Criminal is a 2019 international European television series produced by Netflix. Taking a more psychological way to narrate a police story, the series is set in four different police stations of four different countries (UK, France, Germany and Spain), within the enclosed space of a police interrogation room.
Composed of twelve stories (three for each country), each episode oppose the local small interrogation team to the suspect and their attorney.
Criminal: United-Kingdom
The first United Kingdom story is about a doctor (David Tennant) accused of molesting and murdering his stepdaughter.
The second United Kingdom story is about an aggressive suspect (Hayley Atwell) accused of poisoning her sister's boyfriend.
The third United Kingdom story is an attempt to get an immigrant truck driver (Youssef Kerkour) to locate a van full of victims.
The fourth United Kingdom story has the team interview the wife (Sophie Okonedo) of a convicted murderer for details.
The fifth United Kingdom story is about a young businessman (Kit Harington) accused of rape by his colleague.
The sixth United Kingdom story follows the interrogation of an online vigilante (Sharon Horgan) who led an operation to unmask online predators.
The seventh United Kingdom story is about a stoic businessman (Kunal Nayyar), already convicted for murder, being interrogated about another murder.
This series features examples of:
- Actor Allusion: A relatively simple one; Edgar is a doctor. Some people confessed they could not keep a straight face when detectives addressed him as such.
- The Alcoholic:
- Stacey admits she and the victim both liked to drink too much.
- Hugo Duffy turns out to be one.
- Ambiguous Ending: Whether the migrants in "Jay" escaped the truck or were kidnapped is unknown.
- Ambiguous Syntax: A problem in "Alex". The evidence includes an angry text the alleged victim sent to her friend reading "He just kissed me". The police think she was upset because Alex kissed her without her permission, but Alex claims she meant she was angry because he only kissed her.
- Armour-Piercing Question: Several
- From the first story: "Why does her plaster have little hexagons on it?"
- From the second story: "How long were you sleeping with Roderick?"
- Asshole Victim: The victim in "Stacey" was severely abusive to Stacey's sister.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Julia in the second UK season.
- Bittersweet Ending:
- "Stacey": Stacey admits what really happened and she and her sister are arrested, but they don't really deserve it.
- "Alex": the titular suspect is cleared of the rape accusation because his accuser is found to have lied about that, but as he points out, he will never be rid of the suspicion he did do it.
- "Danielle": The reality of her actions gets through to Danielle and she admits the truth behind Pesticide, but the life of an innocent man has been ruined and his daughter severely injured.
- Bottle Episode: All of them. They take place only within the police station, and the vast majority of the time is spent inside the interrogation box and on the other side of the one-way mirror. Sometimes the corridor outside. In fact, all of the Criminal shows are filmed at Netflix's studios in Spain.
- Chekhov's Gun: Hugo Duffy's coffee mug with the large, obnoxious "H" on it, which he drinks from in every episode and which nobody ever refills.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Kyle Petit. Initially, he seems like a Naïve Newcomer and potentially a source of conflict within the team. He was never a trainee; he was brought in by Natalie to help cover Hugo's alcoholism.
- Christmas Episode: "Stacey". Ends with a sad, sarcastic "Merry Christmas".
- Cigarette of Anxiety: The police officers frequently have them when the interrogations get tough.
- Convenient Photograph: Sandeep gets caught for not one, but two other, murders because a murder victim had taken a photograph with him.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Which at times crosses over with Contrasting Sequel Main Character since the guests are the primary focus of each episode. Every episode is some direct comment or contrast on the one before it.
- Series 1: "Edgar" is about a well-respected doctor who is revealed to be a Smug Snake pedophile who raped and murdered his stepdaughter after sexually abusing her, and ultimately gets caught due to Saying Too Much. "Stacey" is about a lower-class archetypal female chav who is portrayed as immediately hateful due to her racist and homophobic attitudes, but she's revealed to be nobly Taking the Heat (or trying to, anyway) for her abused sister who murdered her abusive husband, which fails after Hobbs figures she's lying about it. While the first two episodes were about domestic and personal crimes, "Jay" presents an Outside-Context Problem of a Punch-Clock Villain people smuggler.
