By: Ally B.

If you haven’t checked out BBC2's The Fall (now on Netflix as well), drop everything you’re doing and start streaming it immediately. The dark crime drama follows Detective Stella Gibson, played by the always incredible Gillian Anderson, as she fights to find a serial killer strangling women throughout Belfast. Although the show falls into the seemingly always present trap of depicting (and often glamorizing) violence against women, this series offers an incredible cast, a nail-biting story line, and most importantly, an ass-kicking stereotype-busting multifaceted heroine to boot.

Gillian gives life to Detective Gibson’s character and deserves some sort of medal for spending an entire series being a BAMF who smacks down sexism whenever she encounters it. While by no means perfect, she has quickly become one of my media sheroes. Without giving away the dirty details of the show, here are five times Gibson smashed sexism and misogyny on Season 1 of The Fall.

1. She isn’t having any of your bullshit double-standards on sex and one-night stands. After having a brief affair with a cop early in the series, Detective Gibson is judged by her male colleagues for having had sex with the cop in question. But when they confront her about it– she isn’t having any of their ridiculous double-standards on sex. She calls it out for what it is:

2. She calls out victim-blaming, sexism in the media and their role in perpetuating violence against women. When looking at the histories of the victims of the crimes they are investigating, some of the male cops are quick to rush to judgment and blame the victim– but Detective Gibson is having none of that. She immediately points out that they are victim blaming and how damaging that is:

3. She isn’t afraid to tell it like it is- and that means telling someone to get lost when she needs to. Because Stella Gibson doesn’t owe you shit, dude.

4. Her relationships and support of other women take center-stage. Throughout the series, Stella develops professional and personal relationships with other women that show the power of women supporting each other in the workplace. They act as allies, advocates for each other, and even emotional support when the occasion arises. Not to mention that one of these women is played by the absolutely amazing Archie Punjabi (who you might recognize from The Good Wife).

5. When the police force displays casual sexism and misogyny, she checks them. Because really, who has time for that when you’re trying to catch a serial killer? One of the most compelling aspects of the series is the way many within the police force mirror the same misogyny displayed by the killer himself, and this sort of casual and institutionalized sexism that is a major obstacle to them finding him. However, Stella always calls it out when she sees it: