The British mystery-thriller The Capture returns this week for its second season on Peacock. In the first season, new homicide division transfer DI Rachel Carey (Holliday Grainger, Patrick Melrose, Strike) was assigned to a seemingly open-and-shut case of a murder caught on CCTV. During her investigation, she stumbled upon a a secret government project, Operation Vanguard. A counter-terrorism intelligence agency within the UK government was utilizing a dangerous technology called Correction—a method of real-time image manipulation, using the disruption of camera feeds and the deployment of deepfake technology—to manufacture the evidence it needed to secure convictions of suspected terrorists. Those in charge of the division, Commander Danny Hart (Ben Miles, Devils, Coupling) and DSU Gemma Garland (Lia Williams, The Foreigner) tried to assure Rachel that the technology was only being used for good, to help prove things they already knew to be true, but she wasn’t buying it. As the first season came to a close, an innocent man had been sent to prison thanks to this technology, but instead of blowing the whistle on the operation, it appeared as though DI Carey had put aside her morals, accepting a promotion and joining this unscrupulous project.
As the second season opens, the UK government has been entertaining bids for a new facial recognition software to be used in airports and other security systems. The China Research Commission (CRC) has been established to investigate the proposal from Chinese company Xanda Facial Recognition. Heading up this committee is Security Minister Isaac Turner MP (Paapa Essiedu, I May Destroy You, Gangs of London). Isaac is very much against allowing the Chinese government into the UK security infrastructure, telling the Xanda representative “As long as I’m Security Minister, Britain’s borders won’t be monitored by a storefront for the People’s Republic of China.”. To which he receives the ominous warning “If we’re as good at spying as you say we are, you might be a little more careful.” Which may be good advice because the police have just been called in to investigate the murder of a scientist/Chinese dissident who was mysteriously assassinated in his flat by a seemingly-invisible assailant. Security cameras caught the entire murder on film, and yet the assailant can’t be seen. So investigators DS Nadia Latif (Ginny Holder) and DS Patrick Flynn (Cavan Clerkin) reach out to DCI Carey for assistance, since they are aware of her previous case involving CCTV cameras.
It appears that whomever is responsible for these invisible assassins may be targeting members of the CRC, and Isaac could be their next victim. The obvious suspects are those working for Xandar and the Chinese government. However, as Isaac is taken into police protection and witnesses the Correction technology in action, it soon becomes clear that whomever is behind all of this has much bigger plans. Isaac soon finds himself mixed up in this high tech world, not knowing who or what he can trust, or even if what he sees and hears is actually real. He becomes the target of a smear campaign and deepfake technology, but doesn’t know why. Meanwhile, those at Operation Vanguard desperately search for who is behind this latest threat, reluctantly bringing DCI Carey even though they’re not quite sure they can trust her yet. And rightfully so, as Rachel is secretly plotting to expose Correction and those involved with the project. She knows that she is constantly being watched and must pretend to be a loyal worker while trying to gather the information and evidence she needs to bring down the system…though that is easier said than done, especially with the tools and resources her ruthless bosses have at their disposal.
The second season consists of 6 episodes, each ending with some big reveal or cliffhanger that makes you instantly want to see what happens next. The good news is that Peacock is releasing all 6 episodes at once, so you can binge away. While it’s not necessary to have seen the first season to fully enjoy the second, the first does give some helpful background on the main characters and their relationships. The storyline for the second season is pretty much self-contained, and comes to an exciting and satisfying conclusion, which would also serve as a great series finale should the series not be picked up for a third season (though I would happily watch more). The second season brings back many great characters from the first season, such as the delightfully evil DSU Gemma Garland and her equally-despicable American equivalent, Frank Napier (Ron Perlman, Sons of Anarchy). In addition to Paapa Essiedu as this season’s unfortunate target of Correction, some of the new cast members include Charlie Murphy (Halo, Peaky Blinders) as Isaac’s wife Simone Turner, and Indira Varma (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Game of Thrones) as TV journalist Khadija Khan, who finds herself pulled into this deepfake conspiracy.
The first season of The Capture was easily my favorite of the Peacock launch shows, and the second season is just as thrilling and exciting. Not only is it an intence action-packed drama/mystery with some interesting twists and turns, but it also takes a chilling look at how modern advances in technology should make you question everything you think you’re seeing—it gives a whole new meaning to “fake news”.
All 6 episodes of the thrilling second season of The Capture will debut Thursday November 3 on Peacock.
The Capture, Season 1
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