User Reviews

Episode 2 is genuinely, shockingly brutal - to an unexpectedly high degree. I'd always watched "Criminal" under the impression that it was a relatively easy to follow, competently shot & acted production - featuring rather digestible, satisfying stand-alone stories you could occasionally watch whenever you had the time - like "Mindhunter" but without the budget, the necessity for committment, continuity or alternatively, simply an anthology series of interesting interrogations... But this is the standard I'd never presumed they'd be able to ever set & all those involved in meeting it should be commended for daring to feature in something so topical & quite frankly, brave.

Honestly, this is by far the most messed up, intelligent installment the creators have ever audaciously done & yet it's performed beautifully, directed masterfully, highly informative & equally as emotionally impactful as it is disturbing to view unfold. There's so much to take in & consider & thematic issues are tackled brilliantly. For a show to address the cold, hard reality of our flawed justice system, depicting the difficulties of prosecution / proving guilt with sex crimes based upon the investigator's frequent lack of evidence & the uncertain subjectivity involved - & how potentially, that fragility makes it uncomfortably susceptible to (occasional & very rare) exploitation - balancing all of this perfectly whilst simultaneously exploring how the public's perceptions are often biased due to societal conditioning & thus, this could result in an unfair trial due to an immediate, unfounded presumption of guilt - possibly leading to reputations being mistakenly ruined, thus exploring the consequences of false allegations with this level of multi-layered complexity & consideration - within the space of just 45 minutes? Truly, the show's surpassed itself & exceeded my expectations for what I thought it was originally capable of.

It's bold & dares to spark pretty controversial debates. That in itself is worthy of sheer acknowledgement & appreciation.

This is one of the most compelling pieces of TV I've watched in some time. Wonderful acting, with enlightening insight into the challenges faced by the police, as well as those who legitimately report rape, or are unfairly accused.

I'm aware some people think that tv dramas should never, in any circumstances, have a case where it turns out the man was falsely accused. While I understand the motivation behind that point of view, I don't think that's a solution to the problem of how difficult it is to get a conviction for real cases. Obviously if this approach is taken, it must be done well, and with proper acknowledgement of how 'easy' it is for guilty men to 'get away with it' too, which IMO happened here, but bdonasser makes some fair points. But I'm equally uneasy with the idea that the rareness of false rape allegations means that it's very serious consequences cannot be explored in drama. Most of us are capable of being simultaneously concerned that too many rapists get away with it whilst also having sympathy for the falsely accused. We don't need to pretend that false accusations are of no consequence that don't merit a second thought in order to wish the criminal justice system could do better for victims.

The final dialogue between Alex, and the one police officer who doesn't know of the new evidence, summed it up well. If a man is not charged, or not found guilty, it's often because there is insufficient evidence, and not because the police or even courts believe they are definitely innocent, never mind that they think the woman is lying. And while that is true most of the time, and we assume happens far more often than actual false allegations, false allegations unfortunately exist and the difficulty in demonstrating innocence can be devastating.

Alex isn't very likeable, and deserves to be dumped and to get a dressing down from HR for getting into the situation where he's sleeping with a drunk junior colleague he has some power over. But does he deserve to be sacked? To lose friends and the trust of colleagues? UK employment law means he can't be sacked because of an rape allegation alone, but he works in a business where sales targets matter, and can he maintain them if no-one wants to work with him? He could still lose his job, even if it takes a bit longer. In that respect, the detail of him being arrested in front of colleagues AND clients was crucial.

The question of whether those accused of rape should stay anonymous is a thorny one, but who benefits from that kind of arrest? I don't think it benefits victims, and might ultimately do harm as the anger about the rare false accusations become amplified. Most people, including Alex, albeit begrudgingly, accept that accusations of rape require rigorous investigation, and it was right for the police to interrogate his version of events. It's definitely right that all allegations are taken very seriously, and in some cases it is necessary to go public to establish if there are witnesses, or possible corroborating events. But if there was a presumption in favour of anonymity in the early stages of an investigation unless deemed relevant then I'd say there would be fewer stories in the papers of men determined to explain how they were falsely accused.

