Prime Suspect: The Scent of Darkness

I previously wrote that part 2 in this set was going to be the most gripping for myself - without even having seen this one, part 3. I liked the premise of part 2 and could not imagine I'd find another better.

But OK: I give in. I admit it: this is far and away the best of the three. It is everything part 2 is and more. It's just so juicy seeing Mirren have to haggle with these creeps who are simultaneously her superiors. She says herself that acting is no big deal, but try telling that to all the two-bit actors out there who never seem to get it. Did Chuck Norris ever say acting was no big deal? (Come to think of it, he would say that, wouldn't he?)

Tennison is up against it in this one. Everything's at stake, and the plot follows a classic (but not worn out) story line found in many whodunits of this nature, namely Tennison's integrity is called into question. And the case has her really upset. And things fly in all possible directions. And you have to really stay on the edge of your seat to get all the clues. Meaning it's a bit of an intellectual challenge, in addition to everything else it gives you. Which is only good.

There's no contest: even if you don't particularly like the format, odds are you'll still be 'glued to the tube' for this one and unable to break away.

The writing, the direction, the acting - and above all (and it's a lot) Mirren stand out and shine.

The UK have come out with some amazing detective series over the years, and this is one of their absolute best.

This one really keeps the viewer guessing-- though we never lose our faith that Tennison will somehow unravel the mystery and vindicate herself. She's certainly on thin ice throughout, and aren't her higher-ups being nasty! But our Jane soldiers on regardless --procedure be damned--, bolstered by excesses in hard liquor and cigarettes. We hope for a last-minute rescue of the latest victim, but nothing is certain here.

It was disorienting to find the original George Marlowe, John Bowe, replaced by Tim Woodward, who looked nothing like him and didn't have at all the same feel or complexity. Evidently Bowe wasn't available. Marlowe's mum was played by Maxine Audley in 1991, and as she died in 1992 we may forgive her being replaced. The substitution is all the more forgivable, as the new Mrs. Marlowe was portrayed by the wonderful Joyce Redman, best remembered by many as 'Mrs. Waters', the woman rescued by Albert Finney as Tom Jones, who then becomes his delightfully sensuous dinner and bed companion-- afterward identified as Jenny Jones, his supposed mother!

But to return to "The Scent of Darkness": I was thankful that this was shown all at once and not in two parts so that the conclusion wasn't delayed an entire week-- though of course nowadays it isn't difficult to find a way of viewing almost any show. "Scent of Darkness" forms a disturbing but satisfying sequel to the first "Prime Suspect", in its exploration of the power of a monstrously disturbed killer as well as of the power of the press.

It seemed like the absence of Lynda LaPlante was a major loss to the series and you can really feel it in this episode. Characters who never showed much emotion in previous episodes were suddenly screaming for no reason. I understand the theme of sexism but the chip on Mitchell's shoulder and the commander screaming at Jane was very unusual and seemed unprovoked.

The actor playing Mitchell was too overdramatic. The scene where he yelled at Richard was unexpected and seemed very unusual behavior for a guy who is angling for a promotion. Perhaps this character had issues. Since the show never bothered to let us in on them, it made for a confusing and ridiculous character arc. Why would a man who is trying to build a team to help him start screaming and slamming doors? Why was he so unwilling to properly investigate the case if he's trying to distinguish himself to the brass?

When the commander kept cutting Jane off when she tried to speak and then yelled over her, it was very out of character for him. In the past, he's been a stereotypical, uptight, British repressed type who wouldn't dream of raising his voice. Suddenly he's screaming at Jane because he's angry she didn't follow orders? Is this still about her being a woman? She's always gone her way and he's never reacted like this. She gets results and solves cases. Also it's the mid 90s so there are plenty of female officers in the police department in Britain. All the young rookies were laughing and making jokes openly against a superior officer? They don't even know her so what's their issue her? Just seems strange that they seem to be going backwards with women's rights in the police department when the rest of the country isn't fighting gender battles anymore. There have been female PMs and MPs so I'm not sure why they are still harping on the woman angle.

Sure, Jane has no bedside manner but only because she's had to fight for everything she's accomplished due to entrenched biases against her. Also, DCI Mitchell was an even bigger jerk than she was and a far less thorough detective so why are they still so hateful towards her? If there's a reason they don't like her, that's great. But they didn't let us in on it, so this made for a tough watch. It almost felt like they were trying to force drama in places it wasn't needed.

The actor playing Marlowe was grossly miscast. He looked like a criminal completely capable of taking lives. The great thing about the original Marlowe was he maintained his cavalier attitude throughout which made him scarier. The wide-eyed smiles were absent here because the actor playing him couldn't pull it off with his beady eyes.

For the first time I found myself wishing they would just let Tennison do her job and stop with all the department drama as it's getting very tired. If I wanted all that forced drama, I would watch Chicago PD. I'm still trying to figure out why they keep bouncing Tennison from station to station. When she became superintendent, didn't that mean she is in charge of one department like Kernan is? Why do they keep shifting her around? Everytime she's put on a case she's got to prove herself all over again and it's beyond annoying since the other officers would have heard of her track record and that would have earned her some respect.

On an unrelated note, this episode marks the end of Richard in the series which makes me sad because he's always been my favorite character.

Women are being murdered and Supt. Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) leads the investigation. They are similar to the first major case of the original episode. George Marlow is still in prison for those murders but evidences mount that Tennison had made a mistake. She refuses to accept the suggestion and searches for the copycat killer. Each victim is sprayed with gardenia perfume. Tennison is thrown off the case and later even suspended. Through it all, she never stops investigating.

The return to the original case is good. Tim Woodward is the new actor playing George Marlow and he does a great job. In this one, Mirren is given juicier work. It allows her to stretch and fight the old boys' club once again. In many ways, this is going back to the beginning and it is good. I would let Tennison do the actual rescue in the final climax but that's a minor change that I would make.

Nicely filmed and well acted, it has a lot of tension and suspense and is gripping. But Tennison is such a dragon that it's hard to sympathise with her, as she insults everyone around her and never apologises for her mistakes. Despite her detestable nature, Tennison never seems to get her comeuppance nor does she get put in her place.

Another let down is the story which, though gripping, is rather predictable in some respects and very difficult to believe in others. One never feels that one is getting anywhere by watching the story and feels that instead one is at the whim of the author, who himself probably hadn't thought up the ending till writing it. The attempt at introducing suspense by introducing some time pressure fails rather.

There is some comical garbled shouting exchanged by some officers, which is quite amusing. It's also worth noting that there's a large amount of smoking, especially by today's standards.

Overall not bad, but not good either. The main character is too hard to like and the story (especially the conclusion) too ridiculous.