Prime Suspect: The Final Act

2007 Emmy Award Winner for Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries, and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act is as dynamic, brilliantly written, directed, paced, and acted as the rest of the series that started in 1991. The Final Act is filled with the unexpected plot turns and introduces interesting complex characters. Prime Suspect 7 was dedicated to the memory of Tom Bell (Otley) who returned as Sergeant Bill Otley and who died two weeks before the episode was screened. As in all Prime Suspects, Helen Mirren owns the screen as Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison working on her last case before retirement. This time, Jane investigates the missing of a 14-year-old girl while struggling with her alcoholism and coping with her father's death from incurable cancer. She dedicated all her life, talent, energy, and heart to her work where she had proved to be the best but the price she paid is incredibly high. The Final Act introduces a young actress Laura Greenwood (born in 1991) as 14 years old Penny. The scenes she shares with Mirren are "nothing short of phenomenal," according to David Bianculli of the New York Daily News, and I hope that her following roles will be as impressive as her first work next to one of the greatest modern actresses.

9.5/10

It's retirement time for Jane Tennison, but she has one more case to solve in "Prime Suspect: The Final Act" starring Helen Mirren as Tennison. The question is, can Tennison stay in control long enough to find the murderer of a missing girl? You really wonder as she deals with what has become blatant alcoholism, the death of her father, and the consequences of her choices in life.

Only Helen Mirren could have created the fully fleshed out, human character of Jane Tennison. Mirren is one of the greatest actresses of our time, perhaps of any time. And like a lot of English actresses, and though she's capable of great glamor, Mirren is not afraid of harsh lights, aging, and a few lines on the face. Her Jane is worn out and looks it. In working her last case, Jane comes up against the tragedy of losing her father, her uneasy relationship with her sister and niece, her retirement, and the bottle. In her loneliness and remembrance of a life with possibilities, she bonds with young Penny (Laura Greenwood), a troubled friend of the murdered girl - though the girl's father becomes a suspect.

I admit I had a problem understanding a lot of the dialogue in this - the British go in for that natural sound replete with background noise, heavy accents, and no body mikes. Also, this was a particularly noisy episode as nearly all the dead girl's mother did was scream at the top of her lungs, and she wasn't alone. Nevertheless, Mirren's performance cut across any problems I may have had. As Penny, Laura Greenwood, who resembles the American actress Amber Tamblyn, gave a truly marvelous performance. Doubtless we'll be seeing her in more British imports to come.

As part of the Masterpiece Theatre presentation, Mirren gave an interview about the role of Jane, and how she had been counseled by a police woman never to cry except in private, never to fold her arms across her body, and to touch people (a display of power). She stated that she stopped doing "Prime Suspect" for a time lest she be too closely identified with the role of Jane and cease being Helen Mirren, actress. As if she could ever be anything else.

Det. Supt. Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) is weeks from retirement, worn-down, and alcoholic. 14 year old Sallie Sturdy goes missing. Principal's daughter Penny Philips is her best friend. Sallie's father is faced with suspicion and then her body is found. She was pregnant. Tennison's father is in the hospital "on the way out" with cancer and she is pushed to go to AA where she runs into Bill Otley.

This is a great final act for a great character played by a great actress. Tennison is beset with personal problems that are well earned. Bill Otley returns to tie up his relationship with her. It's a short reunion but a very powerful one due to their history. He's also given a terrific death. Another great relationship is Mirren with young Laura Greenwood who plays Penny. She is almost like a daughter that Tennison never had after her abortion. The final scene is an emotionally devastating conclusion to Tennison's career. Greenwood is incredible in the face of the legend next to her. The second part does have a slow spot in the middle and the last section does rush a little to the finish. However, the final interrogation cannot have ended the franchise any better.

The original 'Prime Suspect', an unusually tough police procedural thriller, was a landmark in early 1990s television, immediately making other hits series like 'Inspector Morse' appear tired and out-of-date. Since then, the series has retained some quality through its relatively infrequent outings, but still, the writing has not always been as good as in the first episode and in some cases has lapsed into the melodramatic cliché of the standard crime show. Gradually, I lost interest (I think about the fifth time that the whole direction of central character Jayne Tennyson's life was on the line if she didn't solve some murder in the face of the scepticism of her colleagues). But the series has always featured great acting from the incomparable Helen Mirren in that role, and in this final part she has arguably never been finer, there is some longer-term narrative development from the earlier episodes and Mirren exploits the character's growing history as the basis for a harrowing, wholly three-dimensional performance that almost seems out of place in a crime drama. Behind her performance, there's a nicely executed but less extraordinary tale of murder that could have come from any other cop show.

What's amazing about Mirren is how she truly inhabits the parts she plays: having recently seen her in Channel Four's 'Elizabeth', one can say the two series constitute a masterclass of televisual acting, ancient and modern. The series may be done; but the prime of Helen Mirren is far from over.

In a remarkable performance Helen Mirren plays the alcoholic detective Jane Tennison with depth and understanding rare in television. Mirren once the vivacious girl who was opposite James Mason in Norman Lindsay's "Age of Consent" today is not frightened of getting down and dirty in her roles. She goes full bore warts and all. Supported by a strong cast of British character players we can overlook some minor plot weaknesses when the overall quality of this series is streets ahead of the usual crap cop shows on the box. If only most TV was this good. Not often do we see actors bare their souls like Mirren outside of the cinema screen. Others in the cast worthy of mention are Stephen Tompkinson as Sean Philips, and Gary Lewis as Tony Sturdy.