Criminal Record

Criminal Record doesn’t traffic in binary characterizations; neither June nor her nemesis are as good or as bad as they seem. Both make assumptions about the other and regularly circumvent the rules to further their agenda, and I toggled at least four times between believing one’s version of events over the other’s. The uncertainty adds a tantalizing layer of tension to June and Hegarty’s many clashes, as does the thrill of watching Jumbo and Capaldi face off.

Now that we know not to trust either Hegarty or Lenker, the tension is, this time round, even greater. Suspense builds, continues to build and then – flamin’ Nora – builds some more.

Cleverly walks this line throughout its solid first season, juggling the issues of race, bias, and ethics with dexterity as it builds its central puzzle. That juggling act is occasionally bungled a bit by the show’s heavy-handedness, but even amid its most forced winks at the audience, Criminal Record holds itself up with a tremendous pair of central performances.

All the elements needed for a great, compulsive police drama are there: undercurrents of wrongdoing by those in power, exposed by an underdog copper against all the odds… with lots of action added in for extra oomph. If it was on a more mainstream channel, its success would be inevitable.

Criminal Record is as relevant as it is suspenseful, crackling whenever Jumbo and Capaldi share the screen. [8 - 28 Jan, p.8]

The resolution, when it finally comes, is unsatisfying. After eight episodes, the thinness of the show’s ambitions are revealed.

What might be a knotty enough case to sustain a two-hour movie or a four-episode arc within a longer drama starts to drag over eight hours. Which might be more forgivable if the world of the show were engaging enough to stand on its own merits — but despite creator Paul Rutman’s ear for natural-sounding dialogue, his characters hardly seem to deepen past the ideas they’re meant to represent.

Two great leads in Jumbo and Capaldi. Great writing that touches on the layers of racism, power, sexism that exist all around us.

Excellent acting from all but a plot and storyline that was very stale and desperate to show its woke campaigning credentials. The script was therefore tired to the point of being moribund and one that became tediously predictable after the first episode. Yet again we have the white cops = racist and evil whilst no member of any minority can possibly be shown as a culprit . In this series there was not a single significant white character who wasn't contemptible and evil or at the most charitable, deeply misguided. By contrast, all those of minority heritages were admirable, sypathetic and guilty only of resisting the "racist oppression of the fascist British state". Yawn! Really, in spite of one or two clever twists, this plot suffered badly from the now mandatory requirement to comply wth these appalling sterotypes to get anything produced by UK companies and that's a pity. Nobody disputes that these messages are of value and meaningful in today's society but must they a) be so crudely handled seemingly assuming that all viewers are stupid and b) so all-pervasive in every single drama we now see? One keeps hoping for change in this dimension but there is no sign of it yet on the horizon.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

the cultural impact of the last of us. this felt like watching a video game (derogatory)