- Series 2: "Julia" is about the wife of a Serial Killer who has slipped under everyone's radars due to her gender and sweet, nonthreatening personality. She's paired with Vanessa specifically due to these qualities, as literally nobody expects her to reveal some evidence that indicates she's the real murderer. "Alex" is about a reviled and smug Shady Real Estate Agent that everyone assumes has committed a rape of which he's been accused (even his lawyer seems to think he's guilty). However (making it a comparison to "Edgar" which has the opposite conflict), the police figure out that he's actually innocent as part of a calculated ploy for money by his employee, but his life is ruined by the cloud of suspicion. "Danielle" is about a zealous Internet troll with noble intentions and shady methods. "Sandeep" is about a multiple murderer motivated just by money and impulse, and Crime After Crime.
- Dramatic Irony: In "Julia", the title character is a convicted murderer's cuckolded wife, bought in for an interview with Vanessa. Julia accidentally reveals she knows more about the murder than she should, which the other detective in the observation room notices, and he calls in the other detectives to discuss what they should do. But they don't alert Vanessa, and of course Julia can't be told. Vanessa is a tad upset when she finds out...and gets the job of the real interrogation.
- False Rape Accusation: In "Alex", a friend of the victim used the threat of one to extort money from her employer, which makes proving her claim difficult and is what she's doing.
- Frame-Up: Edgar, Julia and Sandeep all try to pin their crimes on other people. The real pedophile in "Danielle" also pulls one off, implicating his co-worker.
- The Ghost: Naturally, every single episode has more than one significant character who never appears onscreen. For instance, Stacey's sister, Mary, who really poisoned Roderick.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Edgar admits he is like this.
- Hoist by His Own Petard:
- Edgar would have gotten away with it if he had just kept his mouth shut. Instead, he decides to explain at length how the bruising on the victim's arm proves he can't have done it just to make sure he's completely exonerated, which leads Duffy to notice something that proves he did do it. If he'd just shut up, this evidence wouldn't have been found and he would've walked out a free man.
- Sandeep's attempt to get his sentence reduced so he gets out now instead of in four years is what results in the other murders he's committed being exposed, ensuring he'll be in prison for longer than if he'd just waited out the four years.
- Implied Rape: Alex's solicitor is heavily implied to be a rape victim; she tears up while explaining that internal bruising on its own cannot prove a rape has occurred and is later shown crying while the rape is being discussed.
- Insistent Terminology: The suspects will frequently give something away about their true motivations by insisting on a certain terminology.
- Minimalist Cast: Although not as minimalist as some examples, the show only ever has the suspect, their lawyers, and the police doing the interrogation.
- Miscarriage of Justice: Julia's husband is revealed to be in prison for a murder Julia committed.
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Edgar in the first story, a pedophile who raped and murdered his stepdaughter.
- Only Bad Guys Call Their Lawyers: Averted. Almost all suspects have solicitors present for their interview, including Alex, who's innocent. Furthermore, Sandeep, arguably one of the evilest villains in the series, has no lawyer because he doesn't think he needs one.
- Papa Wolf: Paul speaks of things he would do to a person who has abused his daughter. Kind of subverted: he does not even have a daughter, but is manipulating Edgar to pretend to be a Papa Wolf, too, and to say something at last.
- Parental Incest: Edgar is accused of molesting his stepdaughter numerous times before raping and murdering her.
- Punk in the Trunk: Injured but alive, Edgar's stepdaughter was transported like this.
- The Quiet One: Paul Ottager rarely talks, which means that when he does, everyone listens.
- Saying Too Much: Julia trips herself up in this way when she goes into a bit too much detail about the crime her husband was convicted of and reveals knowledge of details only released in the pathologist's report.
- Scary Black Man:
- Ottager frequently plays this role in interviews, but he doesn't fully fulfil it in regular life.
- Roderick in "Stacey" allegedly abused Mary, Stacey's sister.
- Shout-Out: Theoretically, Jay's lorry could have been loaded with furniture, stationary or "My Little Ponies".
- Sleeping Their Way to the Top: Edgar claims that his stepdaughter is not a good netball player, but is in the team because of the relationship with her coach.
- Taking the Heat: What Stacey is trying to do.
- Wham Shot: In "Jay" (the third episode), Ottager's reaction when he sniffs Hugo's flask, which indicates that Hugo really is an alcoholic and he's ruined the interrogation.
