Help, it's over.

At least for now, anyway. There's going to be a third season, thank god. I experienced about thirty seconds of horrified despair between the moment my stream ended on Alec's stoic, lonely face, and when I hopped on Twitter to see that - no - oh please, please - yes - YES there was going to be another season! Whew.

It's not often I allow myself to helplessly fangirl over things, but after seven weeks of suspense, I figure I've probably earned it. So don't mind me if I get a bit sentimental here. All the nail-biting is finally over, and the characters are getting on with their lives. It's great to finish a season of such great TV, but it also leaves one feeling a wee bit bereft for a while.

Overall, this was a truly masterful episode. The mystery finally unraveled; the cast put in outstanding performances; it was tightly plotted, fast-paced, with a real emotional kick in the tail: a fitting end to an excellent season.

We came first to Joe's trial - that arduous, season-long saga that looked like it might never end. After the horrible cliffhanger last episode, hearing the 'not guilty' verdict shouldn't have been surprising, but it was still a blow. There was no screams or loud drama when the verdict was given - just an anguished silence from the Latimers and Ellie, which was far more effective than anything else would have been. I felt especially sorry for Chloe, holding the baby, weeping off by herself. Tom comforting Ellie was a touching role reversal and a great little character moment. As shocking as the verdict was, and as brutal for everyone there, from a writing perspective, it was the only thing to do - otherwise what would have been the point of dragging it out all season only for Joe to be convicted? The shot of Joe driving out the court gates past the devastated Latimers was sickening. Honestly, at this point I was hoping someone would do the world a favour and pop him off.

"Hey Beth, fancy a bit of DIY justice?"

And it looked for a while like someone might do it - Ellie and Beth's murderous rage was totally convincing and for a moment I could definitely see them hunting Joe down and giving him a sticky end. Fortunately they took the moral high road, and while Joe's walk of shame past all the people he'd hurt was overly symbolic, his banishment was a fitting exorcism for the town, and consolidated that firm sense of place that the show had in Season 1. And Olivia Colman and Jodie Whittaker (Beth) were on top form as their characters confronted Joe - it was an empowering scene for both characters and their grief and resilience was very moving.

I felt sorry for Ellie, still reeling from the verdict, being confronted by a very angry Scotsman with a motivational speech. Alec's a blunt instrument as always, and he pushes her to her limits, but there was a grain of truth in his diatribe, and she certainly rose to the challenge (doesn't she always?). However, I think the slight awkwardness from this scene was a good example of the rushed plotting in this episode. So much happened with Sandbrook this week, and relatively little in episode 7. If the pace of events had been more evenly spread over the two episodes, I think it would have felt more convincing.

"Welcome to Hardy's Anger Management 101. Let's go roast some suspects."

I've mentioned this before, but I just don't like Tess, and it was extremely satisfying to see Alec brush her off in favour of Ellie: "No, I need Miller" - and quite right too. Tess is excruciatingly smug for someone who basically ruined her husband's life - she's always smirking around like the cat that got the cream. Hopefully she'll move to Antarctica before season 3 starts, but I'm not optimistic. And can we all just stop for a minute and acknowledge how amazing Ellie is? The strain on her this episode was brutal, and it was proof of her resilience that not only did she not break under the pressure, but she unearthed the final, crucial piece of evidence that allowed them to get Lee to confess. She's an utter legend.

Sandbrook...this is what had been keeping so many of us up nights, freeze-framing and examining episodes for clues, and generally driving ourselves a wee bit nuts. After all that speculation, the solution was something I didn't see coming. Am I disappointed I didn't guess it? No. Did it live up to the build-up? Mostly, yes. The flashbacks, finally showing us what happened on that awful night, were well shot and concisely paced; and Alec and Ellie's horrified, revolted expressions mirrored mine as I sat in slight shock. It was more or less what we all expected, I think, but the reality of the details was terrible. The horror of seeing those lovely girls murdered was really too much and I almost couldn't bear to look - which, of course, is the only decent reaction to violence like that, and I appreciate that Broadchurch never succumbs to violence as sensationalism - it never cheapens the very real horror of a crime like that. The cleverness of the solution was the absence of a single cold-blooded perpetrator - as many of us had suspected, there
were so many layers of jealousy, anger, infidelity, dysfunction, and misplaced loyalty all woven together that it was hard to say who was most at fault. Ricky wouldn't harm his daughter, but kills his niece in a jealous rage. Lee ends up committing murder to avoid being framed for another murder. Claire helps kill Pippa to protect the husband who she had just found cheating on her. They are all so terrifically messed up it almost defies belief - and yet it's credible. And the fact that the murders happened so easily - in a domino cascade of inevitable events - makes it all the more chilling.

For quite a while I doubted Alec's intuition about the guilty parties but it turned out to be right, again, about both Lee and Claire. It was glorious to see Alec as the personification of merciless justice, new heart and all, ready to hunt the perpetrators to the ends of the earth if need be. And his fierce determination and that death-ray stare really did save the day, since no one else could have won that creepy battle of wills with Claire in the interview room. Eve Myles (Claire) gave a really unsettling performance, with those innocent baby eyes suddenly full of thinly veiled malice and contempt. I found myself wishing I hadn't felt so sorry for her just the previous episode; she turned out to be a truly horrible person and not even Lee's control over her could even start to excuse her actions.

David Tennant had lots to work with this episode, and he's pitch-perfect as a man who's on the verge of emotional disintegration and taking it all very personally - the rage, the suddenly red-rimmed eyes and the quaver in the voice. Once again, as in Season 1, Alec gets to deliver the coda of the story, and this time it's particularly dark - that love always turns sour and that no one can be trusted, ever, not even the people you care for most. It obviously struck deep for Ellie, and I was sorry she had to hear that. It was hammering home the conclusion of Alec's character this season - that even when he's won, he's still convinced he's utterly alone.

