The Prime Suspect series ran from 1991-2006 with a break from 1997-2003 when Helen Mirren broke off to try some other options, leaving DCI Jane Tennison momentarily. Acorn Media now releases the complete series for the first time with nine stories on nine discs plus an additional hour-long behind-the-scenes special. The winner of eight BAFTAs and seven Emmys, the show also boasts some other major players over the course of its run, like Tom Wilkinson (as Tennison's beleaguered husband), Ralph Fiennes, Johnny Lee Miller, and Mark Strong, who American audiences have come to know and love as well. Better known than La Plante's "other" work, Trial & Retribution, Prime Suspect refuses to tread lightly and goes straight at the issues of -isms and evil that rise up against Tennison's fiery inspector.

Americans who have fallen in love with Kyra Sedgwick's closer Brenda Johnson should definitely check this one out. They'll already be used to the ways that women in authority and power within the police department are segregated, verbally abused, and otherwise discriminated against. But instead of a weak Southern accent and a more accomplished husband, Mirren dominates the screen with her strong will and her more elaborate character. Maybe Sedgwick shouldn't be blamed; maybe instead La Plante should be praised for her character and screenwriting.

Tennison goes from being a complete target of all male hate in the first series to being a cop who is respected by those who work for (and below) her but still struggles with the tension of being a female in a male-dominated world. The first case provides a broad overview (and some specifics) of the issues that she faces, while showing the way that her family life and other relationships are completely broken apart by her love and dedication for her job. Similar to Blue Murder, where a female proponent finds success and rises to each and every occasion professionally but loses every other meaningful idea, Prime Suspect shows how isolating, terrifying, and painful it can be to stand in the gap against the forces of evil.

While the pace of the shows is slower, the character development is much more complete than the average American fare. Sure, there are the typical good-versus-evil ideas that the average criminal investigation will provide you, but the loss that Tennison experiences seem to be regular casualties of the job... well, that's pretty wild. It's entertaining, but it's also painful to watch, and the things that Tennison gives up are both results of her brokenness and casualties of a life given completely to her mission, her calling.

Would you make the same decisions? That's the question that I'm left asking. Would you sacrifice everything to make a difference, to pursue truth and battle evil to the fullest? Where do you draw the line? Tennison will pursue her "gospel" and lay down every element of her life at the risk of her own unhappiness, just so that good will prevail and she can follow through on the job she must do to make the city safe and the streets bright again. It's heady stuff from the queen of British acting, and the overall development is sure to make more recent fans of Mirren's acting fall in love all over again.