Capsule Reviews
A Different Kind of Crime Show
A few characters. Three rooms. Dialogue.
These few, spare elements don’t seem like nearly enough to make a compelling TV show. But Netflix’s Criminal series uses only those elements and succeeds brilliantly.
They’re plays, really. We find ourselves in an interrogation room, then in the observation room with its one-way mirror, then in the hallway outside with a broken-down vending machine and stairs.
Investigators question suspects as others observe. The investigators rotate in and out, asking, then watching and discussing. The questions, like the investigators, are quirky and creative, and they elicit answers that veer off in unexpected directions and, ultimately, reveal the truth.
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