Criminal Record has such good writing that its twists and turns never feel forced. The two performers, Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo, are really knocking it out of the park. No one is given time to sulk over what is happening to their characters, and they get into action mode pretty quickly. The stakes keep getting higher and higher, and in the fifth episode, Lenker’s son Jacob gets into trouble. It all happens because Lenker approaches Clive, the one who murdered Maria, and finds out that Tony Gilfoyle had connections to a neo-Nazi group. Tony being one of the key members of Hegarty’s group creates a lot of problems, and in the end, it’s Hegarty who is left to deal with the mess.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Lenker Visit Clive In Prison?
The episode tried to explain how Errol Mathis could have confessed, given that he had no recollection of his memories after his accident, which was termed his attempt at committing suicide. Sonya didn’t believe that, and one day Leo’s friend, a neuropsychologist, comes in to meet Lenker. Lenker told her about Mathis’ case, and she got an explanation of how memories are like oil paintings, with only the latest layer of paint available to us. Hegarty might have painted a new layer on top of his memory and made Errol confess. Lenker, who didn’t want to make a hypnotist out of Hegarty, wasn’t really convinced, but reading about the far-right groups mentioned by Carla in the previous episode did remind her that Clive was also connected to them. She went to meet him in prison, showing him the photos of Hegarty and his men, out of which Clive identified Tony Gilfoyle, who very much shared the ideology and was popular as well. Lenker managed to give Tony a panic attack when she reached out to him, asking about his connection with the neo-Nazi organization known as Bloodline.
Why Was Jacob Arrested?
Lenker had shaken up the ‘Sixty Two’ it seemed, but Hegarty was the least bothered, which was surprising. Kim came running up to him, telling him how Lenker was interrogating Tony, but Hegarty’s demeanor remained unchanged. He didn’t want anyone to take a rash decision and spoil everything, but Kim did just that. He got Jacob, Lenker’s 12-year-old son, arrested for the possession of meth with the intent to sell. Maureen, Jacob’s grandmother, who had had a terrible experience with the police, went into a panic thinking about how to get Jacob out. When Lenker found out about it, she realized that it was a message to her, and she began to blame Hegarty. Leo, Lenker’s husband, was getting fed up with her fixation on the man and did not want Jacob to grow up thinking that the whole world was against him. But Lenker was certain, and she had to give a strong reply to the ‘message’ because if she didn’t, Hegarty would get the wrong idea that she had been successfully deterred.
How Did Hegarty Deal With Kim?
Hegarty was actually quite furious over what Kim had done. He had essentially fueled the fire that Hegarty had so far managed to tame. Now, Lenker had essentially no option but to go against Hegarty, Kim, and Tony. Hegarty had advised Kim not to take an irrational step, and contacting subordinate officers and getting Jacob arrested was one of the stupidest things he could have done in that scenario. Hegarty took Kim for a ride and damaged his car as a punishment for lashing out and his actions that were not necessary. But Lenker didn’t know all this. She just thought that Hegarty was the one pulling all the strings. The mysterious man shown at the end of the previous episode was working for Sonya and had followed Hegarty to a carpet shop. Sonya told Lenker that the shop was run by a man named Mansur, and he allegedly dealt in heroin and all sorts of other drugs. Perhaps Hegarty was an addict, for which he needed the extra cash he was moonlighting as a chauffeur for. Lenker now had the perfect way to go against Hegarty’s bullying, but the truth was stranger than fiction, as it turned out.
Why Did Hegarty Want Lenker To Let Mansur Go?
Lenker took the information from Sonya and went ahead and arrested Mansur. She didn’t take him to the station, though, and asked Mansur to notify Hegarty about the arrest. Hegarty arrived at the spot where Lenker wanted to meet him, and for the first time, he was on the back foot. Hegarty now understood that she was probably having him followed, which is how she knew about Mansur. But he kept his cool and asked her to let Mansur go, for he was an ‘asset’. He tried to make him look like he was working for the police, but Lenker had done her homework and found no trace of Mansur in the system. She also tried to get him into a corner by talking about how his old pal Tony was part of a neo-Nazi group. Hegarty answered with the same old thing about working undercover. The real reason Lenker wanted to pressure Hegarty was to get him to remove Jacob’s record from the criminal record. Hegarty didn’t let the opportunity go, and he assured her that he would take care of it, but she had to let Mansur go. Mansur was free to go, and later it became clear why Hegarty wanted him out of Lenker’s custody.
It was all related to his daughter Lisa, who was an addict. Hegarty knew about her addiction and was buying the drugs from Mansur for her sake. It was like Lisa was using drugs under Hegarty’s supervision. This could be because he didn’t want Lisa to overdose and knew fully well that there was no chance for a teenager like that to overcome her urges. Perhaps he saw it fit to let her have the drugs after Hegarty had carefully planned out the dosage. Lenker had no idea about Lisa or her drug abuse issue, but it would become a problem if word got out. Hegarty didn’t know about Lisa’s relationship with Patrick, and that was one area Lenker could exploit in the upcoming episodes.
