Luther: Theory and Codes Analysis

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In episode 1 and 2, season 4 there can be narrative theories that can be applied such as Barthes, Todorov, Propp and Levi Strauss’ theory. I will identify these theories and explain how they are present.

There are characters that are used to give the media text structure and understand according to Propps theory. Luther is easily identified as the role of the hero since he is seeking out Chloe and Archie Morley’s murderer. Steven Rose and George Cornelius are both villains since they obstruct the hero, Luther, in what he is searching for. Steven is the murderer of Chloe and Archie and escaped from Luther to avoid being arrested. After being handcuffed to a radiator for a day by Luther in the first episode, George placed a price on Luther’s head having hit men look for him. This also obstructs Luther from achieving what he is seeking for. Chloe and Archie and identified as the victims since they were murdered in the opening sequences in the first episode. Emma and Theo, who are also detectives, play the roles as helpers for Luther since they both aid the hero in finding Steven Rose through their detective work.

The hermetic, proairetic and semantic codes can also be applied to the two episodes from Barthes theory. For example, the proairetic code is applied when Theo approaches the refrigerator in the first episode with a point of view camera shot. This built tension and indicated something else is going to happen, leaving the viewer guessing what will happen next.

Semantic codes are also identified in the first episode. For example, in the opening sequences Chloe finds a black crow after tension was built for the audience, thinking that there may be another person in the house upstairs. The colour black connotes to death and suffering. This shortly happens after this scene of finding the bird because Chloe was murdered by Steven at this time.

The hermeneutic enigma code is also used to generate mystery in these episodes. For example, in the first episode the murderer, Steven Rose, was hidden from the audience which kept the audience asking who the murderer is.

Toderov’s theory can also be identified in these episodes in multiple ways. For example, there was an equilibrium in the first section in the opening episode when Luther was in his place. Then the disequilibrium was presented when Luther was informed of Alice’s death. This was shortly acknowledged by Luther and was in the process of solving in the second episode, believing that Alice is not dead. Another version of disequilibrium would be the numerous murders by Steven Rose. This was acknowledged by Theo, Emma and Luther to solve the murder mystery. This then moved onto the process of solving when Luther entered the abandoned building where Steven had the family trapped. The solving of this disequilibrium was then Steven was shot by Emma who also entered the abandoned building. The equilibrium was again established when the family trapped were released from Steven Rose.

I think that this storyline has a vast open narrative since there could have been many results when tracking Steven. He could have gone dark and escaped the detectives, for example. However there was a closed narrative involved since it’s almost natural to have the hero achieving his role while the villain is stopped, thus the death of Steven Rose.