*Warning – contains major spoilers for all eight episodes of Criminal Record season 2.*
The second season of Criminal Record came to an explosive and tragic end, as Stephen Campbell Moore’s Leo Hanratty was killed by a car bomb.
It had already been a traumatic season for Leo, the partner of Cush Jumbo‘s June Lenker, who had previously found out she was having an affair with Luca Pasqualino’s JP.
In the finale, after June and the team had successfully foiled a far right bomb plot, she spoke with Leo on the phone as he was getting in her car, and telling her he would bring it to her the next day.
As they spoke on the phone, they finally opened up to one another, with Leo saying he had always wanted to have children of his own with June. She told him he should have asked, to which he said that it’s too late.
However, there then became a bit of a question in his voice – asking whether it was too late, rather than telling her. Finally, he said “You said ask, so I am, I’m asking”. However, at that point he was cut off by a huge explosion which emanated from and engulfed the car.
June headed to the scene, where an ambulance was already there. Sadly, there was no hope for Leo – based on the size of the explosion, we’d imagine he was killed instantly.
Speaking exclusively with Radio Times about this shocking twist, Jumbo said: “I didn’t know for quite a while exactly who was going to die in the explosion, but I did know by the time we started shooting.
“Look, I love it for the show, because you don’t see it coming until it’s coming. But also, it really just felt like a metaphor for how her life has really completely been blown apart, both by herself and by the case. And it made me also think about how she would go on from that – what would happen next if there was a season 3.
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“I love that Paul [Rutman, creator] puts out all of these tentacles in order to help the characters develop in different ways. Also, explosions are very exciting. Poor Stephen Campbell Moore, being blown to smithereens. But yeah, I thought it was amazing and kind of heartbreaking.”
The end of the episode saw June nursing a drink in a bar, and being joined by Peter Capaldi’s Daniel Hegarty. In a previous scene, he had visited the villainous Cosmo, who had suggested it was one of his supporters who was responsible for the car bomb – likely intended for June.
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