Feminists: You Should Be Watching 'The Fall'

If you only know Jamie Dornan from his upcoming role as Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey , log onto your Netflix account immediately and watch The Fall. The series, originally broadcast in Ireland and England on the BBC, has released Season 2 on Netflix, and it's definitely worth the watch. For those who are unfamiliar, The Fall is a crime drama that unfolds a serial killer case as told from two perspectives: The senior police officer tasked with finding the killer and the serial killer himself. Dornan plays the killer Paul Spector who also happens to be a family man. In Season 1 we find out about his sick need to strangle and murder women as well as how he tears his life apart thanks to covering this obsession. Season 2 follows Spector as he falls further down the rabbit hole as he gets closer and closer to getting caught. But the most important reason to watch the series is the show's portrayal of women starting at the absolute top with the officer who who attempts to catch him, Gillian Anderson.

Anderson, best known for her role as Scully on The X-Files dominates every moment onscreen in The Fall as the Detective Superintendent Gibson, and in Season 2 she is on fire yet again as she gets closer and closer to exposing and catching Spector. The best thing about Gibson (and Anderson's portrayal) is the layers and flaws we see in her character. She's so much more than just the tough police officer, she a real woman which, despite the age in which we live, is still relatively rare to see.

Stella is hyperaware of the issues and situations surrounding her, whether it be other cases in the department, some kind of clues regarding Paul that will help catch him, or people within the department that have feelings for her. She also doesn't let the job get in the way of satisfying her own needs. She still has sex, she still wants to be with someone, she still needs time away from being herself, though sometimes her life starts to intertwine with that of the killers she's trying to catch. She also doesn't adhere to strict rules of sexuality, she owns it in whatever form it comes, which is another refreshing angle shown more in Season 2.

But the other women in the series are also fascinating characters. There's Katie, the Spectors' babysitter who has an unhealthy growing interest in Paul and becomes something much more in Season 2. Without giving too much away, her change is the biggest throughout the series, and it happens in a fascinating way thanks to Aisling Franciosi's portrayal as well as the sudden events that occur regarding Paul in her life. She's a character that might be the most controversial, and thus the most interesting to watch in Season 2 — even more so than the killer himself.

The great thing about The Fall is that while it may be a bit slow at times as it gives more information about the lives and emotional struggles of these characters than actual murder scenes, it doesn't make people wait too long to get a payout they've been waiting to see. I don't want to give too many spoilers, but Season 2 does offer a climax with which should leave viewers satisfied as it provides closure and also leaves some loose ties for a potential (hopeful) Season 3. But with characters like Stella and Katie to watch, who really cares more about the endgame?

Images: Netflix; thefallgifs, agnesvslife/Tumblr