Criminal Review: A Great View of Justice Through the Looking Glass

Digging deep and finding the truth when the clock is against you finds four distinct group of investigators using everything in their toolkit to find the confession they need to secure. Criminal is comprised of four different parts: Criminal: United Kingdom, Criminal: Spain, Criminal: Germany, and Criminal: France.

Over the course of its twelve episodes (ten of them provided for review), the difference of approach becomes a fascinating ballet of minds caught in a single room attempting to shroud and deflect while the walls of that room close down upon them.

Each episode takes place in three rooms: the interview room, the operations room on the other side of the glass, and the hallway leading to both rooms and the elevator. All four languages curiously take place in the same location, but it’s never a distraction, more a character itself as you get to know its layout so well. It’s almost like a play in that regard, using the same stage to tell so many different stories.

What Criminal gets so right is the pressure of the time limit, the pressure of securing a confession when the person across the table has every incentive to remain silent and push through question after question.

The show manages to tackle in small, effective doses a throughline within its mostly episodic structure, where interpersonal relationships plague the teams and help gauge who they are outside of the interrogation room. The show cleverly lets the interviews, and the outside reactions, contribute to better understanding the team, as their empathy or prejudices are slowly exposed just as much as the suspects’.

The most illuminating and thoughtful of the four is Criminal: Spain, which uses its time on the fringes of the interviews and cases to tell a story about corruption and what’s deemed right in order to secure what’s needed. Each piece of the overall show plays to this in some form, the idea of doing the right thing versus doing what’s right in the moment for justice, but it’s with the Spain version where it finds the most impact.

Each episode tackles a new crime to solve, and usually it’s mostly resolved by episode’s close. The best one to start with may be Criminal: United Kingdom, as it has less of a sense of dropping into the deep end than the other versions with its slow burn of David Tennant’s interview.

The cast is absolutely pitch perfect on both sides of the equation, their every move something to be scrutinized and noticed so that we, too, notice them. The way the show is filmed draws attention to the more subtle work being done by the performances, making everything mean something of import. It’s a sign of a great show when you’re picking up on little hints that become rewarding later on.

Criminal, with its entirety, is a moody look at the lengths and tactics that must be used to follow the truth to its rightful destination. It’s a smart and tight show, using every minute with purpose and taking care to always make it about the characters.

With an eye dedicated to the performances and a thrilling score coming in at just the right time, Criminal finds itself as a series that could benefit from seeing more of these four teams as they wrestle the truth into the light. There’s something thrilling and unique here, an impressive answer to where cop shows can potentially head to next.

 

What did you think of Criminal? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Criminal streams Friday, September 20th on Netflix.

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