He did it.

For me, the most profound part of the episode was the sight of Alec, alone in the interview room, weeping over the photos of the murdered girls for whom he'd finally, finally got justice. It broke my heart. Even doing the right thing by the girls couldn't bring them back or undo the horror of their deaths. For Alec, at least, relief and triumph was mixed with the realisation that it was an achingly Pyrrhic victory.

How much of my Sandbrook theories were correct? Funnily enough, I don't really care - the entertaining part was the speculation, and since I was happy with how the mystery was resolved, I don't mind that most of my theories were three buses and a long hike away from what actually happened. Most shockingly for me, Cate played no part at all in the murders. I was pretty convinced she was a murderer hiding-in-plain-sight, like Joe was last season, but no. I was a bit closer to the mark with the theories that a) the murders would be crimes of passion, b) there would be multiple perpetrators, and c) Pippa would be a victim of the anger and sexual infidelity of the adults. It was nice not to be completely wide of the mark, but really, the fun part is not knowing.

"Since when does Alec sign his texts "xox"? Must be his new heart playing up."

Now, as much as I loved the murder and mystery element of the episode - and I'd been dying to find out for so long - actually a surprisingly big part of the episode for me was saying goodbye to all these wonderful characters. This is probably Broadchurch's greatest strength. You know that characters are well written when you forget for just a moment that they're fictional - when you care what happens to them and want them to be happy.

One thing I really enjoyed about Season 1 is that Broadchurch cares about all the characters, including the minor ones, and we got fitting resolutions for all of them. This season's finale wasn't quite as successful here, but managed to leave most of the characters at a more or less convincing place.
Rev Paul, that complex mixture of neediness and philanthropy, got to do something constructive for a change and atone for his self-righteous meddling all season.
Jocelyn and Sharon's sort-of-reconciliation, coming straight after Alec and Ellie's highly emotional scenes, felt rather unimportant and a little too tidy. Not everything needs to be wrapped up with a bow. Hopefully their new case won't be a plotline in Season 3, because I'm really not interested.
"Keep our love as strong as steel. That's how we win": Mark sums up the hopeful future for the Latimers. The last time we saw Mark and Beth together, they were on the edge of divorce, and so their eleventh-hour reconciliation felt pretty forced. However, it was a lovely scene, and life goes on in the form of their baby daughter. And the best part was seeing Ellie and the kids join them - Ellie really needs Beth's friendship, and hopefully she can start to repair her life too. Ellie's last scenes were mostly focused on Alec, but it was clear that she's equal parts broken and resilient, and since she's the unsinkable Ellie Miller, we know she'll make it.

Conspicuously absent from this scene was Alec, who for the first time ever straightens his tie as he's about to leave Broadchurch - a hopeful sign that he's beginning to repair himself as well. But it's very clear that he doesn't want to leave - the town he hated has become his closest thing to a home - and that's mostly because of Ellie. Some people are convinced he doesn't actually leave after the credits roll - but of course he does. I'm betting he'll spend about six months getting to know his daughter and quietly missing his buddy Millah, and then he'll find some pretext or other to rope her back in to a case. And the world will be back on its axis again, and I'll be happy.

Broadchurch has stumbled a few times this season, but it sure knows how to end well. The last fifteen minutes were exquisitely paced, acted, and scored, and the absolute masterpiece was Ellie and Alec's amusingly awkward, keenly poignant goodbye in his little blue cottage. Just put Olivia Colman and David Tennant in a room and let them do what they do best - and the result is always spectacular. I cried, I really did, which might be silly, but the obvious subtext of the scene is that neither of them want him to leave, but neither can find a suitable reason for him to stay. I couldn't believe she refused a hug. Come on, the poor man started out as a human porcupine and he's been trying to hug her for a whole season now. But she was too fragile - and fair enough. Still, it underscored the more subtle fact that he seems to care more about her than vice versa, but their friendship isn't easy to categorise. It's certainly not anything like love, yet it's not quite your average friendship either. It's been beautiful watching them fall from distrust into trust, but it was inevitable that they'd part ways sooner or later. As I said a few weeks ago, I'm struggling to think of a resolution to their relationship that would be neither cloying nor sad, and yet convincing. I just want them to be grumpy crime-solving best friends forever...

Because the fact is that they need each other. Mostly, Alec actually needs Ellie. This might seem obvious, but the finale underlined how terribly grim Alec's view of the world is. He truly believes that everything is futile, that everyone betrays their loved ones in the end. And Ellie is the only person who can not only understand him, but tell him to snap out of it and actually show him - just by being his friend - that he's wrong. And Alec is the only person who will stubbornly be there for Ellie even when she rebuffs him - even if he's totally emotionally incompetent, he just never gives up - and she needs someone who offers her awkward hugs and asks her whether she's eaten today. So in some ways the question of whether their relationship should be platonic or romantic isn't the point - the point is that they actually do need each other, and that's why there was such a sense of loss when they went their separate ways.

Sigh.
Now for the criticism.

