The Wasteland

While never hopeful about the offerings on network television occasionally even this degraded media manages to provide some relief from the tedious fashions of real housewives, forensic crime,vampires and gossip. Recently Justified and Terriers were examples of the possibility of interesting and well executed narratives.

This season’s exemplar is Prime Suspect, an obvious derivative of the successful Helen Mirren/BBC detective series. And if you count BBC America’s The Hour and Luther there has been a relative overabundance of watchable stories.Prime Suspect’s US version brings us the arresting visage of Maria Bello as a NYPD detective who has been assigned to a new precinct where she struggles to overcome the inbred machismo of her new colleagues as well as their belief that she earned her new slot unfairly.

Reportedy Prime Suspect is close to being canceled thus reducing this season’s watchable television down to Law and Order reruns (The BBC America shows had 6 and 4 episodes runs) Maria Bello explains the character she plays and her belief in this story.