In yet another subtle, powerful performance, Oscar-winner Helen Mirren truly inhabits the role of Detective Superintendent Jane Tennison. The Final Act finds her searching for Sallie Sturdy, a 14-year-old girl presumed murdered. Facing the hospitalization of her father, descending deeper into alcoholism, and resisting pressure to retire quietly, Tennison vows bring Sallie's killer to justice before ending her career. Along the way she forges a surprising friendship with Penny Philips (Laura Greenwood), this missing girl's best friend. In the teenager's longing and fierce independence, the aging cop sees something of her younger self.

Jane Tennison emerges as a deeply flawed but ultimately sympathetic human being - one who accepts responsibility for her choices, knowing full well the price she and others have paid for each. The Final Act serves as the perfectly fitting conclusion to what some critics have called the best crime series ever televised.