What were the episode's weakest points? For me, the biggest one was Claire. Eve Myles is a wonderful actress, but Claire's writing felt rather forced here. First she was the increasingly dodgy liar - then she was the sympathetic victim of circumstances - and finally she's an utter psycho who helped murder a child in cold blood and would do anything, including accusing Alec of raping her, to defend her equally murderous (and cheating) husband. Something in there doesn't compute. Which is she? Although I was always engaged with the big focus this season had on the mystery of Claire, I felt like it didn't pay off quite as well as it could have. And speaking of her accusation against Alec - that really bothered me, actually, as a writing choice. I know the point of it was to emphasise that Claire is utterly deranged and will defend Lee no matter what, but actually in real life, when women say they've been raped it's almost always true (just like for any other crime). It just didn't sit right with me because it wasn't essential to the plot, and it reinforces that horrible myth that "women just make it up sometimes". Screenwriters need to take that seriously.

She's very, very creepy.

Additionally, in the rush to conclude Sandbrook, there were a few things that the episode didn't address that seemed to be important up until now:
-Who sent Claire the bluebell? I don't think it was ever stated - do we presume Ricky?
-The bluebell thing - such a huge and frustrating clue - didn't feel so very important in the end.
-Some of the procedural stuff around Sandbrook seemed to be conveniently ignored - like the fact that all the evidence Alec and Ellie had collected and everything they'd done while the case was closed would not only be inadmissible in court, it would be illegal.
 -The script was weighed down with a few overly heavy-handed lines - especially in the posturing between Jocelyn and Sharon in the cloakroom.

With the benefit of hindsight, it's clear that there were also problems with Season 2 as a whole, and they deserve to be mentioned.
-Episodes 2 and 3 descended into melodrama and chaos at times, jarring the series' usually expert hold on restraint and
deliberate progress.
-Some threads did lead nowhere in particular - or didn't turn out to be as important as we thought - a problem with any extended whodunnit, and what made Season 1 an absolute miracle was that that problem was almost nonexistent.
-Most importantly, too much screen time was spent on Joe's trial. The trial could only have two outcomes and all the angst was directed at a fairly predictable endpoint. By contrast, Sandbrook had far more potential as a story and could have gone in a million different directions, but it ended up sacrificing screen time to the procedural drama and its subplots, like the strain on the Latimers (this felt at times like re-treading Season 1 ground) and the rivalry between Sharon and Jocelyn (this wasn't given enough development and fell very flat), which never really measured up to their potential.

However, despite these caveats, I still enjoyed this season immensely because...well, I could go on about all the things that are great - the solid writing, the sublime talent, the unlikely yet engaging relationship between the two main characters, the achingly beautiful musical score, the glorious cinematography - but I hope I've mentioned most of those in previous reviews. Ultimately, the faults don't stop me from enjoying Broadchurch because above all it succeeds in creating authentic people who are dealing with real problems.

I can guarantee that in a few months' time I'll be doing something and out of nowhere will come the thought: "I wonder where Alec went when he got in that cab?" or "I wonder if Ellie and Tom finished re-painting their house. Wee Fred is going to be so big by next season!" The characters earned my liking and respect (or hatred, as the case may be!), and that never felt forced. And the big issues the series grapples with never feel contrived; it's easy to understand how one might react in the same situations the characters go through. Loss, trust, messy grief, anger, guilt, love and friendship, they're all there. 

Everyone has their own standards for what constitutes great drama, but that's how I judge it - on whether the people feel real. Pretty much the worst thing I can say about TV is "I just don't care what happens to these people". Because we forget plot details and cliffhangers, but we remember characters. We remember people. Broadchurch has been well-written and executed, thrilling and satisfying, and the characters will stay with me for a long time. That's pretty much all I ask of fiction.

Would you like to be interviewed by them? Me neither.

So where to now? I've enjoyed reviewing this season so much, speculating on Twitter and getting messages from people saying how much they've enjoyed reading the reviews. I'm genuinely quite downcast that it's over - but it means I have more time to write about other things, which is nice. I have a theatre review that's nearly done (Shakespeare's Richard II), some thoughts on Thelma and Louise, absolutely buckets of Doctor Who meta sitting in my drafts folder, and I'm planning a big roundup of all the films I've seen in the last few months - a big bunch of mini-reviews that might be useful when you have decision paralysis next time you have a movie night in. And I'm hoping to tune into the Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul, which will give me the discipline of writing each week. Hopefully I'll return to some Old Hollywood too, and possibly even some short fiction.

Whew! That's probably enough to get me started...! If you like the sound of any of this, you're very welcome to follow me and keep tabs on what I get up to. You can follow me on Twitter, follow the blog's Facebook page, or subscribe to my RSS feed. If Tumblr's your poison, I post a lot of Old Hollywood photographs and some Doctor Who art on my blog there, and I'm always up for a chat.

Until then!



For all Broadchurch posts, click here.

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So there are a few things I'm going to need during the Broadchurch finale (other than a couple stiff drinks):

 
-Joe convicted. That goes without saying. Or, alternatively, he gets off but meets a mysterious and sticky end. I wouldn't really be sorry (is that terribly wrong of me?).

-Ellie and Alec having some normal human non-grumpy interaction. Come on, it's been two seasons - they've earned it. Maybe a quiet moment while their respective kids play together? That would be lovely.

-Ellie getting the credit for Sandbrook. She has absolutely earned it, and not only has she figured out key parts of the mystery, she's also kept Alec going when he's wanted to give up. She absolutely deserves the credit, and if Tess muscles in on anything I will be livid.

-Beth getting some sort of closure on her relationship with Mark, either way. She's been through hell and she deserves it.

-Alec being able to negotiate some sort of relationship with his daughter. Not getting back together with Tess, but having as much of a family as he can under the circumstances. 

-Finally, I'm more than keen for a third season, but please, no huge cliffhangers! Seven weeks of tortuous suspense is enough.

