Criminal Record is back today.
Television is positively bursting with crime dramas, from cosy mysteries and familiar procedurals, to cold-case dramas and whodunnits. With viewers already spoiled for choice when it comes to quality options in this space, itâs easy to see why some series, however excellent they might be, can fall through the cracks. But one of the most underrated crime series of the past few years is returning to our screens for a second season, and itâs better than ever this time around.
Apple TVâs Criminal Record may have gotten a little lost in the shuffle of some of the streamerâs bigger, buzzier titles, but weâd argue that the series is one of the streamerâs best. Blending elements from across the crime genre, itâs a drama that doesnât fit particularly neatly into any pre-existing box.
Simultaneously wrestling with questions of legacy and generational change within the police force, and digging into the specifics of a wrongful conviction case, the dramaâs first season delighted in playing with expectations about what kind of show we were watching, and whose perspective we were meant to trust.
Its second outing does much the same, forcing the previously at odds DCI Daniel Hegarty (Peter Capaldi) and DS June Lenker (Cush Jumbo) to work together on a case that quickly spirals outward to encompass a much more potentially devastating crime.
Despite the revelation that he falsified evidence at the conclusion of last season, Hegarty hasnât been pushed out of power, but merely reassigned. Now working for the intelligence division, heâs got his finger in everything from monitoring hate groups to weapons tracking, wielding power for the alleged âgreater goodâ with little concern for how many rules and/or norms he has to break along the way.
Lenker, for her part, is more sure of herself and her instincts than when last we saw her, but sheâs still haunted by the events of the showâs first season, most notably when it comes to her relationships with her husband (Stephen Campbell Moore) and son (Jordan A. Nash).
A darker and more ambitious outing than its predecessor, Criminal Record season two wrestles with uncomfortably timely questions. As the season progresses, difficult compromises are made, shocking relationships are revealed, and questions are asked about what trade-offs weâre all willing to make in the name of public safety.
If season one was about looking inward at systemic failures, Criminal Recordâs second season turns that focus outward, blurring moral lines as our leads are faced with a series of increasingly impossible choices and a complex undercover operation that involves working with some objectively shady collaborators.
By putting Hegarty and Lenker, at least nominally, on the same side, Criminal Recordâs second season gives us more of what made the first so compelling â Capaldi and Jumbo sharing scenes together.
