As the episode begins, Ray Lennox (Dougray Scott) talks about interviewing someone like Richie Gulliver (Derek Riddell) who is in the gutter. Once the interview begins, Richie is asked about his relationship with Graham Cornell. Richie tells Ray they’ve both been through the fellowship as we see a flashback of them during the meeting. Ray asks him where he stops getting his kicks. Richie knows Ray doesn’t like him and suspects it has something to do with one of his parents being a Bolshevik. Ray explains he held a dead child in his arms yesterday and he has to actively dislike Richie if he had anything to do with that. He recommends Richie removing himself from his sights. Richie explains his attorney, Ralf Wilberforce, is coming and he won’t say anything else until he arrived. He believes his woke friend will tear the fascist people a new one.

Bob Toal (Ken Stott) pulls Ray aside and warns him he has gone cowboy on him for the last time. Since Richie is a part of the police committee, Bob is worried they’re all screwed. He wants Amanda Drummond (Joanna Vanderham) interviewing Richie although Ray claims to know the suspect. Bob believes Ray has an agenda with him so Ray says it isn’t to protect him. Ray accuses his boss of doing more politicking than policing before Amanda is brought in to interview Richie. They watch as Amanda introduces herself to Richie who says he is a member of the Scottish Parliament and police committee. He argues they’re on the same side. She begins asking him where he was at when Britney was taken. Dougie Gillman (Jamie Sives) joins Ray and reminds him he used to enjoy interviewing people like Richie.

Dougie claims it is an obsequious woke liberal against an over-privileged Tory prick. Bob calls them dinosaurs while saying Amanda is the future of policing and Ray is on the committee. When Ralf arrives, Dougie promises to take him on the scenic route so they’ll have more time with Richie. Dougie approaches Ralf, asks about his racist client, and begins leading him in the wrong direction. When he complains about his client’s time being wasted, Dougie makes it clear he doesn’t care because he is investigating a murder and his time is being wasted too. A worker drops some pipes as Dougie says workers don’t care and that is why Britain is one of the world’s shithole countries. They come across a door that Dougie asks Ralf to open. He tells him to pull it like he’d pull a person of color off his sister although Ralf tells him he can’t say that because it is racist.

Dougie throws it back by asking how it feels to defend that type of racism in court. Meanwhile, Ray pleads with Bob to let him have a shot at Richie, but Bob refuses. Dougie tells Ralf they’ll likely find more racism in the courts than the people on the force today. Ralf claims everyone deserves justice. Dougie says they depend on people like him to clean up their dirty work and they’ll do it with grace if they’re being paid. Then, they run into Louis Leblanc (Reginal Kudiwu) who Dougie calls a French wanker. They talk about Dougie and the stuff he does, but Dougie insists he wouldn’t talk to Louis about that. Once that conversation ends, Dougie fist bumps Louis. In the interview room, Richie denies having any knowledge of their prime suspect Graham Cornell. Amanda asks why it is so hard for him to tell them where he was when Britney Hamil vanished as Bob cries that he is going to lose his job.

Ralf complains about Dougie’s racist, sexist language as he gets closer to the interview room. Richie tells Amanda he likes her style so he agrees to tell her where he was at the time. He claims he was at the St. Andrews Hotel. He refuses to answer any more questions. Ray goes to Gill so she can try to corroborate Richie’s statement. Ralf finally reaches his client before Richie tells Drummond she could go far in this organization if she plays nice with the right friends. Dougie joins the others briefly until Bob reminds him he has a killer to catch. While Bob says he doesn’t know why Richie is defending Cornell, Ray says they’re lovers and Richie owns an S&M den that is full of instruments for inflicting pain. Gillian arrives and tells them that Richie’s alibi checks out and he wasn’t seen with anyone at the hotel.

Bob finally allows Ray to enter the interview room although he wants him to play nicely and smooth things over. He doesn’t say whether he knows Cornell or thinks he might’ve killed Britney. He isn’t sure why it matters what he thinks. Ray tells him that Cornell is their primary suspect. Bob freaks out as Ray begins asking about Cornell and his sexual preferences. Ray believes Cornell is bringing sexual victims to an accomplice. Richie is asked about his S&M den while Bob moans in the other room. Richie says it was games between consenting adults. When he tells Ray to mind his business, Ray asks if he likes inflicting pain and whether there is always a human and social cost. Ray knows Cornell doesn’t fit their profile because they’re looking for a sexually deviant, entitled man. In a flashback to one of Ray’s meetings, Richie says he likes picking up prostitutes and rent boys.

