Customer Reviews

Prime Suspect Series 4 (The Lost Child, Inner Circles, Scent of Darkness) [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Prime Suspect 4 was different from the prior three series as this had three stories and three episodes instead of one story presented over 3 episodes. Superintendent Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren) is the no nonsense head detective that sees through the muck to find the killer despite her superior's lack of support.

The Lost Child - Directed by Shakespeare in Love's John Madden. In the usual Prime Suspect twist, Jane has just had an abortion and on her return she is assigned a child abduction case. The Prime Suspect is a man that physically abused his stepdaughter, Chris Hughes (Robert Glenister) but his current girlfriend has given him a solid alibi. When the baby is found dead in a sluice, Jane puts the investigation into overdrive. But when an overzealous police officer shows Hughes' girlfriend a therapy tape, she recants her alibi. This sends the team after the wrong man.

Inner Circles - After a pair of intruders are caught, the owners dead body is found. When the local DCI is "otherwise engaged," Jane is brought in and she is more interested in who did it than keeping the peace of the quiet town. The country club inner circle wants the murder to be charged on the intruders but the facts do not support this. In fact, the victim had financial problems and was involved in a notorious counsel land deal. When Jane figures it out, the killer himself has been murdered. Now she has to prove who was behind it all.

The Scent of Darkness - A woman's body is found and everything points the killer to be Marlowe. But Marlowe is in jail (see Prime Suspect 1). Now Jane has to figure out who is the copycat killer. And is there an additional motive behind the killing. When Jane refuses to consider the new murders could be linked to the old, a member of team leaks details of the murders. Or is it her new boyfriend. Jane gets taken off the case but she continues to investigate and finds out the reason Marlowe was killing his victims. But now she needs to put together the reason why the new murders are happening.

Prime Suspect is the best police drama ever. Saying these are not as good as the first two is like comparing two fine wines. These are still better than anything you will find on television. Helen Mirren has created a detective of great insight that is battling a sexist hierarchy. Tennison's bosses know that she is the best but cannot give acknowledgement of this to a woman. Therefore, when she is in charge, she takes no guff and no prisoners.

DVD EXTRAS: None

The three stories in this installment of the Prime Suspect series are intense, absorbing, beautifully done. As mentioned in other reviews, the re-casting of the George Marlowe character in 'The Scent of Darkness' is strange, but not fatal to the telling of the tale.

Warning: there are no extras whatsoever in this DVD set (which is why I give it four instead of five stars) -- no commentary, no language/subtitles options, no additional features re: the making or the people involved in the making of, nothing. Just three excellent Jane Tennyson stories.

Another reviewer at Amazon was exactly right in pinpointing the weakness of this entry in the series as being the decision to revisit the Marlowe character from Prime Suspect 1 but with a different actor playing him. The first Marlowe had such an interesting ambiguity, a likeability and seeming sympathy, that this one, albeit a good actor, unfortunately can not match. That said, however, that the actual crime being investigated is the least convincing part of Prime Suspect 4 doesn't lessen the episode's impact. Prime Suspect's "not as good" is still loads better than most other crime dramas, the reason being that Jane Tennison is such a compelling character and she is surrounded with equally complex supporting figures. Several of the key cast members in Prime Suspect 4 are detectives and superior officers that we've gotten to know in the preceding episodes. The fact that the case necessitates a re-opening of the Marlowe case, the case upon which Tennison's career as a D.C.I. was established, makes this an even more intimate look at her personality, how she works with her colleagues and how that, combined with departmental politics, impact on her approach and effectiveness in her work. Her private life takes on more significance here for her current lover, a psychologist, has participated in a book written on the case. The intelligence of the series, however, is that we are seeing more of her personal life not to make this into a chick flick melodrama but to examine more closely the workings of her professional world and her particular place in it both as a woman and as the very individual woman she is.
And yes, Jane is still having some issues with smoking.

Don't worry--Helen Mirren is as electrifying in this three episode series as she ever was. This series raises the bar on police detective drama--the psychological intensity and complexity are second to none!!

I like Helen Mirren's character of Jane Tennison so much that I have begun collecting the entire series. Her character is very intense, very thorough, brilliant, and at times frustratingly obnoxious, but I think that she is the best female detective to hit the airways. I realize that she only makes one or two "Prime Suspect" movies a year, but every one that I have seen exceptional and worth the wait.

Unusually this Prime Suspect series was three separate stories - unlike all the other series. however it did not detract from the very professional and lifelike acting. The last story was the weakest (although still good) as it referred back to the original Prime Suspect - the reason the story was weak was that George Marlow was played by a different actor. Obviously it took a long time to recreate the animosity between Jane Tennison and George. The first two stories were great, well written and very well acted. The subject matter was very direct and there were no holds bar filming in what people would feel in the real circumstance.

I would recommend this set of videos to anyone who likes police dramas that are realistic.

I think that the Prime Suspect series of police procedurals are some of the best ones I've ever seen (the Inspector Lynley series is also great but those are a bit different than the PS ones). This particular season has three stories:

"The Lost Child": This is probably the most intense and disturbing. A child is apparently abducted and events conspire to finger a man who had a past record of sexually abusing a child...but did he kidnap this baby? (special warning: there is a scene in which this character is shown in a therapy session discussing his fixation on a young child that some people might find extremely tough to watch) The story ends with a real bang...an extraordinarily tense hostage situation.

"Inner Circles": The former manager of a posh country club is found brutally murdered. The upscale denizens of the club are eager to see the crime blamed on juvenile delinquents from a poor housing estate. Yet Tennison senses that the killers are from somewhere else. This episode features one of the most ice cold villains in the series (right up with George Marlow from the first --the pleasant sociopath).

"Scent of Darkness": This was the one that I didn't think was as strong as the first two (but certainly worthwhile entertainment). A series of killings hauntingly similar to the ones George Marlow committed in PSI are taking place. People are beginning to doubt that Marlow was the real killer. Can Tennison find the truth?

If you are looking for cozy British mysteries where murder comes across as a sort of game, Prime Suspect is not for you. But if you are looking for some very tense and realistic police dramas, this is well-worth watching.

Well written, well acted and an engrossing tale. Its not easy to keep the pace up on Mk's 2,3,4 and so forth and sometimes they trade on the initial success, this is not the case here and this well worth the watching.

More of a wonderful actress. She is not afraid to say what she thinks in a man's world. Her entire series is Good.

I cannot stand commercial TV these days. I guess the operative word is "commercial." Stacking 6 to 9 ads every 13 minutes has driven me over the wall. What to do? I read reviews on various DVD series. I found one series particularly well written, scripted, directed and acted; Prime Suspect with Helen Mirrin. It is a series from England about a woman detective trying to make her way in what was traditionally a man's world. She asks for no quarter and gives none. She's very human and realistic in her role. Both my wife and I got caught up with the characters and the stories and have obtained all the sets of this series. Viewing the last show was like having a death in the family.