I agree with much of what you say radiobedhead. As crime entertainment, I think it's a great show, up there with the best of the Scandi shows and in some ways better. My view of Stella is that she is a new representation of a female police officer -- she is smart, overtly feminine, fierce, independent, empathetic, commanding, calm, sometimes unemotional and yes, she also gets scared because she is meant to be human with some painful skeletons in her own closet. The bigger the front, the bigger the back, is how I've read her character. But then I think that's the point, we impose our own interpretation based on our own frames of reference.
My dh watched the first season with his eyes half-closed he found the depiction of women being terrorised too much to bear. Despite the abundance of attractive females in the show, I don't know any men in my circle who are actually watching it and at least one of them is a huge Gillian Anderson fan. My dp has shown no interest at all in watching season 2 and I'm sure he's quietly relieved that I now watch it alone.
I'm a huge fan of all things crime — fiction, non-fiction -- books, tv shows and films. Aside from the obvious reasons for loving it (solving puzzles, psychological insights etc.), I think there's something about being compelled to have knowledge about things that I would never want to happen to me in real life! I haven't read this entire thread but I'm sure the Spector character is partly based on BTK, who by all accounts, is a psychopath with no real reason for what he did, other than that he could and enjoyed doing it. In the last episode, when Spector shared his motivations for wanting to ruin other peoples' perfect lives, I was a bit disappointed that it was a rather simplistic explanation and mission, unlike most RL serial killers. BTK and Ted Bundy didn't articulate missions but they are regarded by most to be Psychopaths. Spector doesn't quite fit that model, even though he shares some psychopathic traits e.g. highly organised with the ability to win the trust of others. I appreciate Spector is a fictional character, I just hope his psychology proves to be a little more complex/ambiguous than what was revealed in the last episode.
I have wondered about the plot line of letting Spector run loose, so that he might lead the police to Rose — amidst all the drama, that's jumped out as a little implausible. Wouldn't the police take such a terrifying suspect in for questioning? Especially one, who if guilty, is likely to inflict horrors on other women? In RL suspects are frequently taken in for questioning, released if they don't confess and then kept under surveillance in the hope that they will trip up.
I will be watching it to the bitter end and look forward to the 90 minute finale!