Criminal Record Season 1 Episode 3 Review: Kid in the Park

Criminal Record Season 1 Episode 3, “Kid in the Park,” begins brutally but loses momentum in the middle. 

“Kid in the Park” opens somewhat unexpectedly on a young boy viewers have never seen before.

It’s a bit disorienting given how focused the first two episodes, Criminal Record Season 1 Episode 1, “Emergency Caller,” and Criminal Record Season 1 Episode 2, “Two Calls,” are on June and Hegarty.

Viewers don’t have a chance to contemplate how this child might be related to Adalie Burrows’s murder, though. Soon after we first see him, there is a loud gunshot. The scene then cuts to black, only to reveal the boy has been shot in the head.

The jolt of that moment is like being hit with a bucket of ice water. It snaps you to attention with such shock you can’t look away. You would expect something equally gripping, if not more so, to follow. 

Unfortunately, the episode doesn’t capitalize on the high emotions of its opening sequence. It gets muddled in too many moving pieces and lacks focus. All the emotions sort of flatten until the close to the end. 

Even the residual emotions of that opening sequence dull as it becomes a plot device to get June into Hegarty’s orbit.

Watching June and Hegarty each play the role of good colleagues is interesting. They pretend their only concern is the case when we know it’s not. 

Unfortunately, the feel of most of “Kid in the Park” lacks the sharp edges and sinister atmosphere of the first two episodes, diluting the potential tension of the situation. 

Even Capaldi and Jumbo, both such compelling presences on “Emergency Caller” and “Two Calls,” get lost in a very cluttered episode. 

The episode does rebound toward the end, though. The scene of Hegarty not warning June as the suspect in the boys’ shooting approaches her is quite effective. There is a real sense of danger in that moment. 

More than that, it reveals what a monster Hegarty truly is. It’s pretty clear that had the other officer not walked in, Hegarty would have let June get shot. I don’t doubt that Hegarty views himself as a hero and justifies such actions as righteous to himself. 

Still, the fact that he so quickly jumps to murder without a second thought dispels any doubt that he isn’t just a privileged sociopath. For now, at least.

“Kid in the Park” also has another compelling episode-ending cliffhanger, revealing that Hegarty got Patrick out of a drug charge years earlier.

That final scene of June walking into the press conference just having learned that fact is an excellent bookend to that startling opening on what is otherwise a lackluster episode. 

Stray Thoughts

• This episode shows the scope of Hegarty’s influence, but it’s still unclear why he has so much power beyond being a British version of a “good ol’ boy.” 
• June is the hero of this story, but you have to wonder a bit about her motivations. She seems more driven to answer Hegarty’s retaliation against her than potentially freeing an innocent man. She also doesn’t seem too interested in helping find the young boy’s shooter until she realizes it was an opportunity to get close to Hegarty.

What did you think of this episode of Criminal Record? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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New Episodes of Criminal Record stream Wednesdays on Apple TV+.

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