The Fall - 7.5/10
Not the easiest one to rate. It has a lot of positives, including the general standard of acting, the atmosphere and tension it produces. The main point where it falls down is what I would determine to be filler. For example, in S1, we spend a fair amount of time in Sally's neo-natal unit, all for the purpose of informing the audience that she is going to provide Spector with a false alibi one evening. We do not need to see the baby or the mother suffering, or the decision-making process that contributed to the baby being pulled from its life support. All we actually needed to see was a short couple of minutes, outlining the situation and explaining that Sally isn't coming home that night, hence the need for "the Benedetto girl" as she is almost always referred to (
) babysitting.
Likewise in S3 we do not need to spend full episodes in the hospital, seeing how Rose and Spector are convalescing. It's time that could be spent developing other avenues, like the period Spector spent in the children's home which isn't greatly explored. Sally's existence and those of the kids are afterthoughts after the suicide attempt, why half-bake it? What's the point of the internal investigation Stella complies with into the shooting incident if we never understand the outcome?
It's a real shame because with a tighter scope this would be an absolute gem of a show, it has so much going for it but doesn't realise its full potential. I also don't think it makes the most of the 'howcatchem' format but that's a story for another day.