As this episode of Crime begins, Ray Lennox (Dougray Scott) looks at the mess left behind at his flat. Amanda (Joanna Vanderham) walks by Keith’s apartment and sees him in the window above her. Norrie Erskine (Brian McCardie) drinks and grips the knife in his hand. He practices stabbing a few times in his car in broad daylight. When Lennox calls him, Norrie says Richie Gulliver hasn’t moved. Norrie claims he hasn’t moved all night. It appears he’s somewhere else though. Lennox speaks to Fraser (Gabriel Scott) about needing sleep. He also says Leonora (Amba Gayfer) can’t be walking around like that. When Lennox and Amanda catch up with Norrie, he tells them that Richie took a young guy inside and they still haven’t come out.

They go inside to check on Richie (Derek Riddell) only to find out that he’s gone. Lennox scolds Norrie and tells him to stay away. Gillian Glover (Sarah McCardie) says they’re trying to get a trace on Richie’s phone. Lennox asks the team to try to reestablish dialogue with the killer. Tommy Stark (David Elliot) suggests they can find Richie’s boy on one of the dating apps. He decides to make a profile and urges others to do the same. Gillian is asked to get the CCTV from outside Richie’s place. In private, Norrie remains adamant that he stayed put all night and no one came. He tells Lennox and Amanda that Richie said the man was a friend. Lennox yells that he’s useless. He contacts Bob Toal (Ken Stott) who is with Bertie. Lennox breaks the news to him. Bob urges Lennox to find him.

Tommy laughs at Struthers (Sani Mamood) for his comment on the dating app. Struthers tries to apologize to Gillian who says Celeste (Hannah Donaldson) won’t answer her calls. Gillian wants him to speak to Celeste and fix this. As they leave, Amanda and Lennox talk about Ray applying for Bob’s job. Ray is convinced something is going on with Norrie although Amanda suspects he just fell asleep. Tommy manages to find Richie on the dating app. They use the app to track him to a warehouse storage. Lennox and the others arrive before they go inside and find Richie. He has #3 carved into his head and “the greedy devour themselves” across his body. They learn that the warehouse hasn’t been used in years and it’s still owned by the Forth Port Authority.

The security guard didn’t see anything suspicious. Amanda says they may get video from a nearby CCTV camera. Maria Pearson (Moyo Akande) wouldn’t be surprised if they find traces of something in Richie’s blood like they did with Durie. Lennox questions why someone wants to humiliate and expose these men. Amanda reminds him that Moira Gulliver mentioned Porky, Willie, and Richie. She worries the killer could disappear now. Gillian gives Struthers advice before he meets Celeste. He approaches the wrong woman and begins spilling his guts. Celeste enters seconds later. The woman calls a police officer on him. Celeste approaches him. Tommy gets the call and decides to take it even though Norrie doesn’t want to. Once they arrive, they learn that Struthers is a virgin and only performed oral on her to get experience.

Gillian enters and learns what’s going on. Tommy takes Struthers out in handcuffs. He removes them because he’s not going to have him arrested. Lennox goes to Moira (Fiona Bell) to tell her about Richie’s murder. They sit down and talk about Richie. Moira believes she was the only one who loved him. She claims they failed men like Richie because their abusing schools. Moira says Richie was who they made him. Lennox asks about her relationship with the Durie and Piggott-Wilkins families. He questions why they drifted apart. Moira says they were arrogant, entitled, and careless. She asks Ray to hold her. When he leaves, Ray receives a sexual message from Moira about having sex. Then, she sends another message apologizing. Norrie begins looking through the CCTV footage back at the police station.

He finds video of Richie with the man. Norrie hides the video when Tommy and Struthers return. Struthers tells Tommy about going camping with Sophie and needing a tent. Tommy takes him to the equipment room so he can borrow the police’s tent. Tommy is convinced there won’t be another murder this weekend. Lennox returns and asks about the woman Piggott-Wilkins mentioned. He learns she’s vanished. Lennox finds an email from the possible killer claiming blood is on his hands. Ray believes he’s just trying to bait them. Tommy tells Norrie to pull it together since he didn’t murder Gulliver. Tommy booked them at Lennox’s brother-in-law’s place. Norrie goes to his car and puts the knife back into the glove box. He calls the Boundary House Hotel to get some of their staff records. Ray visits Moira with the family liaison officer Jo Scott (Holly Woodhouse). Moira apologizes again for the text.