If you're watching it, good luck! and do tweet me your thoughts @24framesblog.




For all Broadchurch posts, click here.


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"It never ends well, does it?" "What does?" "Love."

At least in Broadchurch, it seems.

The penultimate episode was equal parts nail-biting and infuriating, as we finally discovered the mysteries behind Claire and her relationship with Lee, but the secrets of Sandbrook remained well hidden for the finale. There wasn't much subtlety this week, with drama raging on all fronts - and the episode dealt with some heavy themes - abortion, partner violence, attempted suicide - that hadn't been approached before now. It felt like we didn't get much closer to solving Sandbrook even here, at episode 7 - but undoubtedly the clues have all been laid, and when we find out who did it and how they did it, we'll be kicking ourselves for not guessing it sooner.

"Doon't let the cuddly sweater fool yeh, Millah - not all the tea in the warld can quench mah thirst for justice"

Alec Hardy is a new man - post-surgery and on fire again to solve Sandbrook, he's almost unrecognisable - and this week he's taking bold steps to expose the truth, risking Claire's personal safety to bring out the secrets between her and Lee. The Latimers' marriage is still on the rocks but could perhaps still be saved. In a few scenes of keen poignancy, Jocelyn finally confesses the love of her life, Maggie, with the truth - maybe that conversation with Alec was just the nudge she needed. Tom and Ellie are on good terms again - the same can't be said of Claire and Lee, whose brutally dysfunctional relationship finally reaches breaking point. We see again how mixed many people's motives are, and a theme surfaces that reared its head at the end of Season 1 - of the relative futility of knowing the truth in light of the colossal damage to people's lives. Knowing who did it doesn't change the fallout.

I was grateful to see that Tess took a back seat this episode, allowing Alec and Ellie to do what they do best - although Tess finally takes the key step of re-opening Sandbrook for official investigation. Claire confirmed what we've suspected for a while: that the pendant belonged to Claire and that Alec's 'smoking gun' is a big mistake. I think this episode has established fairly certainly that Claire didn't kill anyone. But Alec's 'setting a fire under' Claire could have easily got her killed by Lee, who is just as violent as we've feared he might be.

"It's really pretty and the location is fantastic, but I'm going to need somewhere with plumbing."

After seven episodes of mystery, we learn Claire's secret - and it's much more sympathetic than anyone could have guessed. She's still a suspect - she still used Alec, broke into the car and withheld vital evidence - but I felt so badly for Claire this episode. She's clearly the victim of circumstances in several ways, has allowed herself to become hostage to an abusive partner, and would have gone through a traumatic abortion completely alone if it wasn't for Alec. Yes, she's clearly complicit in the murders, but she's also completely lost and alone, and I felt sympathetic toward her for the first time all season. It was a huge relief to see Lee and Claire's toxic spiral finally broken. And in a lovely touch, Rev Paul finally found something worthwhile and authentic in his conversation with her. Is the moral of Claire's story that secrets make us look more guilty than we really are? Could this be true of Lee and the Gillespies as well?

Surprisingly, a new character appears at this late juncture: Gary Thorpe, ex-boyfriend and stalker of Lisa Newbury. No way we could have seen that coming. Is he involved somehow in the murder(s)? Also - is that ubiquitous bluebell picture some kind of secret membership badge for the Gillespie-Ashworth Swingers Club? Seriously, though - it's been annoying me for about four episodes now.

"This new Alec Hardy's even meaner than the old one!"

It's fantastic to see Alec - for the very first time - actually optimistic and full of energy. He doesn't look like a breeze would blow him away, and he's actually smiling! David Tennant got his first decent speeches for the last few episodes and I really enjoyed them - even if there's something slightly unsettling about Alec's ferocious determination to wrestle the truth out of the Sandbrook suspects. I have the sinking suspicion that the truth isn't going to satisfy him - or us.

As an aside, I always find it amusing how Alec's Scottishness increases exponentially when he gets angry or excited, until it practically drips off him. I've seen a lot of David Tennant's Scottish roles and yet Alec's accent is so thick I have trouble understanding him. If there's a Season 3 we might need subtitles for him.

I'd assumed by now that Alec and Claire had an affair. I was wrong - Alec was involved with Claire but not in the way we think. Have we got to the bottom of it yet? I enjoy the concept of Alec as an unreliable narrator. Technically, he's not the narrator per se - Ellie, if anyone, is the protagonist - but whenever the camera takes a person's point of view, it's Alec's. So we see significant parts of the story through his eyes, but there's still a lot that he hides from us. Have we got to the bottom of it yet or is there another bomb waiting to drop in the finale?

Now this fascinates me: Alec's still pretty convinced, despite his previous doubts, that Lee is guilty of at least one murder. His conversation with Lee was pretty unequivocal: "I look at you and I see someone stained by death. I think it haunts you every single day." The question is, why is Alec still so sure? He's acting on instinct, and in Season 1 his instincts were almost always right. But this time his involvement with Claire complicates the picture, and I'm nowhere near as certain as he is.

One advantage of not being the protagonist is that you can get away with smoking onscreen

The high tension in the courtroom this week was pretty much what you'd expect - but the very real possibility of Joe being acquitted was enough to keep me biting my nails. We finally discover what Ellie's sister Lucy has to hide, and sure enough it's to do with the money Ellie gave her in exchange for evidence. Ellie herself has a surprise turn in the witness box and takes a real beating from the villainous Sharon. I admire the way the loose ends of Season 1 have been gathered up one by one and steadily woven into the plot - it's really very clever. Not so subtle is the evil Sharon, who's pointedly shown smoking while staring ominously at the horizon, as if we have any doubt at this juncture whether she's the baddie of the piece. However, she's not the only person causing damage - there's a subtle parallel between Jocelyn and Alec, which has come up a few times before in different situations: their single-minded pursuit of justice is not without fallout, and it inevitably creates ripples of unintended damage both for their own personal lives and for the lives of others.

