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Gay Girl’s Goggles: “Prime Suspect” SnapCap (1.08)

When only four percent of scripted TV shows feature LGBT characters, what’s a gay girl to do? Why, strap on your gay goggles and watch TV along with us, of course! Our handy appraisal scale is better than any old letter grade. Other sites A+. We say, “What about our lezzy-lady feelings?”

Bad news first: Production is being halted on Prime Suspect and the series in not on NBC’s mid-season schedule. While it’s not officially canceled, it sure doesn’t look good. Not good at all. Production will stop after the 13th episode, which is now being shot. And that’s an enormous bummer.

Good news next: Holy crap, last night’s episode was amazing. This show has expertly kept us off balance, mixing episodes that are intensely personal and intensely procedural. One week it’s almost all back story, the next it’s straight-up detective work. But they’re always adding layers, deepening relationships, building characters. Last night was taught, tense and terrific. My heart was pounding through a good two-thirds of the episode as Det. Timoney and Det. Duffy tried to track down the killer of a young girl’s parents who were visiting the city from upstate New York.

Dammit, I can’t believe they’re probably going to cancel this show.

AFTERELLEN BAIT

Maria Bello swims in a pool in a tank top and boxers. Maria Bello shoots bad guys like a badass. But, you heard the part where I said Maria Bello is in a pool, right?

FEELINGS, FEELINGS, FEELINGS!

Heavens, who had time for feelings? I was just trying to keep my heart from beating out of my chest during this intense, suspenseful episode. Though, it’s a testament to the show’s excellent writing and direction that the action-heavy story stayed nimble enough to juggle in a few flashes of humor and even genuine tug-at-the-heartstrings moments of quiet reflection.

Also, who doesn’t love a road trip? Putting Jane and Reg together all episode and not having them bicker constantly is another testament to this show’s maturity. Most crime procedurals would have played heavily off the animosity between these two. Prime Suspect used it as a chance to not make them buddies, but show their unwavering professionalism. They’re both damn good detectives who do their job and do it well. While they may not really like each other still, they sure as hell have each other’s backs. And we like them both a lot more for that fact. Have I mentioned how pissed I am they’re probably going to cancel this show?

HATITUDE

So we knew Jane was an excellent shot, and this episode she got to show it. This episode featured not one, but two gritty gun fights. In the first, the little girl is ambushed in her hotel room and the team must shoot its way to safety. Jane goes out to flank the shooter, and Reg ultimately guns him down as he bears down on her. Then, in the basement of the hospital, Jane, the victim and a nurse hide from the killer in a breathless game of cat-and-mouse. There Jane prevails not with firepower but with brainpower, simply outsmarting the killer. Though, of course, it doesn’t hurt that she sure knows how to handle that gun.

THAT GUMSHOE THING

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: I love that the detectives on this show solve cases not because they’re somehow supernaturally imbued with a special skill, but they just work harder, think faster, observe better than the bad guys. Jane and Reg work well as a team here, working the evidence, working the witness, working their leads. It also showed how a tough case like this can take it out of them, as they sit exhausted with shaking hands in the hospital. It’s such a humanizing scene, not just for Reg and Jane but for the idea that all cops are just people trying their hardest in extraordinary situations.

OK, sure, I figured out the killer was the deputy as soon as he walked in with that ridiculously big shotgun. But the execution of the final showdown was so well done, it didn’t matter that you saw it coming. And while you knew they probably wouldn’t kill the little girl (wounding is one thing, killing is another) and definitely weren’t going to kill Jane (though, given this recent news — who knows), it was still spectacularly suspenseful. Also, look at this face? You know anything involving this face is gonna be good.

Dammit, I can’t believe they’re going to probably cancel this show.

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