Cush Jumbo delivers a superb performance in Apple’s unsettling drama about police corruption. However, the former Time Lord, whose intense glare is dialed up to the maximum, truly anchors this series.
The second season of “Criminal Record” arrives, winding its way through London’s crime-ridden streets with another atmospheric investigation. At its heart is DCI Daniel Hegarty, portrayed by Peter Capaldi, who stares menacingly through the windshield of his car. While Capaldi’s unsettling presence is a key element, it’s not the only distinguishing feature of this Apple TV drama.
The show effectively portrays London as a city perpetually shrouded in darkness, with conversations, interrogations, and confrontations taking place under the dim glow of faulty streetlights and flickering television screens in tower blocks. Furthermore, it delves into systemic corruption, depicting a pervasive sense of venality that seems to coat everything from the CID’s glass doors to the brows of its junior officers.
The series also explores the nature of control, with DS June Lenker (played by the consistently excellent Cush Jumbo) grappling with questions of who holds power and who should be in charge.