Prime Suspect: Prime Suspect Series One (Two Episodes)

November 19, 2024 12:43 PM - Season 1 (Full Season)

Following the death of a senior investigating officer, Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) is grudgingly given the opportunity to take over his latest homicide investigation, the brutal assault and murder of a young woman. Intelligent and ambitious, Tennison struggles to construct a case against the prime suspect while also dealing with institutional sexism and the toll her career takes on her personal life.
posted by Alvy Ampersand (3 comments total)

I liked this, but had a lot of issues: much like its sibling Cracker the pacing is janky as hell. The first episode is sloggy and repetitive (Cue Tom Wilkison, wasted as a boyfriend whining 'What about my needs?'), while the second episode feels like they suddenly remembered there was a mystery to solve so the relationship and sexism business gets thrown out the window. Helen Mirren's charisma and watchability does a lot of heavy lifting here, but the MVP is the fantastic Zoe Wanamaker as the spouse of the hapless suspect.

Currently on Tubi, as many good things are.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 1:16 PM on November 19, 2024

Haha Prime Cracker - I'd forgotten about that. Helen Mirren is fantastic in anything. I think this series gets better as it goes along.
posted by whatevernot at 2:34 PM on November 19, 2024

I think this series gets worse as it goes along! Well, S2 is maybe the worst one; I can't quite recall. (And "The Fall", which was imho a grody Prime Suspect rehash, being written by the same guy makes sense.) But this first episode is perfect to me, I've watched it about ten times. It defines Tennyson so well and says everything that needs to be said.

I wouldn't say it was "jank" at all. It's not in a hurry but nothing is wasted. Tennyson faces a lot of sexism and her first battles are inside the police station. She slowly wins over the reachable men, and jettisons the bad ones. In the second half the lads learn to like actually just be professional, and their laddishness has a final rebuke with having to face how Marlow seemed, to them, a likable bloke. Even if you ignore the feminism it's a great catch-the-killer story.

Zoe Wanamaker is indeed great as common-law-wife Moyra Henson and John Bowe is just perfect as Marlow. In the first half, Tom Bell is a fantastic heel as Otley.
posted by fleacircus at 7:37 PM on November 23, 2024 [1 favorite]