Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Dougray Scott, Joanna Vanderham, David Elliot, Ken Stott, Sani Mamood, Kim Chapman, Gabriel Scott, Emma Currie, Ewan Miller, Dylan Blore, John Simm, Laura Fraser, Rebecca Root, Ellie Haddington, Sarah McCardie, Derek Riddell, Sam Graham, Fiona Bell, Natalie May Kelly.
Long is the suffering that abuse leaves on the soul, and its consequence on society is such that the world is embedded in chaos and anger at all times; like a match to the touch paper, it can ignite at any time and rain down destruction on all sides of the thin blue line as they battle, like a dual personality sufferer, for supremacy and peace.
The second series of Irvine Welsh’s acclaimed drama Crime allows the armchair detective and psychotherapist no peace as Dougray Scott returns as DI Ray Lennox, and as the fallout from the Confectioner series of murders that blighted Edinburgh and Lennox’s grip on sanity and resolve still fester in the background, so out of the darkness comes a new murderer, one that is filled with the need for retribution and reckoning on those who have wronged.
Crime does not pay, but it can elevate those who seek inspiration from their victims, who see the possibility of advancement as they proclaim justice for all. It is in this that the intricate lives, of sexual and identity politics embed themselves in and around those who are part of Lennox’s life. From his colleagues in the force, to family members, all are under a spell of discovery that threatens to break Lennox’s own grip on stability.
The line is such in our present-day society that we cannot tell at all on whose side any one person belongs, the thin blue line is invisible, unseen, and it comes down to professional integrity, and Crime reflects a truth that we will not readily admit too, that we are all capable in the end of being the criminal, of being the one to break faith with the pact to protect the innocent and helpless if it means we are seen to be perfect.
Dougray Scott, Joanna Vanderham, David Elliot, Ken Stott, and Rebecca Root offer absolute integrity to their respective characters, and indeed in Mr. Elliot’s introduction to the team, there is fission of tension that is fiercely defended as he locks horns with DS Amanda Drummond, played with unhinged brilliance by Joanna Vanderham.
Whether there will be a third series of Crime remains to be seen, but it is to be hoped that it shall be considered, for in the gentile vision that Edinburgh holds in the world’s opinion, to see its destructive side, it’s Jekyll, is to be astonished at just how Irvine Welsh’s observances connect with the darkness so often hidden from view.
Outstanding, gruesome, truthful, that is the understanding of Crime in the modern age. Ian D. Hall