He admits he uses them and likes making them bleed. Richie believes the only role for those people is to be consumed. Ray repeats his words in the interview room just before the interview ends. Dougie looks through the video footage and shows Louis the video of the man who likely killed Fabby and Gaston. He calls Stuart McCorkel (Michael Abubakar) in and asks him to find out what he can about the man. Richie visits Bob and tells him in private that what happened in there was totally unacceptable. Although Richie says he wants Lennox off the case, Bob says that isn’t going to happen. Gulliver says he did nothing and doesn’t want any of his personal relationships coming out. Bob promises it won’t come out from the police if Graham has an alibi for the day of Britney’s murder. When Richie leaves, Ray enters and learns Richie wants him removed from the case. When he learns about Bob’s decision, he tells him he appreciates him sticking his neck out for them every day.

Once he leaves, Louis and Dougie enter a restaurant and get a picture of the alleged killer from Stuart McCorkel. The man’s name is Georges Fournier and Dougie is confident he is French. Ray goes back home and looks over the evidence on his wall while complaining he never sees what he wants to see. He remembers pushing his bike through the train tunnel with his friend when he was much younger. Then, he goes to the pub and orders a beer. He calls Trudi (Angela Griffin) and asks if she wants to come over. While he sits and waits, he gets a visit from Alex (Reuben Joseph) who gives him something. It looks like Ray never drinks any of the alcohol. Ray meets Trudi and tells her he is glad she is there because it was a bad day. He cries on her shoulder while admitting they’re not any closer to finding out who killed Britney. Ralf visits Bob to tell him he is going to file an official complaint against DI Gillman who is a sociopath racist.

Bob calls Dougie and tells him to come to his office right away. Ray tells Amanda that Gulliver is a piece of crap although he thinks his judgment might be clouded. In another flashback, Richie tells the others at the meeting that he isn’t like them because he has money, power, and connections. He calls them losers and decides to leave so he can attend his 10,000-euro a week clinic to detoxify. Amanda can’t understand why Richie would cover it up to prevent his relationship with Cornell from coming out. At work, Trudi notices Estelle and McKendrick talking to a young woman about inappropriate things. They want to make sure that Carly is going to attend the party. Dougie visits Bob and insists it will be his word against Ralf’s word. Bob reminds him that it’ll have to go through procedures. Carly visits Trudi and begins crying as she says she believes she is being sexually harassed by a woman and man.

She can’t go to the head of HR because it is Estelle. As Estelle walks by, she knocks on the window and smiles at them. When Ray visits Bob, he is told that he has made Bob’s difficult job impossible. Ray says they’re working on this day and night. He also believes Britney’s killer could be a multiple murderer who is getting closer to his end game. Bob doesn’t want to hear about his serial killer fantasies and would prefer they track down Graham Cornell right now. Amanda gets a call from Angela Hamil (Emma Hartley-Miller) who complains that Tessa has gone missing. She lets Ray and Bob listen to the call before they rush to the Hamil house. Ray tells Amanda to stay with Angela while he searches for Tessa. He finds her sitting on the swing nearby and joins her. Ray admits he felt bad himself once when he was a bit younger than she is right now. We see the flashback of the train tunnel again as Ray says it is hard being the one who got away. He insists it isn’t her fault as Tessa says she is afraid he’ll come after her sometimes. She wishes he would so she could gouge his eyes out.

Ray isn’t sure Britney would want that though. Britney would want her to have a good life and live well. He is confident Britney wouldn’t want that creep to ruin her sister’s life like she ruined hers. Before they return to the Hamil house, Tessa hugs Ray. Once Tessa is returned home, Angela gets a call from Graham who confirms he is coming back. Ray drives to Graham’s place, prays, and snorts a line of coke so he can catch the nonce. He goes inside and waits for Graham to arrive. When he does, Ray welcomes him home and a chase begins. Graham finds himself stuck so he threatens to jump over the ledge. Ray calls him a child-murdering nonce although Graham denies it. He explains they need Graham to help his friend Angela. They return to Ray’s vehicle and Graham is asked about his whereabouts on Thursday, April 29. He insists he loved that girl and would never hurt her. He doesn’t think Richie would be involved either because he loves him.

