As the 5th episode of Crime begins, Ray Lennox (Dougray Scott) talks about evil while the man they believe is Confectioner retrieves his glasses in the interview room. Ray identifies him as Gareth Horsburgh (John Simm) who is a divorced civil servant from Leeds before showing him a picture of Kylie (Kayla Caldwell). Gareth laughs and tells Ray that the game has begun. Dougie Gillman (Jamie Sives) and Bob Toal (Ken Stott) listen as Ray says Kylie doesn’t fit his profile because she is too young. Ray suspects Gareth took the little girl because he wanted something else. Gareth admits he wants a pipe and tobacco while saying he likes a good shag. He also wants a proper meal. When Ray asks if he wants anything else, Gareth tells him that he needs him. Ray gives Amanda Drummond (Joanna Vanderham) the list so she can get the things Gareth wants.

When Amanda leaves the interview room, Gareth accuses Ray of treating a female coworker like a tea girl. He goes on to say his behavior towards women leaves a lot to be desired. Then, he tells Ray he has a nice notepad. Gareth admits he likes girls more than he likes those notepads. After Ray asks if he loves them so much that he murders them, Gareth only says toys break easily. He begins singing before telling Ray he’ll play whatever games he wants to play if he wants to see that little girl alive again. Ray argues that the girl’s death won’t be good for either of them, but Gareth says he won’t lose anything. He tells him about the islands and encourages Ray to look a little closer to home. Ray is warned that the death will be on his hands if he can’t work out the riddle. He figures it out, grabs keys from Stuart McCorkel (Michael Abubakar), and drives away from the police station on a motorcycle.

Once he arrives, he hears a little girl screaming and it looks like Kylie is tied to a rock in the water. Meanwhile, Gareth smokes his pipe while talking to Amanda about organizations and how they fascinate him. Amanda changes the subject to ask Gareth where he was on the morning of Thursday, April 29. Gareth looks at Stuart and says the lad should be a dynamic young gun, but he isn’t. He suspects Stuart’s lack of confidence has stopped him from climbing the ladder. Stuart tries to discuss the murders. Gareth won’t let him. He wonders if Stuart has a lack of experience with women. Stuart admits he is a bit unlucky in that department because he has been focused on his career. Gareth suggests slapping women to make them too dizzy to say no since that is how he started. He turns to Amanda who he believes is a different animal before describing her as ambitious and dynamic.

Gareth explains Amanda knows workplace politics and will know when to make her move. Ray searches for Kylie, finds her, and cuts the ropes to free her. As he carries her out of the water, he says the bad man is gone and she is going back to her mommy’s. He calls and confirms he has her while Gareth suggests he should have her by now. Gareth asks her whether she would sleep with him to get on. She responds that he sees everything sexually and asks whether he had a satisfactory sexual relationship with his ex-wife. He comments that marriage doesn’t do sex life any favors although work is a different matter. Gillman complains that he’ll play these games all day and he’d prefer to go in and cut off his air supply. Ray goes to the bathroom and takes two pills. Amanda asks Gareth about his attractions and whether he is aroused by young women more than children.

She suggests it might be a power thing before saying men who like children usually have small penises. After Ray enters the room, Gareth says his name came up when they were talking about small penises. Ray shows him the picture of Kylie with her mom and immediately arrests him for the abduction and attempted murder of Kylie Jones. When he is offered a lawyer, Gareth admits he disdains them. He tells Ray they’re just getting to know each other before asking how the feisty little tyke was. Ray asks why he wanted him so Gareth explains his work is a Picasso and he wants to make sure he is the right person to tell his story to. He admits he has been doing this for a long time and the world needs to know, but he isn’t going to spill to just anyone.

He asks Ray to talk about himself. Ray asks for something first although Gareth says he gave him the little girl. Ray wants to make sure he is the real deal, so Gareth begins talking about Hazel Lloyd and claims she was one of his. He won’t tell them where she is at though. Seconds later, Trudi (Angela Griffin) gets a visit from Estelle (Allison McKenzie) who admits she has done something terrible. Trudi agrees with her and reveals a lot of people likely know by now. Trudi knows she messed up but doesn’t think Estelle should get to play the victim here. Although Estelle says it was only a joke at risk, Trudi calls it bullying and sexual harassment. Estelle claims Mark became obsessed. Trudi tells her to own what she has done. Estelle thought they were friends so Trudi says they were until she became an enabler for a sexually abusive man.

