Culprits – Season 1 Episode 4 “Circle in a Circle” Recap & Review

Circle in a Circle

Episode 4 of Culprits brings us closer to the execution of the planned heist. Dianne briefs the team about the position of the vault. Getting to it – even in the case of a natural disaster – is next to impossible. There are only two men in the world who could possibly break in – one of them is dead. The other, Malek Mizouni, has retired from his illegal businesses. He is completely legit now. Dianne and a few others visit him in Barcelona. They go to a cafe he owns. Malek is deeply concerned when he sees Dianne’s face and learns that she wants to recruit him. 

Malek reveals his lack of ambition and desire to get back to his “craft.” Money isn’t the only attraction for him. And the job currently does not appeal to him. Dianne is disappointed but leaves the place. As they’re going away, Youssef, Malek’s father, accepts the proposition. Joe and Specialist blindfold him and take Youssef to Dianne. He says that since the lock is old, they will require his expertise on how to crack it open. But they will need an extra pair of hands – someone who is well versed with the craft.

Youssef is referring to Azar, who is Malek’s daughter. She is taken in handcuffs to Youssef and is excited when he tells her it is a “real job.” However, the task gets terrifying for her as Dianne cruelly tests her skills by locking Youssef in a vault that is quickly filling up with water. If she doesn’t save him in time, Youssef might lose his life. Azar, however, successfully cracks it open, heeding her grandfather’s instructions and insights. Both are welcomed to the team and codenamed Greasehouse and Cracker, respectively. 

Dianne lays out the urgency with which the team will have to work in order to be successful. Another member, Fuse, is introduced to the team. As his name suggests, he will be responsible for setting up explosives and charges for the heist. In the present day, Joe, after landing in London, breaks into his parents’ house. He places a cat figurine at the top of a desk in the living and proceeds to go into the back shed. He retrieves a handgun that he had stashed years ago in one of the old boxes.

Carl and Cathy, his parents, arrive while he is still in the house. However, he leaves surreptitiously, without making too much noise. Cathy has a sense that Joe is there when she sees the figurine. She even sees him leaving through the back fence but doesn’t say anything. He later meets Specialist and Officer at the art gallery. The trio is suspicious of each other but quickly realizes that the assailant is someone else. As Officer begins to describe him, we get a sense that Specialist knows who he is. 

Joe is approached by a former lover at the gallery, Colin, who calls him by his old name. It is not a big scare, though, as Joe handles him. Officer mentions that since the team didn’t stick to the plan, Dianne might be behind these killings. While they are talking, Specialist leaves the gallery. Next, we take a brief journey back into the past that explains why the team didn’t stick to the plan. 

After the heist, most of them, barring Dianne, Fixer, Cracker, Right Hand, and Greasehouse, meet at the designated spot. The group has been waiting for nearly an hour before Joe shows up. Thinking the worst, they decide to take their shares of the money and leave. In the present, Joe wonders where Dianne is. She hasn’t been seen since the job. Joe saw her at the vault that day, where she said she’d meet them back at the designated place. Officer mentions that she has been keeping track of everyone’s socials. Using a few reverse image searches on one particular account, she guesses that Azar might be hiding in Southern France.

It is like finding a needle in a haystack. But Joe and Officer are desperately out of options. In Barcelona, we see Malek being confronted by the masked man. After killing him, the man takes off his mask briefly and ominously smiles at a family photo that has Azar and Youssef. During the trip, it is revealed that Joe still hasn’t spent any of the money from the heist. He is a multi-millionaire but still wants to be cautious with it. Officer, on the other hand, spent the entirety of her share in seven months. While going around the places where they find the graffiti, the duo realize that Azar might be in Pamiers. 

A flashback reveals how difficult it was for Officer after her death escape to go back to normal. If it hadn’t been for Joe, she would have been dead. As a return of favour, Officer gave Joe her contact to move the money to LA, which is where she was going.

In the present, while waiting at a gas station, Joe reads a news clipping of Malek’s death. He hurries Officer into leaving as she screenshots Azar’s probable location and sends it to the white-haired assailant, who is only referred to as the Devil. 

The Episode Review

Well, we have the first major betrayal in the show. Officer seemed to be completely normal after the incident in Episode 3 – but in hindsight, how could she? I still don’t get why the Devil chose to let her live while hunting down the others. Couldn’t he just as easily have found the remaining members of the team? The writers will have to come up with a good explanation when the time comes.

It is unlikely that we will be seeing the heist sequence, which is unfortunate. The show has already skipped past it. But Dianne’s mysterious disappearance remains intriguing. Culprits still has a lot of story left to tell. Episode 4 is low on action but moves the narrative along quietly. 

Arterton’s sparing use is a disappointment. The previous two episodes have excluded her completely, which can only mean she might headline one of the next two. I am still unsure of the plot. Perhaps the cues will make much more sense when put together later on.