Staggering

Caught the last episode of Prime Suspect on cable the other night, on the Granada channel which we now get. We always have enjoyed the various episodes, though I think the first series remains the most effective.

The last episode was particularly good though with a strong story-line - the one leading to Tennison's (is that how you spell it? - not sure) retirement. Helen Mirren is always impressive, no matter what she's in, and her performance as Tennison is possibly the best thing she's ever done - certainly for the screen, anyway. But what was quite astonishing in the last Prime Suspect was her depiction of her character's drunkenness. She was utterly convincing in at least four distinct states of inebriation, without the slightest sign of 'acting drunk'.

The moment when the suspect she's interviewing simply points out what everyone else knows, that the smell of alcohol in the room comes from her not him, was stunning. Since the viewer can't smell anything, of course, we share her sudden, bitter, realisation that she is not covering up the reality of her condition as effectively as she/we may have assumed, despite her heroic efforts to hold it all together. I'm guessing that many a drunk has had such moments.

The whole thing left me meditating on the horror of alcoholism, recalling people I've known well, as friends, who've had to deal with the condition. I counted five - and one would be too many.