Estelle denies it, says she didn’t mean to, and storms out of the room. Ray tells the other officers about Gareth and suggests they’ll have him once the fiber tests come back on the parka. He argues that the real challenge will be discovering the extent of Gareth’s killings which may stretch back 20 years or so. Gareth’s blood is taken while Ray talks about the victim’s families and how they don’t know what happened to their kids. Ray insists they’ll pull his life apart and find out everything they can about the nonce they call Mr. Confectioner. His father texts him to ask if he has time for a drink. He meets with John who is on the phone with his wife talking about her wanting a lawyer. They go inside for a pint. Ray drinks his pint a bit too quickly before he learns about his mom’s 30-year affair with Jock Allardyce. He can’t believe she was sleeping with his dad’s best mate. His father explains his heart medication prevents him from getting it up so they haven’t been having sex.

He can’t take Viagra because it would be too dangerous with his condition. His father isn’t going to stand in their way. Ray gets upset and tells his father to talk to Stuart about his sad drama since he is a cop who needs to get back to work. Once Ray leaves, he has a flashback of a man walking down the stairs when he was young. Next, Stuart Lennox (Stuart Martin) meets with two naked people and agrees to sleep with them. He is likely working as a prostitute of sorts. As for Ray, he is busy thinking about the past and snorting drugs. As Ray returns to the office, Amanda approaches and confirms the forensics on the parka did not match the fibers from Britney. Gill admits it is going to be hard because Gareth doesn’t have a phone contract, pays for everything with cash, and there is no evidence linking him to the disappearances. Ray believes he messed up somewhere before meeting with Gareth once again.

Ray enters the interview room and immediately asks Gareth if he got rid of the parker. Gareth says they’re easy to find. He is asked about Britney Hamil. At first, he says no. Then, he says yes and no. Ray asks if it hurt to have Ellis take responsibility for his work. Gareth says he was dismayed that people thought someone like Ellis could have planned and executed such an operation. Once Ray asks why he came forward now, Gareth says timing is everything. Gareth won’t tell him who he killed and instead wants to talk about Ray’s relationship with his mom. He asks Ray about his oedipal desires. That upsets Ray who gets up, grabs his paper, and leaves. Amanda finds Ray in the hallway and tells him that Gareth is playing them. She asks if you ever get used to this. Ray says no because those feelings let you know you haven’t lost your humanity.

Then, she asks if there is some type of relief, but Ray says he has never found it. Alex (Reuben Joseph) goes to a brothel to sell cocaine to two women. While he is there, he sees Dougie coming out and decides to take pictures of him outside. He texts and tells Ray who is having dinner with Trudi. She asks if he is using drugs or drinking again. Ray says he is up to his neck in it and it isn’t a gas board so she gets angry at him for belittling her job. They get into an argument and Ray is called an entitled prick. He explains he is trying to find the arrogant killer of young girls, but Trudi doesn’t care and tells him to go back to work. She screams that his behavior toward women leaves a lot to be desired. He returns in time for her to remind him that he isn’t a savior.

He begins crying and admits he knows when he is told that he can’t save the world. Trudi says she loves him although she was naïve when she thought she knew what she was getting into with Ray. Bob looks at pictures of the victims while Ray snorts coke in his car. He gets a text from Bob asking him to come see him in the morning when he gets in. When Ray returns home, he drinks and snorts throughout the night. He is as high as a kite when he starts reading the draft of Baxter’s novel. When he wakes up in the morning, he checks the draft again and reads about the suspect being involved in a game against the system which he sees as an oppressive state apparatus. He calls Baxter to ask him to come to his office later. Once Ray reaches Bob’s office, he is given paperwork that Confectioner needs to sign. Ray doesn’t like it because he thinks they’re trying to pin unrelated murders on Gareth, but Bob says it will be good for everyone.

Bob encourages him to uncover whatever he can although he wants the paperwork signed anyway. Trudi checks her phone and sees that she has multiple missed calls from Mark McKendrick. Baxter arrives at the station and meets with Ray who lets him listen to Gareth’s comments about organizations fascinating him. Baxter suggests he wants a rational world in which bureaucracy begins order to spare us the chaos of modern life. He also believes he is turned on by the power he exerts over kids and adolescents. However, he wonders if some twisted political objective is his main motivation. He wants the public to be revolted by his acts so they can extend the state’s powers. Trudi gets a visit from Carly who is grateful for her help. She rips up her resignation letter and Carly says nobody has ever done anything like that for her before.