Graham believes Richie is going to leave his wife since they’re in a political marriage of convenience. Ray sees the baseball bat in the back and suggests he needs to make Graham see sense. He meets with Richie and agrees that they might be able to help one another. Ray explains he wants to cross Cornell off his list. Richie agrees to talk if nothing comes out about his relationship with Graham Cornell. Graham listens to the conversation as Richie calls him a weak idiot. He goes on to say Graham means nothing to him and he would give him to the police in a second if he knew where he was. If Graham went to prison for the murder of that girl, Richie believes his life would be much easier. Still, he admits they were together when the girl disappeared. As Richie gets out, he tells Ray he is glad they’re on the same page. Then, Graham begins attacking him with the baseball bat as photographers take pictures of it.

Ray laughs about it as he leaves. Later, he gets a call from Amanda who confirms they got Cornell after he attacked Richie Gulliver. Ray admits that means they can now eliminate Gulliver and Cornell as suspects since they were at the motel together. He says they have no suspects so they need to find out what they can about the white van. Next, he meets with Trudi and warns her that the dinner date with his family is going to be strange. They go to the restaurant where Trudi is introduced to his sister Jackie, his mother Avril, and his brother-in-law Angus. Ray refuses alcohol from the server while Trudi talks to his family about Ray’s father working on the railways. Once John arrives, Trudi talks to him about his work at British Rail. Trudi learns that they’re waiting for Ray’s brother Stuart (Stuart Martin). Once he finally joins them, he begins going after Ray because of his job as a police officer.

Meanwhile, Amanda finds a picture of the back of the van from a bus’s camera. Ray’s brother accuses him of crapping on the rich and protecting the poor. Although the others try to change the conversation, Ray’s brother keeps poking at him. Ray reveals his brother is an actor and he regularly plays drug addicts and multiple rapists. Ray says he locks up people like that and doesn’t try to be them. Once the dinner ends, Trudi tells Ray she is proud of him because he didn’t drink although she knows he wanted to. She asks him what he does when he has hunches when working a case. He replies that he begins collecting evidence. He believes everyone is hiding something although he insists he isn’t hiding anything from her.

As they walk along, Ray smiles when he sees a newspaper sign about Richie being attacked by his secret gay lover. Richie steps outside with his wife Samantha (Sharon Young) who calls the allegations disgusting and confirms she is going to stick by her husband. When they step back inside, she asks how many times he screwed Graham before coming home and sleeping with her. Ray returns home and has sex with Trudi until Amanda bangs on the door and interrupts. She shows him the image that was taken from the camera on the roundabout that was reflected in the window of a bus. Ray looks at it and sees the van’s license plate. It was caught on CCTV an hour ago entering an industrial estate outside Leeds. She points out the fact that the van has a scuff mark like the one that was used to kidnap Britney. She is told to call Yorkshire Serious Crimes and get them down there.

He is going to get dressed so she can drive them down there immediately. Ray says some killers like to leave breadcrumbs for the idiots out there. He just hunts them down and will never stop.

 

Crime Review

I am confident Crime could’ve been a thrilling crime drama that kept viewers on the edge of their seats from the first second to the last, but it hasn’t lived up to its potential. Since I’ve already come this far, it would be a waste not to finish the series. Nevertheless, Crime has been a disappointment because it could’ve been spectacular. The biggest problem is the fact they decided to make the show six episodes and opened the door for an unreasonable amount of filler.

There are just so many things going on that really won’t matter and none of them are particularly interesting. We had Gary Franklin falsely confessing to the murder and that went nowhere. Then, we had the whole Graham and Richie scenario going on since the beginning and that is going to go nowhere. The episode felt like political satire with Dougie running around saying racist things just for the sake of it. Then, we just knew that Richie Gulliver was somehow going to get brought down to size because he was on the wrong side of the political spectrum.

Why didn’t they just get the van picture earlier instead of giving us the runaround for so long? The pacing is also odd. For instance, they just happen to be at Angela’s house when she learns Graham is returning home. Unfortunately, these convenient twists happen far too often and it feels like shoddy writing.

Since there were many great performances in Crime, the actors and actresses were ultimately let down by a weak script and bad dialogue. It isn’t the worst show, but it is a big disappointment considering how good it could’ve and should’ve been. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. All recaps of Crime can be found on Reel Mockery here.