On a more cheerful note, Jocelyn and Maggie get together - during an exquisite clifftop picnic that could only happen in Broadchurch (mind you, I thought they knew to stay away from clifftops by now?). This episode did well with contriving picturesque places for the characters to meet - apparently the residents of Broadchurch are incapable of meeting anywhere that doesn't look like a postcard.

She's a treasure, isn't she?

Here's a few of my theories and questions:

Lisa's alive in France, according to Lee's hint. Did she run away to get away from her father? From her stalker boyfriend The likelihood of an affair between Lee and Lisa - or at least some sort of cooperation - is looking more certain.
The only person pointedly missing from this episode was Cate. Huh.
Why would Ricky deny knowing Gary Thorpe? Because Gary is connected to Lisa and Ricky holds some guilt concerning Lisa?
Judging by the photo Ellie was looking at in Alec's house, it seems that Pippa got on well with Lee and Claire - which strengthens my suspicion that Claire herself didn't kill anyone. But what has Lee done that she's hiding?
There was a lot of mentions of death this episode. Is someone going to die in the finale? Honestly, I don't really care too much, as long as it's not anyone from the Former Detectives' Club.
Alec and Ellie have been doing so many things off the books/records - most significantly, Alec protecting Claire, and all the investigation they've been doing while the case has been closed - isn't that seriously going to impact the admissability of the evidence they've collected during that time?
Alec was wearing Claire's heart pendant around his own neck in his dream. I don't have to spell out the symbolism there. Does this mean there's more he hasn't revealed about his involvement with Claire, or have we got to the bottom of it already?
Now that Claire is finally done protecting Lee, what other evidence is she sitting on?

Overall, I enjoyed this episode very much, and the only drawback for me was the suspense - which is really why I watch it in the first place, so I can't really complain. As I mentioned before, this episode prioritised drama and tension over other elements, and subtlety wasn't really its strong point. The brutal scene of physical violence between Lee and Claire was quite shocking for a show where most of the violence happens off-screen. The worst part, of course, was the obnoxious but inevitable cliff-hanger, which, I admit, called forth a wee little scream of anger from yours truly. Did it feel cheap? Yeah, a bit. Was it inevitable? Probably.

The moment that had everyone throwing the nearest thing at the TV screen

There seems like an awful lot still to resolve in the final episode. Is Lisa still alive? What is the nature of Lee, Claire, Ricky, and Cate's guilt? And, of course (though this won't take long), is Joe going to get off? I really, really don't know what to think. There is still so far to go with Sandbrook (or it seems that way), and although I'm pretty sure the finale will answer all our questions, I think there's a small chance we might be in for an end-of-season cliffhanger and the dreaded "Find out what happens in Season 3, which will be...err...two years from now...sorry!". And let me say, I'd be totally down for another season. A cliffhanger, not so much.

So we're a few days away from the final reveal and I haven't figured it all out. If I had to put my money on someone for at least primary culpability it would be Cate, but the reality is I don't have a clue. I've been fixating on solving it for weeks now, but the reality is it's also kind of nice not to know - it's also fun just to sit back and see the story unfold. And since such high-quality TV comes around so rarely, it's all the more important to enjoy the ride. A superbly-crafted, sublimely cast drama like Broadchurch doesn't come around often, and we're extremely lucky to be enjoying a second season of it. So I'm going to do my best to enjoy these last few days of nagging suspense, because it's all going to be over too soon.

"Get in, loser, we're going shopping."

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Okay, before I say anything else about this episode:

ALEC'S ALIVE.

And smiling. I'm not sure which is more shocking!

Whew. Now I can breathe freely for the first time in about a week.

This episode - the final one, it feels like, before all hell descends for the finale - was engaging enough, but not nearly as nail-bitingly gripping as last week's brilliant offering. It spread our attention in a lot of different directions, as we caught up with pretty much each character in turn, drawing everyone together both plot-wise and location-wise before the showdown.

After last week's huge developments on Sandbrook, Joe's trial takes centre stage this episode: Ellie's son Tom takes the stand, with emotional results, driving Ellie to claim control back over her disintegrating family; Jocelyn confides in her assistant about her failing sight, and new revelations in court mean that Beth and Mark's marriage is in deep trouble again.

Elsewhere, Alec finally gets that pacemaker, and he and ex-wife Tess make moves toward patching up their relationship; Claire and Lee can't live with or without each other; Rev Paul does what he'd been needing to do all season and ends his self-serving attempt to get Joe to repent; and in a nice cliffhanger, we find out who really stole the pendant from the Hardys' car so long ago.

It's all about relationships this episode - repairing them, ending them, re-negotiating them - and beginning them again. And in that sense it makes for a dramatically strong episode - taking care of the character side of things before the plot takes centre stage in the final two episodes.


It really felt like the deep breath before the plunge.

Honestly, the court procedure this season has always struck me as rather unrealistic, and I know that's been a common criticism. I'm pretty sure there are a handful of examples of leading the witness, but hey, you know, dramatic effect and all that. However, a highlight this week was one of Charlotte Rampling's finest scenes so far, as Jocelyn handles the unenviable job of questioning Tom Miller with gentleness and sensitivity. Tom will do anything to get his dad acquitted, including doing his best to frame Mark. He makes a total hash of it, and seems relieved to be confronted with his dishonesty, but you do have to feel sorry for the poor kid.