When Carly leaves, Ray calls Trudi and apologizes for the fight the night before. Trudi repays the favor as they try to work through their problems. After that call, Ray calls Amanda to ask her to cover for him because he needs to go see someone. He visits Sally Hart (Laura Fraser) and tells her about his work trying to convince a possible serial killer to tell him where the bodies are buried. She listens as Ray refers to humans as a wretched species. Sally finds it interesting that Ray describes himself as a hunter of sex offenders instead of a cop. He says he wants to catch the real bad guys. Gareth believes they’re similar, but Ray doesn’t. She asks if he ever sees any parallels. Ray tells her about going on a trip to Thailand with Gillman and other officers. He tried to stop them, but Gillman headbutted him and slept with them despite not knowing the ages of the girls in question. He knows he is in unusual circumstances and has coping strategies.

Bob hears Gareth say he is tired of talking to Amanda so he enters the interview room. He pulls Stuart and Amanda out before telling them he is going to speak to Gareth. When he enters, Gareth says he should be honored although he isn’t. He wants practitioners instead of administrators. He knows his rights and realizes this whole game will change as soon as he requests a lawyer. He offers full cooperation if they continue giving him what he wants. Gareth admits he doesn’t like the Confectioner moniker and wants Bob to ask his staff to stop using it. When Bob asks why he is fixated with Ray, Gareth says he sees things differently. He calls him a true investigator whereas the others are just sweeping up dust after the fact. Ray sees him and it is personal to him so he wants to see Ray squirm. Gillman finds Ray in the bathroom and offers to go after Gareth hard.

Ray asks where he was when Amanda was getting her face smashed. Dougie believes he owes him a favor since he covered for him when he was following his hunches, but Ray just wants him to stay out of the way. When Dougie asks if he is riding his partner, Ray tells him to worry about who he is riding. Stuart Lennox returns home and finds out that his father has died from a heart attack. Ray gets calls from Stuart and Bob although he doesn’t answer any of them. He drives back to the police station before finally answering Stuart’s call and learning about his father’s death. Ray thanks him for letting him know and says he’ll call him later. Stuart calls his behavior unreal. Bob approaches and learns about Ray’s father. Ray wants to continue working on the Confectioner case, but Bob tells him to go home.

Ray says his old man tried his best before Ray walks off and enters the interview room with Gareth. He puts the pictures in front of him and asks why he did it. Bob joins Gillman as they watch Ray in the interview room. Gareth says he enjoyed the sport of it and the buzz of the chase. He goes on to say nip them in the bud before they breed because human beings are wretched species. Ray recalls that he mentioned dossiers. Gareth comments about Ray being different and this being personal for him. He asks who it was and whether it was a scoutmaster, teacher, or tainted uncle. Gareth wants to know who made Ray the man he is today as we see a flashback of the train tunnel. He is interested because Ray wants to know why instead of how. Ray is asked why he became a cop. Bob says Confectioner is a suicide bomber who has messed up and doesn’t care although Gillman thinks he could make him care.

Gareth says they’ve been looking for him for 20 years and he thinks Ray got a thrill out of it as well. When Ray is asked why else he would do this and told they’re the same, he lashes out at Gareth and denies that they’re the same. Gareth leans forward and suggests Ray cares about being a huge disappointment to people. Ray steps out of the room as Amanda follows. Gareth says he had a meltdown and will be useless to them now. Ray’s family sits around and asks where he is at. We see that Ray is in his vehicle in the police parking lot snorting loads of cocaine. He thinks about his dad and the incident from the train tunnel before looking in the mirror and seeing Bob as he snorts another bump of cocaine. He curses, looks again, and sees that Bob isn’t there.

 

Crime Review

Thankfully, Crime is finally starting to get down to the nitty-gritty. Unfortunately, this should’ve been happening two or three episodes ago. I can’t imagine what gave them the idea that six episodes would be a good fit for Crime because the stuff that happened in the first 3 don’t matter at all now. While it should be a deep psychological drama, the series is starting to lose my interest for numerous reasons.

As Ray continues spiraling out of control, my disdain for the character intensifies and leaves me questioning how he could be a detective in the first place. When you have good detectives like Dougie Gillman, I suppose it makes Ray’s character slightly more realistic. Too many characters continually whine and pity themselves especially Bob and Ray.

On the upside, some of the back and forth between Ray and Gareth was interesting. John Simm and Dougray Scott would make a dynamic duo if only the dialogue was stronger. There is only one episode left so let’s hope they don’t leave anything on the table. With this cast, setting, and because it is backed by a respected novel, Crime could’ve easily been one of the best shows of the year. Unfortunately, it never lived up to the expectations. The episode scores a 6.5 out of 10. Crime recaps are available on Reel Mockery here.