This
was a PC project that I had my eye on from the start. Come on – Ciarán Hinds, David Thewlis, Mark
Strong, and the glorious Helen Mirren?
I'm there. I'm halfway through
this two-part season and... well, let's just say I'm not disappointed.
Prime
Suspect
was a long-running British crime drama, starring Mirren as DCI Jane
Tennyson. Series 3 finds her starting a
new job, heading up a vice squad. As
first days go, she's not exactly eased into it.
She arrives the morning after a dead rent boy has been pulled out of a
burned-down flat. An investigation into
the boy's death quickly begins to point toward larger implications: there's a menacing pimp, a secret stash of
child pornography, and pressure from above not to delve too deeply into the
case.
PC
plays Vera Reynolds, a timid transwoman brought in for questioning. She owned the flat in which the dead boy was
found, and the police suspect her first of killing him and later of knowing
more than she's telling.
This
is a really great performance. In the
interrogation room, Vera is like a delicate, spooked bird. She's just lost her home, someone she knew
has died there, and she's being treated like a criminal, a freak, and possibly
a criminal on account of being a freak.
She doesn't visibly flinch as the officers repeatedly call her
Mr. Reynolds, but you can feel her flinch. She's a very evocative character. You can feel her distress and confusion, the
shame that's being thrust upon her, and most of all, the fear of what will
happen if she reveals what she knows.
I'm
excited to see the second half, both so I can figure out who murdered the boy
and why, and so I can see more of Vera!
Accent
Watch
It
sounds mostly RP, but there might be a little northern thrown in
there. Many of the characters have
northern accents, which could be biasing my ears. Also, Vera's voice is pretty quiet and
pitched up a bit, so it's a little harder to tell. I'll try to figure out for sure next time.
Recommend?
In
General
– Yeah. It's a good mystery, the acting
is great, and Jane is an excellent leading lady. She's tough and smart, and she has a driving
curiosity that's just so admirable.
PC-wise – Yes; PC is
stellar. Even though I can't say he looks
too much like a woman, he really seems like one, and his Vera is greatly
sympathetic.
Warnings
Lots
of frank discussion of solicitation, sex, drug use, and pornography, all
involving minors. “Thematic elements”
puts it mildly. However, it's pretty
much entirely kept to discussion – nothing explicit is depicted. Probably on par with some of the more intense
Law & Order: SVU episodes.
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