Am I the only one who thinks Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Sharon) is overplaying her part these days? Sharon's obviously the baddie of the piece, and although we're kept from completely hating her by the plight of her son (of which we're constantly reminded), she's played so viciously and so over the top that it's getting a bit irritating. Plus, Jocelyn and Sharon's antagonism has long begun to fall flat - it's just more of the same, really, and that's why Jocelyn's strong scene this week was such a relief.

It's tragic to see the Latimer family strained to breaking point yet again, and Jodie Whittaker (Beth) turns out a moving and fiery performance as Beth tells Mark, quite rightly, to "tell the truth or piss off". It's been lovely to see the Latimers repairing their lives quietly in the background this season, but is the revelation of Mark's plans to leave Beth going to be more than their relationship can take?

Cate Gillespie...if anything, I feel this week has brought us closer to Cate as a suspect, even though the episode spent barely any time on her. Her few short appearances provoked a lot of questions. Why does Lisa hate her? Did Cate kill Lisa? Did Lisa hate Cate because they were both flirting with Lee? (Lee flirts with everyone, we know now). And why do Claire and Lee seem genuinely afraid of Cate and Ricky? The function of that garden gate, however, is much clearer - I don't think Lee built it so Ricky could sneak over. Also, I'm positive Cate was lying when she denied knowledge of Thorps Agriculture. Did she actually dispose of Lisa's body there, or was it just evidence that was burned?

Kudos to Ellie for reminding Alec of what we've suspected all season - that Claire has got a lot invested in controlling Alec (and I think we've all suspected that Alec is too emotionally involved with Claire for his own good). It was a huge relief to see Alec call her bluff - and boy did Claire smash up the place when he did. It's pretty obvious, too, that sex with Alec was part of her effort to control him, as is her MO. Claire gets in people's personal spaces and manipulates them, which is why I was briefly terrified when she offered to do Ellie's hair...I envisioned that sharp scissors, a guilty motive, and an unsuspecting Ellie might be a bad combination. Fortunately Broadchurch isn't quite as lurid as my imagination!

A few other thoughts: It seems that Ricky, Kate, Lee, and Claire all have violent tempers. Huh. Anyone suspecting a crime of passion with multiple perpetrators? Also, is it possible that Pippa killed herself? I mean, it would be a horribly unsatisfying resolution to her case, but seeing as she came from a pretty unhappy family, it's a possibility at least.

This episode made a rather blatant point of reminding us, yet again, that Lee and Claire's relationship is incredibly toxic. But who's controlling who? That's what I can't figure out. Perhaps it's mutual. Or perhaps even Lee has underestimated Claire. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the latter.

Claire is the centre of attention when it comes to Sandbrook in this episode, but I'm not convinced. Sure, she has a complex and inexplicable relationship with Lee, and in the shocker revelation that (admitted rather smugly) this viewer saw coming, she was the one who stole the pendant from the Hardys' car. But although this shows that she obviously has lots of things to hide, none of it actually brings her any closer to being the murderer. It's disappointing, actually, that Alec's 'smoking gun' piece of evidence was a simple mistake. Does the guy ever get a break?

Actually, he did get one this episode. About time, too. You can pretty much hear the collective sigh of relief as Alec opens his eyes after surgery. Over the last week I'd worked myself into knots, almost convinced that Alec was going to die this season, so to have his whole heart condition (apparently) resolved in a few short scenes felt like a bit of an anticlimax, although I'm incredibly relieved. His exchange with Ellie when he wakes up - "I'll give you more money to be less of a knob," she says - summarised everything we love about Alec and Ellie. And Alec's gently touching phone conversation with his daughter confirms what we've always known - that the grumpy Scottish knob is possibly the nicest person on Earth underneath it all. He's almost unrecognisable when he smiles - and it's like we've finally seen the person he used to be. I got warm fuzzies, I won't deny it.

I enjoyed the brief hallucination sequence as Alec goes under the anaesthetic - dream sequences and flashbacks are always tricky to pull off without feeling intrusive or contrived, but I always enjoy these exquisitely-shot glimpses into Alec's haunted psyche. But the question is, what are the significance of the images? Why does he think first of Claire when he wakes up? Why is Lisa crying? And why does Alec see himself wearing the pendant? Does this just mean that he's invested in solving Sandbrook for Pippa's sake, or does it imply some further connection to Claire, since she was also shown wearing the pendant in this episode? If Alec is wearing the piece of (supposedly) incriminating evidence around his own neck, does that mean that he's still withholding information that personally involves him yet deeper with Sandbrook?

Spurred by the thought of his impending death, Alec makes a move to reconcile with ex-wife Tess this episode. I can understand his personal motive, but the larger narrative significance of this move puzzles me. Tess confuses me. It seems churlish to nit-pick about the quality of acting when the cast is absolutely swelled with brilliant performances, but actress Lucy Cohu's performance seems to be blocking something - whether it's the actress's inability, or that the character is hiding something, I don't know, but Tess seems harsh and incredibly self-satisfied when she's the one who made Alec's life such hell. And her sudden willingness to help with Sandbrook - after her blank refusal of a few episodes ago - aroused my suspicion as well. I may have the wrong end of things here, though - only time will tell.

