Season 2 of “Criminal UK” is an excellent follow-up, located on the same moody set of interrogation room, spying room, and corridor outside; underpinned by an unchanged format of intense interview intended to crack a possible crook. Nothing is telegraphed, no back story intrudes, the dynamics between the four or five police/legal crew slide in beside the main action. Four standalone episodes this time: a convicted murderer’s wife grilled about a new lead; a sleazebag alpha male and a possible post-work rape; an online vigilante; and a murderer negotiating victim locations. As in the first season, the actors playing the prosecutorial team, inevitably often overshadowed by the centerpiece suspects, are wonderful. Standouts are again Katherine Kelly and Lee Ingleby (whom I have just admired in The A Word). But Criminal UK stands or falls with the grandstanding suspects, and while all four performances in Season 2 are fine, let me single out Sophie Okonedo in a nuanced, horrifying reveal, and Kunnal Nayyar’s chilling psychopath portrayal. My only regret with this season of Criminal UK is that Netflix seems to have foresaken Criminal France, Criminal Germany, and Criminal Spain.
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