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Disclaimer: The following is entirely unsolicited. However, if Gillian Anderson or Jamie Dornan want to hang out, maybe grab a coffee and chat sometime that would be sweet. 

Halloween is on a work night this year, meaning instead of partying most of us will be at home. That doesn’t mean you can’t get in the Halloween spirit. If you’re in the mood to be freaked out of your wits but don’t want to go the usual zombie, axe murderer, or ghost route, then we have a suggestion: The Fall. Here’s the trailer:

Ok, of all the scary things on the planet, why should watch you The Fall? It’s a British serial, how can it be so freaky? There are several reasons.

You get no background explanations. 

One of the great things about serial killer dramas is that they order the chaos of man’s inhumanity to man. In other words, they introduce viewers to the most depraved kinds of violence that humans commit against each other. That forces us to realize that we do not have control of the actions of other people. But the detective in the show or movie always figures out what’s going on in the mind of the killer and explains it to us. The chaos of the killer’s mind and of the killings is explained through psychological disorders and past traumas. We understand why the killings happen and so we feel better.

The Fall gives you none of that. You’re immediately thrown into the life of a killer––but only through his actions, not his mind. You see him live his very normal life during the day, but gradually slip into darker and darker habits at night. You don’t know why he does this, and you only get the vaguest hints from the show’s detective. As a result, you’re left in an almost indescribable state of tension.

The killer is uncanny. 

According to Jacques Lacan, the uncanny puts us in a position “where we do not know how to distinguish bad and good, pleasure from displeasure.” The Fall’s antagonist is uncanny because he’s a handsome, normal guy, and we don’t really see the depths of his evil until later in the show. By that time, you’ve already started to feel for the guy, so you’re put in an awkward position of rooting for a killer while simultaneously knowing he’s evil. This isn’t like Dexter, which basically justified evil. The Fall intentionally forces you to see the darkness in yourself. In fact, there’s one specific scene in which the killer makes a video of himself talking to the camera. You have to wonder, who is the intended audience? Himself, as he watches the video later? Or the detectives he worries will find the video? Or, more unsettlingly, you the viewer?

The Fall implies that we are closer to evil than we think.

Some viewers think that the show’s title refers to the killer’s “fall” from good to evil. But that’s not the case. The killer is already evil in his mind. The show portrays his “fall” from restraining himself from acting on those thoughts. It makes you wonder––how close are you to giving in to your evil fantasies?

More great TV.