Slightly disappointing. It seems to have lost the edge that made the previous series’ so darkly engaging.
The new setting in the UK is entertaining as Joe’s characteristically sharp inner monologues about those he interacts with are still pretty sharp and sound – but the British characters have veered into caricatures in the writers’ attempts to show them in a satirical light. This worked very well with the previous series’ suburban California setting, but here they are largely just flat, often grotesque, caricatures.
Additionally, the killings, and more importantly, their aftermath, seem to be rushed and so implausible. Obviously rock-solid believability and plausibility are not necessarily central ingredients in this sort of drama but in previous series, there was far more of a willing suspension of disbelief. Additionally his Parisian encounter with the detective still following him from Love’s family was a terribly rushed solution/resolution to that scenario. The ease with which he assumed another identity and managed to get a university professorship with apparent ease, lived in a Kensington mews apartment and could walk from there to his university (actually Royal Holloway College, Egham, Surrey and, according to Google maps, at least a 7-hour walk!) are other details which mar the ‘willing suspension of disbelief’.
I wonder too if Joe’s (sincere?) attempts to be a better person and put his past behind him are actually making him less interesting…
We will see in March…