Ray is surprised to learn that Jackie (Emma Currie) has been there. Outside, Jackie admits to Ray that she’s having an affair with Moira. She says Angus is not aspirational enough and it was a mistake to marry potential. They talk about the text message. Ray complains about Fraser. Jackie insists she’ll tell Angus about Moira. She doesn’t want to hurt him. Tommy and Norrie eat at a restaurant. Angus (John McLarnon) comes over and introduces himself to them. Ray goes to his appointment with Sally Hart (Laura Fraser) who invites him in to eat with her. Amanda stalks Keith (Ewan Miller) and Cressida (Natalie Mae Kelly). When they leave home, Amanda sneaks inside and breaks into their flat. She escapes with a laptop. Meanwhile, Sally and Ray talk about the killings. Sally remembers he said he joined the police for vengeance.

Ray argues he follows procedure and doesn’t break the law. He says that’s his job. Sally asks why he feels compelled to save and avenge. Ray remembers an incident from his childhood and says he was raped and was forced to watch his friend be raped. He was only ten and he was terrified. Ray admits he ran from the tunnel and left Les behind. He tried to tell his mom, but she was lost in her affair with Jock Halliday. Ray sat under the stairs for hours holding himself. He looked for those three guys but they seemed to have vanished into thin air. Ray believes he’d kill them if he could find them. Amanda throws the laptop into water and curses Keith. Norrie gets more alcohol for Tommy and Norrie. Keith calls Amanda to report a theft. He says someone broke into Cressida’s place and stole her disabled sister’s laptop which contains all of her learning materials.

Keith suspects Amanda did it. They want 10,000 pounds. He needs one grand in cash and the rest by bank transfer. Ray tells Sally she’s never told anyone that before. She kisses him and tells him goodbye. Sally goes inside and shuts the door. Tommy sees Amanda when he’s outside smoking so he decides to follow her to the church where she meets Keith and Cressida. Amanda gives them the money. Tommy follows Keith and Cressida. Keith tells Cressida it’s become too much for them. Ray hangs out alone with a bottle of booze. Angus speaks to Norrie about his marriage. They complain about women. Tommy returns and says nothing about Amanda. They continue talking about women. Amanda calls Ray to ask for some company. Struthers gets into the tent with Sophie (Shereen Cutkelvin). Meanwhile, Norrie tells Angus and Tommy a joke.

Tommy gets tired of their conversation and leaves. Norrie tells Angus that the night is still young. Sophie and Struthers struggle to stay warm. She invites him to join her. The wind blows their tent away. Struthers is worried about losing the investigation tent. Ray eventually arrives at Amanda’s place. She gets a drink while Ray refuses. Amanda asks if he ever wonders what it’s all for. Angus and Norrie do drugs in the bathroom. Angus ends up going home. Amanda tells Ray she likes working with him. Ray isn’t sure about being the Chief Super. He says the job kills relationships. They end up kissing. Gillian watches CCTV footage until she sees something that surprises her. Ray and Amanda cuddle in bed together. Gillian calls Ray because she doesn’t think Norrie is who he says he is.

She wants to show him something. Gillian sends him the video that shows Norrie leaving. She goes on to say she tracked his movements to the warehouse where Richie’s body was found. Ray wants to bring him in and question him. Meanwhile, Victor Maslow (Dylan Blore) sees Norrie at a strip club.

 

Crime Review

The third episode just nearly salvaged this series of Crime, but the fourth made a mess of things once again. It’s really unfortunate that the writing is so dumb because the cast is strong enough to create a compelling series. Sadly, this episode was about every stupid topic possible while only minimal focus was on the murders.

There’s no way to sugarcoat it. This was a terribly dumb episode. It started with Struthers confessing to the wrong woman only to get “arrested” by Tommy. It’s odd that Gillian would think he could solve her relationship woes to begin with, but the entire story around Struthers is beyond stupid.

Then, he takes the police’s tent only for it to be blown away. Who couldn’t see that becoming an issue? Who couldn’t see Richie’s death considering what Moira said to Lennox about protecting him? Who couldn’t see Amanda botching the laptop theft? It’s getting to the point where Tommy looks like the sanest person in the whole show despite being so terrible.

The episode was heavy on the sex and relationships so it’s surprising that Angus and Norrie didn’t get it on in the bathroom. It doesn’t help that basically none of these relationships make any sense.

I’d also doubt that someone like Richie would be so easy to track on a dating app. After all, the guy was nearly assassinated less than 24 hours ago. Aside from Ray’s conversation with Sally about the rape, this episode was pure nonsense and a total waste of time.

It could be skipped without missing anything of significance so it scores a 3 out of 10. Recaps of Crime can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying at the Reel Mockery Forum.