At the very least, keeping the arrest more low profile seems the sensible first choice. That said, given what we know of arrogant Alex - did he turn a low-key invite to the police station into a scene requiring an arrest in the middle of his office?

I saw some other people worried that drawing attention to how tough it is to get a conviction will put people off reporting rape. But I think it's better for a drama to be honest about it, than to pretend it's straightforward, because that's why the general public might think a non-guilty verdict means 'she was lying about it'.

The rant about passion always being an excuse rang very true. The discussion about physical evidence was fascinating. On one hand, it's reassuring to know that the absence of bruising etc doesn't mean it can't be rape, but chilling to think that apparent evidence of force doesn't mean as much as we might think it should. Logically, this makes sense, but it's counterintuitive, and the conversation between Alex and his solicitor was handled well, and it was grounding to have a moment where she was becoming upset.

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the role of phone evidence for rape cases, and I read about one where phone records were able to 'prove' the innocence of the defendant, but it only came out months after the initial arrest, and was almost hidden from the defence team. We might feel sorry for Alex, but at least he was able to go back to work the next day and didn't have a trial hanging over him for months.

While the police did discuss the difficulty in obtaining sufficient evidence for a conviction, I did wonder whether they should have found a way to mention how rare it is for false allegations to happen, but I think it's healthier for police officers to think along the lines of those unproven cases being exactly that. They'll have their hunches that many cases are real, but hard to prove, yet there will be many others where they can't honestly say one way or another who is telling the truth.

Just wow. Kit Harringtons performance is amazing. This episode is the opposite of what you first think. Dragged away in front of his work colleagues, arrested for rape, interrogated, disbelieved the whole episode. Unfortunately, the ending happens more than we'd like to think. No one is innocent until proven guilty anymore.

Rape is not something that should be lied about. Its a serious crime and lies like this will hang a shadow over true victims.

Honestly the ending of this episode left a sour taste in my mouth. Kit's and the rest of the performances were as great as ever, and while it wasn't necessarily predictable, I feel like making the story about a false rape claim is really disheartening when I thought this episode was going to shed some light on some really important issues.

Not that people don't get falsely accused, and that those people don't suffer some form of consequence. But that so, so many times real accusations are made, sometimes in positions like this or in countless other scenarios, where for some reason or another the case gets dropped because there's not enough evidence. Or, as the episode itself said, everything is stacked in the defendants favour.

As much as we should take every rape case we hear as truth until proven otherwise I don't believe that's the case, at least not in court or with police. False accusations as a whole only hurt how that justice is able to be carried out, and of course are a problem in their own right. It just seemed like where this episode had an opportunity to shed light on the problems and injustices that victims of actual rape face through the legal process, it instead felt like it was trying to somehow make me empathise with Alex?

It might've been ambiguous what did happen by the end, but I feel like even with Alex making a fool of himself his innocence was still heavily implied. And I feel like that is too often the way in real life cases, everything is stacked against a girl who accuses somebody of rape in the eyes of the law. Even now, even today. I think this episode missed a real opportunity to drive that point home.

EDIT: Maybe that is the point of this episode? To try and drive home how hard the system makes it for actual rape victims to get their justice, how false accusations only makes it worse, and how some men are unfortunately falsely accused and do have to face those consequences?

I do applaud it for all of that, because I do see it painted throughout. I just worry that leaving the climax in the hands of the poor, falsely accused man, and pushing that narrative away from the real victims, could be problematic if that's all people are left with at the end.

They had the opportunity to do something really powerful with this episode and show how difficult it is to ever secure a rape conviction in our current judicial system; instead they decided to go with the tired old trope of 'silly woman makes up fake accusation to get money or attention'.

