women we want justice not pity. We want these things to stop, not special treatment because they happened. So I think like many of us who have experience things such as this, J.K drew from her own experience as well, and gave us a heroine who understands and who embodies our struggle.
I think Strike faces so many very real issues and does so brilliantly. Both Burke and Grainger suit their characters so very well, and they really are the life and soul of the series. It takes a lot to make subtle chemistry believable, and they do a more than perfect job, it's almost hard to see them in anything else as I can't believe their characters are not real people.
So currently then, I award the series as a whole, not inclusive of series 4, an 8/10. This review is currently unfinished as I am pending the new series which if fully aired by publish date I will include below, if not it is still to come!
As always, stay safe, laugh, and be merry, autumn is on it's way!
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