I'm not keen on Tess if only because I don't want anyone coming in between Alec and Ellie's brilliant relationship. (Did you sense Tess's jealousy when she came to see Alec in hospital and firmly turned Ellie out?). As I've always said, Ellie and Alec's relationship is the absolute linchpin of the show, and they are the only two people who deserve to solve Sandbrook - and they deserve to do it together. Nothing would be more unsatisfying than having Tess, of all people, solve Sandbrook instead of Ellie. I don't think I like Tess, and I definitely don't trust her yet. Also, this episode made me realise that sooner or later, Alec and Ellie are going to have to go their separate ways - and it gave me an unexpected pang of sadness. I'm struggling to think of a resolution to their relationship that would be satisfying. I just want them to be grumpy crime-solving best friends forever...

It's not often that you want to actually stand up and cheer for a TV character, but Ellie Miller had me doing it more than once this episode. She's tough as nails, and finally wrestling back control over her future and her relationship with Tom. Ellie does a lot of much-needed truth-telling this episode. It was hilarious when she called Claire on her duplicity - and when at her suggestion Alec did the same. This is where the deepening trust between Ellie and Alec pays off - they've both given each other strength for their other relationships. She helped him see Sandbrook more clearly and I think that motivated her to take back control over her own life as well. Olivia Colman can do no wrong, I swear - she never milks a scene too far, but instead gives us an authentic, vulnerable, and incredibly strong woman who we all find ourselves cheering for. #GoEllie has been trending on Twitter this week, and no wonder - it's impossible not to love her.

With two episodes to go, we're walking slowly but surely toward the final reveal and I still have no idea what it's going to be. (Honestly, as frustrating as that is, it's kind of fun, too.) This episode was mostly getting character development out the way, establishing relationships and setting the scene for the plot-driven next episodes. We still don't know what Lee and Claire are afraid of. We know their relationship is terribly toxic. We do know that the pendant was Claire's and she stole it out of Tess's car. But exactly how that incriminates her in the death of the two girls is still a mystery.

For me, this week was not nearly as electrifying or gripping as last week's terrific episode. As powerful as all the character development was - and I enjoyed it immensely - it was frustrating, after last week's grisly furnace cliffhanger, to have that tantalising lead completely dropped this episode. There's no question that narrative-wise, two apparently separate stories (Sandbrook and Joe's trial) are harder to handle than Season 1's single focus, and that was the main weakness of this episode. It felt a lot like cleaning house before the finale - and not that we don't care about the minor characters, but the lack of Sandbrook leads and Alec-Ellie interaction just robbed it of that something special. Hopefully, the final two episodes will make up for that.

Most of the pressing questions I had from last week from last week still remain unanswered. Unsurprisingly, now I have more!

What is Lucy hiding?
Claire found Alec passed out in her yard?
How will Claire and Alec's affair alter the outcome of the investigation?
Is Joe going to have a change of heart and put the madness to an end? Is there anything he can do about it now or does the trial have to run its course?
Is Lisa sending Claire the bluebells??
It's clear now that Claire is protecting Lee and she has evidence that could (rightly or wrongly) convict him. If Claire and Lee do actually split up, might she come forward with evidence?
What is Abby's 'something juicy'? Does it involve Alec? Will next episode be when Sandbrook and Joe's trial really collide? Which minor characters will be most involved when that happens?
Is Alec hiding any more bombshells? Is there going to be more fallout from his getting too personally involved in Sandbrook? I hope his affair with Claire is going to be important to the conclusion, not just another example of Claire's general manipulation.
Finally, am I crazy or was the pendant Claire was wearing different to the one Alec was wearing in the dream? It can't be a production error, so has Ellie made a mistake?

By the way, if you're on Twitter and keen to speculate, drop me a line: @24framesblog.
Until next time...

"Hello, Doctor. It's so very nice to meet you."

I absolutely love guest writers' episodes of Doctor Who. (Yeah, I know there have been a few clangers. I'm talking about the good ones.) Because, I've realised, they remind me of what I love most about the show, sometimes more than the show-runners' episodes. That's probably precisely because they only have one shot at it, and if you only have one shot, you're going to make sure you convey your love and excitement for the show and its characters.

The other day I re-watched The Doctor's Wife and realised that it's definitely one of my favourite guest-written episodes. Oh, how I cried at the end. And I noticed that the Doctor's connection to his past selves was especially strong in this episode - something I miss terribly under the Moffat regime. From the moment Eleven came into being, he simply forgot - or suppressed - almost everything I knew and loved about Nine and Ten. But The Doctor's Wife has so many nods to the RTD era - and possibly some allusions to Classic Who that I missed. The old Tardis desktop came back! Hooray! "Another Ood I couldn't save" was a clever reference to another guest-written Tenth Doctor story, The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit. And kudos to Matt Smith for the casually deadly way he delivered that chilling line: "Fear me - I've killed all of them." Granted, this is something Nine or Ten would probably never say, but it's a much-needed acknowledgment of the Doctor's past - his experiences, his fears and regrets, what motivates him. "You gave me hope and then took it away. That's enough to drive anyone mad - imagine what it will do to me." That's the Doctor I knew, and it reminded me of what happened to him when he lost Rose - our sad and potentially dangerous Doctor under all the mannerisms and cute stuff. We need to be reminded of that every so often, otherwise the Doctor risks becoming some kind of harmless space tourist instead of a powerful and compelling character with a complex past. ""Letting it get to you." You know what that's called? That's called being alive" reminded me of the Cyberman's taunt to Ten: "You are proof." "Of what?" "That emotions destroy you." "Yeah, I am." The Doctor is proud of his humanity, and so he should be.

