‘Criminal Record’ Fails in Its “Duty of Care”

As usual, the cold open for this week’s Criminal Record is another of Cosmo’s YouTube broadcasts, this time featuring special guest Kyle (Mark Hadfield), a veteran soldier, most likely from the Iraq War. While Cosmo thankfully does not thank Kyle for his service (that obsequiousness is particular to Americans), it is clear he sees these jaded professionals as his allies and clearly believes in the fight against ex-soldiers and the police, the latter of whom will go down in flames.

As the season passes the halfway point, we return to the boat chase that started at the end of last week, with Hegarty ordering the Met’s Marine Policing Unit (MPU) to search the Thames until they have eyes on Cosmo’s boat and calling in Kim, JP, June, and the rest of the team as Pavel (Tom Hendryk) and the bomb squad prep for boarding.

As they sit in the wait portion of this hurry-up-and-wait operation, Hegarty plays back the recording of Cosmo’s origin story that he spun for Billy last week on the way to the boat. Hegarty tells JP he’s already looked into it, and it’s all a bunch of malarky; the white supremacist he claimed had been a father figure to him only lived nearby for a couple of months, years before he was radicalized.

Also, the detonators are no longer on the boat. Because of course they aren’t. They’re with Revelli the Bomb Expert, being prepped for use.