Criminal Record Season 2 Episode 7 Reminds Us That the Truth is a Relic, but the Bombs Are Real

The truth is a relic.

Well, that’s certainly been the recurring theme of the season, and Criminal Record Season 2 Episode 7 exposes some tough truths while also gearing up for the showdown we’ve been waiting for this whole time.

theBilly flew too close to the sun with Cosmo, leaving the operation exposed and Cosmo’s crew on their way to blow up London. Bloody hell, we need these guys taken down expeditiously!

June’s Personal Life Keeps Imploding

Welp, June has gone from juggling two guys who are mostly into her to zero. Personally, I find both of them foolish for fumbling her.

But I may or may not be a June Lenker apologist and of the general belief that when you look like Cush Jumbo, anyone should be just thankful to be in her presence. What do I know?

However, during this installment, I do have to give Leo some points, begrudgingly, because it was the first time all season that he actually seemed like a decent, supportive husband, and also one who would go to bat for his wife.

He could’ve easily overheard what was happening with June and JP, jumped in on the action, or left her hanging. Still, he actually came out, asserted himself, and ensured that JP wouldn’t be standing outside just disrespecting his wife outside of her home.

It was a great moment for them as a unit, but then there was the whole pesky little fact that Leo was rightfully hurt that his wife had cheated on him with that “good-looking guy” with a fiancée.

It was totally fair. I mean, JP IS hot, and no matter how many issues cropped up between her and Leo, she shouldn’t have stepped out on him.

My biggest issue is that I don’t have much investment in the toxicity of their marriage, so it was painful to watch in that way, when you’re just eager to move on to the real action and meat of the hour.

June & JP Go Down in Flames. What a Waste of All That Pretty!

Also, I can’t help but wonder if this is the last we’ll see of JP.

It would suck if that’s the case, but with all the injuries he’s sustained, his blowing up on June after she sicced Internal Affairs on him to ensure that he wasn’t privy to Hegarty going off book, there likely isn’t much use for him anymore, right?

JP was genuinely hurt that June could ever doubt him, given how much they had bonded over how the Suffolk stabbing had hurt them deeply.

The entire situation of navigating the case with Old Guard, politically incorrect sorts like Hegarty and Kim, I could understand why.

They also slept together, and JP seemed to genuinely catch some feelings for June, so that bit of betrayal was like a shock to the system.

He misread her being entirely felt by the job and her own moral code as her being jealous and hurt that his fiancée returned.

Men, am I right?

JP’s absence from this case was particularly felt when June attempted to step in and replace him as Billy’s primary contact, and it was clear that it would go over well.

June and Billy never had that kind of bond, and part of his cover nearly getting blown the first time was because she’s been on Kieran’s radar, so if I were Billy, I wouldn’t have wanted to communicate with her either.

Hegarty’s Gonna Hegarty.. and He Always Wins

But ultimately, when it comes to the men in June’s life, it always seems to go back to Hegarty, right?

She couldn’t even run point on this case after exposing him because Kim was like a lap dog, feeding Hegarty everything along the way.

And the benefit of having Hegarty on far outweighed any of his machinations to secure this case in the first place.

With alt-right bombers posing imminent threats, they could set aside most of what Hegarty did to focus on blowing up this operation (pun unintended).

It’s how Hegarty has been able to survive this long, doing what he does and getting away with it. When you get results, blind eyes will prevail.

Nevertheless, it’s always more interesting when June is there to call him and give him some resistance.

He always tries to have the last word on things and on how they have to adjust to the times to take down the bad guys.

But as much as he says that, Hegarty needs someone like June around to keep him honest. It’s why they work so well as a unit, even when it often feels like they’re on opposing sides.

June may not have been able to bring this investigation home, but there’s some solace in the fact that Hegarty took over.

Billy the Kid’s Redemption Arc Has Been Intriguing

Of all the ways this thing could’ve blown up, though, Cosmo piecing things together because Billy was actually playing into Cosmo’s one-sided homoerotic infatuation with Billy was not something I expected.

Billy has been such a fascinating character this season and one that I’ve grown to like a great deal, considering the circumstances.

What’s been so great about him, and what Luther Ford brings to this role, is that bit of mystique and trepidation.

There are so many moments when you never fully know where Billy stands with anything, the full extent of what’s motivating him, or if he’s influencing Cosmo, or it’s the other way around.

But over time, we’ve come to realize how Cerys’ death still haunts him.

She was someone he cared for, and it’s in those moments when you can tell she’s at the forefront of his mind that you can really see a man who is devoted to his redemption.

Whenever it seems like he’s getting lost in the muck a bit, it’s not some form of salvation or a desire to be free that motivates him; it’s a desire to do good after Cerys.

Just thinking about her has a way of recharging him and redirecting his energy.

He was determined to give them all the information that he needed when he found the map and other things. But it wasn’t until he watched Cosmo’s video about him that Billy was motivated and knew what card to attempt.

It was clearly awful to hear Cosmo speak so poorly about Cerys, her appearance, and essentially how her having a Welsh name or presumably being involved with someone outside of her race in the first place was some abomination — that she, as presumably a multiracial girl, was an abomination.

Billy Overplayed the Seduction

And in the same breath, Cosmo could barely contain his attraction to Billy when he kept going on about how attractive he was.

It made sense that, after that, Billy could make his last-ditch effort to figure out where the bombs were headed by playing into that attraction.

Cosmo has been crossing lines, invading personal space, ogling Billy, and treating him like a “Kept man” this whole time.

The problem was that one minute, Billy was snatching his hand away and putting space between them as Cosmo grazed his finger while sitting too close.

Next, Billy was invading Cosmo’s personal space and initiating physical contact, grabbing him around the waist in a clearly intimate gesture.

Cosmo captured that perfect combination of shock, intrigue, and realization in those moments. But Hegarty was great for having figured it out in the first place.

Billy is such a smart kid, but he overplayed his hand in that moment. But it was also interesting that Cosmo is only into his obsession precisely because it’s one-sided.

It’s like he loved living in the ambiguity of sexual tension he created, but the idea of it potentially being reciprocated stripped him of control.

And he doesn’t like that. Also, despite all his bluster, he doesn’t believe he could be the object of such interest from those he likes, which is why he spends all this time seeking validation from keyboard warriors.

Cosmo’s Cowardice, His Crew’s Bombs & The Police’s Race Sets Up an Exciting Finale

Cosmo truly is a sad man.

Even in the elevator, after he confronted Billy, he couldn’t bring himself to really be mad at him. He loves him still. But he could use that arrest to galvanize his followers further.

Part of me thinks he was always planning some way of getting out of participating in the actual bombings.

Cosmo likes winding other people up to do his dirty work, but he can’t actually handle doing any of it himself.

Cosmo gets to sit safely behind bars while his followers carry out the violence in his name. That’s the ultimate irony of men like him: they’re happy to inspire destruction, as long as someone else is the one lighting the fuse.

Over to you, Criminal Record Fanatics! Did you expect Cosmo to figure out Billy was betraying him? What are your finale predictions? Sounds off!

Crime Record streams Wednesdays on Apple TV.

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