There's already a misconception that false reports are a common occurrence, despite the statistics showing that complete opposite, so why choose to perpetuate that myth in this episode? This particular narrative of rape accusations stops genuine victims from wanting to come forward, as they assume they won't be believed, and choosing to spin the episode in this way only serves to ensure more victims don't come forward in fear of being accused of being 'one of the many' women who are lying about their attack.

Kit Harrington was just perfect, his 5 minute monologue at the beginning was unbelievable. As someone who has been close to situations almost identical to the one displayed here, it's upsettingly accurate just how damaging a false allegation can be to someone's life. I've seen a few people here discussing how this episode is damaging for people who have actually been through sexual assault and I must say I disagree. I don't understand how speaking out about one problem invalidates another, they are both very real issues and neither should be shrugged off or invalidated because of the other. That being said, this whole episode is structured and directed to near perfection. There hasn't been a weak episode to the show thus far and this isn't any different. in fact, it may be the best yet.

1. Kit was incredible.. his emotions. The interaction with the detectives. His body language.. in the beginning he was arrogant and very full of himself... but that chances during interview. . He became vurnable... hurt... shocked because he didnt do it and he couldnt convince the detectives of his innocence... 2. The message was clear.. like kit said... please leave the furniture as it was.... you have destroyed my life though i am innocent and you couldnt prove a thing.

This was a gripping episode for so many reasons. I thought I knew where this was going but it turned...who is (are) the bad guy(s)? The accused, the police, the accuser? I believe the system has always been on the side of the accused in the case of rape, but this show bravely but with sensitivity and intelligence takes on the very rare case of false accusations. I immediately disliked the character played by Mr Harington. And I was supposed to. My sympathy for the character at the end was surprising and not a little unnerving. Every character, including the brief for the accused, was well written and performed. Great, thought provoking episode from an excellent series.

The story starts off being the typical she said, he said. But as the story evolves it intensifies and a pattern becomes apparent.

Highlights efficiency of modern instrumental policing but raises important ethical questions about false accusations and repercussions after a matter is resolved.

Brilliant acting, dramatic yet relevant in today's fast-paced and internet enabled world.

I see some people complaining about this episode and actually saying that women don't lie about rape. How naive they must be. The fact is that it happens. Women, like men, are humans, capable of lying and manipulating. Being horrible people for the sake of revenge. This episode shows how difficult cases like these are, but for once, the evidence pointed at the man being, probably, innocent. It also point at the devastating results of accusation. Guilty or not - your life is ruined. This is a huge problem in today's society, especially with social media, calling for public execution, even if there's no proof. With that said, rape is a horrible thing that's hard to prove compared to most crimes. That's why it can be a devastating thing for both men and women, but no doubt more so for women. And Kit is doing his best work ever.

Was clearly biased against men and obviously so. The Police had her word against his and tried to crucify him without any real proof at all. Katherine Kelly's character sat on an angle with her arms crossed looking and speaking to him with nothing but contempt. They all hated him for being an assertive man and did not hide it. Even after they found he was completely innocent they acted like he was guilty and did not even apologize for their stupidity. He had the nerve to be angry for them dragging him into custody in front of his coworkers. When he stood up to be heard because he wanted a cop to exonerate him publicly. They had two thugs drag him out for nothing. We didn't call them pigs for nothing!

I am speechless. Challenging stereotypes is much harder than reinforcing them. Those who are behind this episode chose to reinforce the stereotype of unscrupulous women accusing innocent men to gain something out of it. This episode, as other people have suggested, could have provided the opportunity to shed some light on the complexity of rape investigations. Nobody implies that there aren't men who are falsely accused, but tv shows feeding dangerous rhetoric with this kind of work is at least dangerous and an affront to rape victims. Very disappointed at the show. Police are also shown to sympathize with the alleged victim and not powerful white men, which is probably in the sphere of fantasy.