Review: 'Prime Suspect' - 'Carnivorous Sheep': A changed man?
Episode two tones down the pilot's rampant sexism
Maria Bello in "Prime Suspect."
A quick review of last night's "Prime Suspect" coming up just as soon as I choose the clown fish...
As promised, "Carnivorous Sheep" largely ditched the He-Man Woman Haters Club tone of the pilot. Duffy, the Brian F. O'Byrne character still hates Jane, but overall the Jane Timoney vs. the World motif got toned down significantly. Duffy could still stand to be humanized - whatever his motives, right now he's just a strawman villain to make Jane look better, smarter and more virtuous - but this was a step in the right direction.
What interested me most was the turn the story took, where the rescue of the missing girl became an afterthought to the way Duffy ruined the reformed pedophile's life and drove him to suicide. There are so many police procedurals on now - and several of them in the vein of the original "Prime Suspect," with hard-edged and/or unpopular heroines - that a well-told murder of kidnapping investigation doesn't seem like enough anymore to stand out. "Prime Suspect" already has an uphill climb - ratings for the first week were terrible, and it's only Robert Greenblatt's reported patience that's going to keep it around for a little bit. But embracing the notion of being a character-based procedural, and doing stories where the emotional impact of the case on the characters (whether the cops or the suspects) is more important than finding out whodunnit seems a smart way to go. And the rawness of the suicide scene felt very befitting of a Peter Berg-produced show.
I doubt "Prime Suspect" survives long-term, but this was promising after the pilot left me uncertain what the real show would look like.
What did everybody else think?
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Login or create a HitFix account Login SignupKmarko
September 30, 2011 at 11:00AM EST Reply to CommentToo bad about the ratings, I wasn't aware. I just watched the pilot and liked it quite a bit--thought Bello was excellent (and really, she didn't wear the hat all that much...), and it felt like the sexism was just a scene-setting thing anyway.
Look forward to watching this one, and hopefully the ratings will pick up a bit.
Dave P
September 30, 2011 at 11:29AM EST Reply to CommentYeah, I like this show too and I don't like what I'm hearing about the ratings. This show neatly fills the hole left behind from Law and Order for me. I haven't been watching or caring about L&O for years now but I still enjoy a weekly procedural that's not of the CSI/Criminal Minds variety. Seems NBC should lower their ratings expectations for all of their shows, but in the meantime, I can see this show moving over to TNT and giving them some leeway in case the Closer spinoff doesn't go as well as planned. Especially this show and the closer are the Exact Same Show.
As for the ep itself I agree, the Antagonist Cop is a bit too screamy and could tone it down a bit. But the ex-con. I'm not so sure I buy that he was reformed. His life was unfairly ripped apart but he did put himself into a situation where he would have the trust and access of a girl the age he was attracted to. And he lied (at least by omission) to Trixie about what his past crimes were. I'm for second chances and if she wants to give him one, cool. But she really, really, reeeeeallly needs to know what his weaknesses are so she can be on guard for suspicious behavior by him or a drastic downturn in her daughter's behavior. And having a roomful of children's clothing books? Not right.
ed w I thought the show had a warped sense of ethics. Jane should have told her on the first visit.
September 30, 2011 at 12:20PM ESTTrilby Trixie! Thanks, I knew the face but couldn't place her.
October 2, 2011 at 11:33AM ESTVelvet Hammer
September 30, 2011 at 12:16PM EST Reply to CommentI really like this show.
Velvet Hammer
September 30, 2011 at 12:17PM EST Reply to CommentI really like this show & hope the powers that be give it a chance.
ELP71
September 30, 2011 at 1:29PM EST Reply to CommentAlan, I may have just lost all respect for you. This episode was totally nonsensical. We are expected to swallow that there would be no repercussions whatsoever for a cop who potentially derailed an investigation of a missing kid?
At the end of the ep, everyone is congratulating him on a job well done. WHAT? Was the whole department asleep for what the viewers just watched? You're telling me that despite the fact that Jane made the emergency call - alone - that she'd apprehended the suspect and found the kid, NONE of the officers or the chief knew that?
Or maybe they were too busy responding to the hostage situation brought on by the cop in question to realize who closed the case? There's suspension of disbelief and then there's stupidity.
To recap: this one man (1) didn't rescue kid #1 and then (2) put another kid in danger. Regardless of whether or not anyone believed the convicted pedophile was reformed, his actions were a direct result of a botched investigation - a raid costs huge amounts of taxpayer dollars, and an innocent man committed public suicide. There would be an inquest after something like this.
