John Luther is a detective who is obsessive and sometimes violent in his work solving crimes. He is haunted by the darkness of the crimes he deals with. The series Luther uses Barthes' theory of open text through various codes that leave parts of the story ambiguous and up for interpretation, keeping viewers guessing. These include the hermeneutic code seen in the mysteries around Alice Morgan's death and the serial killer's strikes, and the proairetic code which builds tension through Luther's actions. Symbolic codes like a dead blackbird and exploding fridge also provide clues. Binary oppositions between protagonists and antagonists like Luther versus the serial killer and Luther versus George further develop the narrative.