Criminal: France
The first France story is about a woman (Sara Giraudeau) who present herself as a survivor of the Bataclan terrorist attack. Suspected to never have been there, she is accused of having defrauded the governmental victim assistance fund.
The second France story is about a middle-aged business woman (Nathalie Baye), CEO of a building company accused of killing one of her employees.
The third France story is about a man (Jérémie Renier) suspected of killing another man in an anti-gay hate crime in the Marais neighborhood.
- Armoured Closet Gay: Jérôme insults gay men with his sales team, but is actually LGBTQ+ as well.
- The Beard: Subverted. Jérôme says he is genuinely attracted to his wife and the life they have, but also has feelings towards men
- Bittersweet Ending: All the stories.
- "Émilie": Émilie is brought to justice, but her lawyer is holding the team's misconduct over their heads and everyone thinks Audrey gave her information.
- "Caroline": Caroline is exonerated, but has to live with the knowledge that her insane working standards caused the death of the man she loved.
- "Jérôme": Jérôme is exonerated and gives descriptions of the real killers, but in the process he's outed as a bisexual adulterer and it's uncertain if the real killers will ever be caught.
- Homophobic Hate Crime: The victim in the third episode died because of this.
- Iron Lady: Caroline is this.
- Subverted with Audrey, and she is actually called out for being too dependent on her team and needs to start leading.
Criminal: Germany
The first German story is about a rich CEO of a building company from West Berlin accused of killing a East Germany neighbor and employee in the early 90s after the Wall fell.
The second German story is about German young businessman of Arab origins accused of domestic violence and attempted murder of his wife, followed into the interrogation room by a suspiciously behaving lawyer.
The third German story is an attempt to get the widow and accomplice of a deceased Serial Killer to reveal the location of their very first victim's remains so that the girl's dying mother can die knowing her daughter will be laid to rest.
- The Bad Guy Wins: "Yilmaz" sees the title character's abusive wife successfully blackmail him into keeping his mouth shut and going to prison for trying to kill her in self-defence while she keeps their child and he presumably has to get back with her.
- Crime of Self-Defense: What Yilmaz's crime is revealed to be. He pushed his abusive wife down the stairs when she attacked him yet again.
- Domestic Abuse: Yilmaz is accused of doing this to his wife. In fact, she abused him.
- Downer Ending: Yilmaz, the second German episode, ends with the title character blackmailed to get back with his abusive spouse with the promise of parental rights, and mostly to avoid his wife abuses their son as well.
- Karma Houdini: Yilmaz is blackmailed into not telling the truth about his wife abusing him and goes to prison for defending himself against her while she gets to keep their son and presumably goes back to abusing him when he gets out.
Criminal: Spain
The first Spain story is about a middle-aged woman accused of covering for her brother's murder of her one-night-stand.
The second Spain story is about a teenager with mental issues accused of her autistic younger sister's murder.
The third Spain story is about a drug lord, and how the main female detective must decide between orders from her superiors and the fact that the man orphaned her nephew, who she's taking care of.
- Dirty Cop: The main characters often veer into this territory, with such unethical actions as faking a warrant to put down Isabel's dog to make her talk, seriously contemplating writing off Aurora's murder as an accident because the truth is proving hard to find, and setting up Carmelo on false charges of attempted murder and terrorism when he tries to cut a deal.
- Karma Houdini: Just when it looks like the team have got Carmelo backed into a corner, Rai exposes their unethical actions during the case and leaves him only facing a drug possession charge. When last heard of he's about to start negotiating his immunity deal after all.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: After getting away with her unethical actions in the first episode, Maria gets hit with this in the final episode. Her questionably legal plan to trap Carmelo collapses at the last second thanks to Rai, leaving the man who killed her cousin a Karma Houdini yet again and her powerless to do anything about it except impotently threaten Rai with her retribution.
- Mercy Kill: It's suggested that Carmen's murder of her severely autistic sister Aurora may have been one. Turns out it was, but for a different reason: their father was going to start raping her sister after he raped Carmen, and Carmen killed her sister to spare her from their father’s sexual abuse.
- Off on a Technicality: An unspecified procedural violation saved Carmelo from charges when he killed Maria's cousin.
- Parental Incest: Carmen's father is raping her and was about to move on to her sister Aurora before Carmen saved her.