This show doesn't ask any tough questions about character. Rather it presents cardboard cutouts of everyone but Jane. I actually feel sorry for the actors having to lower themselves to this. I'm done.
ed w But Jane also acted unprofessionally and may have opened the department up to lawsuits by not being forthright with the girlfriend, a mother of a 7 year old, about her boyfriend's crimes. I think there was enough blame to go around.
September 30, 2011 at 2:48PM ESTI agree though that there would have been a review of the case and she would have gotten some notice for the rescue.
hmm2 He was the primary on a case where a murder was solved and a child saved. Of course he gets congratulations. And he did send Jane to the gallery to check on the perp coming from there.
October 3, 2011 at 5:38AM ESTMark Kawakami
September 30, 2011 at 1:41PM EST Reply to CommentWe really can't hope that this episode's story will be indicative of the quality of stories in the future. This episode was adapted almost beat-for-beat from the British Prime Suspect episode "The Lost Child". There's only so long they can crib from the Brits since Prime Suspect only aired three standalone stories (and one of those was a follow up to the first season's storyline).
At any rate, we really won't know how good their storytelling really is until probably next week, but it's probably not a great sign that they chose copying over creating right out of the gate.
Haik Mendelovich
September 30, 2011 at 6:42PM EST Reply to CommentLiked it, a lot. Especially that the characters were all painted in shades of grey.
And Bello does a very good job here.
How have we come to the point that letting a quality show live past Week Two is a case of showing "patience"?
ECG
October 1, 2011 at 1:17AM EST Reply to CommentI'm enjoying the show -- I like a well-done procedural, and Maria Bello's great in this. Too bad about the ratings. At least if it does get cancelled, we have the original British version -- I haven't seen it, and watching this has made me curious.
My only concern, and I admit it's early to be worrying about this: I hope it doesn't become a show where Jane solves every case and every other detective is borderline-incompetent, or at least significantly stupider than she is. But I'm certainly willing to stick around to find out if it that happens.
Pessimist
October 1, 2011 at 1:44AM EST Reply to CommentI like this show. I also liked Terriers and Veronica Mars and Firefly. So...my best guess is that this show is doomed.
In all seriousness, though I've watched the original Prime Suspect (years ago) I don't really find myself noticing that this is a remake. I like the character and I like the way they're telling stories with twists and not a pat ending. I hope they do give this show a chance. It's been a long time since NBC had a decent serious drama.
Lauraincabo
October 1, 2011 at 6:11PM EST Reply to CommentSeems like it doesn't take much edginess to drive a show off the networks. I like the show. Love Bello.
I think a lot of the sexism was a stand-in for general cop aggression and machismo, which they can't go into as much as I might like or they wouldn't get the cooperation of the NYPD.
The only network drama I watch is The Good Wife - a fantastic show. I don't see why Prime Suspect wouldn't get good ratings. Pan Am is another network "drama" I liked a lot out of the blocks - more than PS, and I will watch that show. Weird to me Chicago Code didn't make it either.
If Maria Bello's character is too edgy for the alphabets, imagine how Homeland's Clare Danes character would fare.
Trilby
October 2, 2011 at 11:37AM EST Reply to CommentThe episode was well-done but I have already seen this exact plot at least once (The Closer) and probably more. In this show, tho', they made the sex offender overall more sympathetic-- except for the transcript excerpts which were damn creepy.
One gripe I have is that horrible hat she wears. I want to snatch it off her head and beat her with it. Just kidding. Sort of.
xbrooklyngrrl
October 2, 2011 at 12:42PM EST Reply to CommentAwful, awful, awful. The only thing worse than the cartoonish pilot is the formula now established, and done clumsily -- Jane will always be smarter than the men, see the angle they miss, solve the crime while they're busy being gorillas. This suffered even more by comparison to the original, where the sexism was ingrained attitude that slowly eroded in the face of how damn smart, and tenacious, she was. Mirren didn't play her as purposely abrasive, just that to be such a driven woman was going to clash. Mirren was all inner process; Bello is surface.
And the ridiculous ex-wife protecting the kid sub-plot? Boooring already.
And the hat? I, too, want to smack her with it. Not tuning in for episode 3, I get the drift, and I'm surprised as hell that Alan saw this as improvement.
Archie
October 3, 2011 at 10:33AM EST Reply to CommentI found the story had a fair few similarities with an episode of Law and order: UK that aired at least a year ago.