Marcella finale questions leave door open for second series

ITV's Scandi-British crime drama Marcella has reached its dramatic conclusion, setting viewers on the edge of their seats, but also leaving them with unanswered questions. Will a second series answer them?

The nerve-wracking conclusion to the eight-part drama saw Anna Friel's tormented cop Marcella nab serial-killer Henry Gibson (Harry Lloyd) in a tense stand-off at his luxury apartment, though not before she almost became a murderer and her ex-husband almost bled to death. But while the ending had viewers gripped, it left many unsatisfied.

"ITV's twisty, turny thriller Marcella had an epic finale", but left fans just a little confused, says Ann Lee on Metro. Many were puzzled as to why the series's opening scene featured Friel in a bath covered in blood, while some complained the ending felt a bit convenient – "they woke up and it was all a dream".

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Marcella went down swinging, with a bold, bracing finale "that rarely strayed far from utterly bonkers", says Gwilym Mumford in The Guardian. It was a bewildering mess of activity, heists and a wall-clawing psychopath, he says. The show can't be faulted for "throwing absolutely everything at the detective drama genre" but he wishes there weren't so many "daft plot holes, unbelievable character developments and hoary old police drama clichés".

Yes, when it all started six weeks ago, it looked like it was going to be good, says Eleanor Halls in GQ. When the first episode ended with Marcella covered in blood in her bath, and the suspicion she might be the killer, she thought: "yep, this is juicy".

Unfortunately, says Halls, Marcella turned out to be a bog standard cop with a normal job, no anger management issues, no murdering instincts and no short term memory loss – except for a few unsettling moments thrown in at the end, as if the show was "tying up what they began, without having explained a thing".

Marcella was "a bold and interesting choice for ITV", says Rosy Barnes in the Daily Telegraph. The problem was that Marcella's character remained undeveloped and too much time was squandered on "a virtual shoal of red herrings".

If it returns for a second series, Marcella "must make that leap from cool concept to fully fleshed-out character – even an unreliable one", says Barnes.

The Radio Times reports that ITV is said to be still undecided about whether the show will be returning, but series creator Hans Rosenfeldt (who also created Scandi-noir series The Bridge), told the magazine that he looked forward to another series.

"A second series is a scale of success," he said. It "gives an opportunity to show more off about the characters… an opportunity to tell different stories with the characters you have created and to spend more time with them. You always aim for more than one series."

The magazine notes that a few question marks about Marcella's sometimes questionable methods, "suggest that Marcella's troubles are not necessarily over yet…"

Marcella: Fans left 'open-mouthed' after dark episode

10 May

This week's episode of ITV's Scandi-style crime thriller Marcella featured harrowing scenes that left fans reeling and critics wondering whether stories this dark should even be on television.

The episode galloped straight on from last week's story, which ended with the abduction of a child witness to a murder. It began with Anna Friel's eponymous detective desperately on the hunt of the kidnapper before showing her unsuccessfully trying to save the child's life.

What followed was another twisting episode with multiple suspects and plotlines, ending in an edge-of-the-seat moment as Marcella was knocked unconscious.

Fans quickly had the show the top trend on Twitter, many posting pictures of their shocked faces.

However, others were baffled by the proliferating plots and characters and even critics felt overwhelmed, with some wondering if it was all too much for television.

"Things got dark this week in Marcellaland, perhaps a little too dark," says Gwilym Mumford in The Guardian. While there were some thrilling moments, the horrific death of a child is always a difficult proposition for primetime ITV drama, he said, adding he was unsure whether the series pulled it off.

There are some duff moments, continues the critic, such as the "clunky and cliched" use of a child's mobile to signify Marcella's lost child. But the many storylines are finally beginning to cohere so maybe this "infuriating series" can pull it together for its conclusion next week.

Andrew Curnow on CultBox agrees the episode was "harrowing", but it also "shined a little light on Marcella's history". Then, when everything seemed settled and a suspect was in custody, the show threw in a "last-minute twist", he says, wondering if the final two episodes can match the tension of this one.

Indeed, says Shaun Kitchener in the Daily Express, things got even "messier" in the "turbulent" episode, which left fans "open-mouthed". Now he wonders if the "nail-biting" programme will "pull off the ultimate twist" by killing off its lead character.

We'll have to wait for the back-to-back double climax next Monday and Tuesday, 9pm on ITV.

Marcella: Is Scandi-style thriller gripping or just baffling?

19 April

ITV's new noir crime series, Marcella, starring Anna Friel as a troubled cop on the trail of a serial killer, has been gathering fans – but last night's episode left some scratching their heads.

The show is a British police drama set in London, but it's written by Swedish scriptwriter Hans Rosenfeldt, the creator of The Bridge. It tells the story of Marcella Backland, a former police officer who is devastated when her husband leaves her and tries to get her life back on track by rejoining the police force to solve a serial killer case.

The storyline is teaming with sinister characters and potential suspects - possibly even Marcella herself, who has been having violent outbursts and blackouts since her husband left.

Fans have been gripped, even if they do find the show disturbing.

But not everyone is convinced.

Reviewers are also divided.

While it has all the hallmarks of a typical ITV crime drama, says Ben Dowell, in the Radio Times, Rosenfeldt gives it "an unmistakably Swedish twist".

"It doesn't shy away from rubbing our noses in the visceral reality of murderous violence" in a way that may be familiar to Scandi noir fans but doesn't usually show up on the commercial network.

Rosenfeldt likes his dramas long, complex and tortured and this one promises more "hooks, twists and red herrings", adds the critic. There's even a crucified spaniel – "not the kind of thing you get with Grantchester now is it?"

The Sunday Times, which calls it "a stylishly unsettling thriller", admits the show is bleak and "hints at so many potential twists it is hard to bolt down a definitive theory", but adds that Friel's "increasingly unstrung police officer remains the real enigma at this thriller's cold heart".

The series has "a dreamlike quality" that is "beautiful and disturbing", says Christopher Stevens, at the Daily Mail. But while Marcella's blackouts are supposed to be intriguing, instead, like her, "we're just confused".

Meanwhile, Gwilym Mumford, at The Guardian, is hanging in there. "There are 565 suspects on the loose, and they're all up to no good," he says, adding that while Marcella is never quite gripping "it features enough jumpy moments to hold my attention".

He continues: "Anna Friel's scrambled performance is proving the highlight of this show, so the more of that the better, quite frankly."