Guest writers don't just bring a fresh take on the show's history, though - they can also expand the mythology of the show in important and memorable ways. Watching The Doctor's Wife, I realised what an exquisite thing writer Neil Gaiman has done. Because in this episode, the Doctor becomes the companion to the Tardis. Which he always was - he's been the Tardis' most faithful and only companion - but it took Gaiman to flesh that concept out and bring it to life (actual bodily life in the form of Idris). When Idris is about to disappear, the Doctor says, "No, please don't..." And he becomes us. He becomes the companion (which we viewers also are, if we've spent any time with the Doctor). He experiences exactly what we've all felt, when we've watched our Doctor die and be replaced by a stranger who's somehow still the Doctor. No one has actually died - the Doctor continues to exist; in this episode, the Tardis is still alive, just in a different form - but we still feel a sense of loss. It's an ending and a beginning at the same time.

And that precisely is the genius of Doctor Who. At its best, it captures the reality that time is evanescent, slipping through our fingers - that personal identity is transient and mutable - that as we travel through our lives we are constantly saying goodbye and hello both to ourselves and to the people we love. "Thus play I in one person many people", said Shakespeare's Richard. This is what I love most about Doctor Who, and about the Doctor himself - who, after all, is a human creation - that through this intricate, symbiotic relationship he holds with the human race, he helps us understand what it means to be us. Who would have thought we could use an ancient, crazy alien to remind us of our humanity.

"Human beings. You are amazing! Ha!" 

So let's have more guest-written episodes, please! There are so many talented writers out there who adore Doctor Who, and their skill, love, and fresh perspectives can only enrich the show.


For all Doctor Who posts, click here.
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Wow, this episode was a whopper! We have new revelations on Sandbrook, "Uncle" Alec's in a bad way, Joe's trial drags on, and the formidable Ellie Miller really starts to shine.

This episode is definitely the best of the season so far. Building on last week's excellent effort, it has minimum melodrama and loads of tantalising, infuriating leads and hints into Sandbrook. Gratefully, Joe's trial takes a backseat again, although it looks like it has no sign of ending, with Nigel's mum doing her level best to pervert the course of justice. But never mind all that - this week we dug deep into Sandbrook and, thanks to Ellie mostly, actually got somewhere. This is a bold, confident episode, coming after last week's strong one, and I'm going to analyse the hell out of it because I've become just a wee bit obsessed with solving the case before the final episode!

Oh, Alec Hardy - the man who makes grim misery into an art form. As soon as the episode opened with the poor man staring out to sea yet again, I knew something bad was on the way. Alec continues to show us exactly what not to do when you're dying of a heart condition: run dramatically across fields, break up fistfights, take long moody walks across town and stay up all night. And always say you're okay when you're on the verge of passing out. 
To be honest, I'm horribly afraid Alec is going to die in episode 7 or 8. If it was only his collapse this episode, I'd put it down to the writers trying to scare us, but it happened at the exact same time as we realised that Ellie is determined to solve Sandbrook, and she can possibly even do it without Alec. As long as the story needs Alec to solve Sandbrook, I'm sure he'll live, but if he's no longer crucially necessary there, then I think it's entirely possible that he'll die. I really, really hope I'm wrong. I'll be broken-hearted if he does. 

Alec's literally drowning in a river of death - it's hard not to see that as a hint.

Broadchurch has always had an expert touch with visual symbolism that I've really enjoyed, and this episode saw two different strands of symbolism dovetailing - Alec's nightmares of drowning in the river where he found Pippa's body, and the ever-present ocean that haunted him in Season 1. Clearly, water symbolises Alec's deepest fears, and specifically, death, and all this symbolism comes into play as he collapses outside his house. His fear of dying without solving Sandbrook is getting closer. 

This episode really saw the rise of Ellie Miller. Alec and Ellie are really switching roles this episode - all this season she's been the grumpy one, the one in personal crisis, and he's been the steadying influence. And now Ellie's really driving ahead with Sandbrook, picking up the slack for Alec and giving herself a new reason for getting up in the morning. You have to love her. She's utterly indomitable. The unsinkable Ellie Miller, I've dubbed her. When she says she'll solve Sandbrook, we believe her. Olivia Colman just keeps hitting home runs with her consistently honest, resilient, and pitch-perfect performance. The opening scene stood out to me, where Ellie meets with her estranged son in a short, heartbreaking scene - a brave, vulnerable performance without self-pity. 

As always, Ellie's prickly but deeply trusting relationship with Alec is the heart of the series, and they get some great scenes this week - some of the best so far. When Alec finds her in the morning in his house, all bright-eyed and holding new evidence, it's gorgeous. I don't ship Alec and Ellie - their relationship isn't that kind - but I couldn't help it for just a moment when I saw the pair walking across the horizon, Alec pushing Fred's stroller, both of them living in the wake of tragedy and betrayed trust, and all they've got is each other, really. They did make an adorable little patchwork family this episode - Uncle Alec, Wee Fred, and the Unsinkable Ellie. 

Sandbrook is really in focus now. This week we have a new suspect: Kate. Also, have they found Lisa's body? A flashback reveals that Kate and Lee were having an affair. Also, it's pretty clear that Claire and Ricky were having an affair too. Ricky assaults Lee. Ricky still has no alibi for the night of the murder - and neither does Kate. 

Elsewhere, the action was relatively quiet. Nigel's mum's attempt to implicate him in Danny's murder seems like a red herring to me. Vicar Paul's self-serving visits to Joe are starting to involve him in the case far more deeply than he'd like. Also, what's the point of Beth's storyline? It seems irritatingly peripheral compared to all the other crucially important stuff that's going on. Unless it's to introduce the theme of paedophilia - something we all hope is irrelevant - but if it's pointing toward something very, very wrong going on between Pippa and either Lee or Ricky, the final revelation could be very dark indeed. Shivers.

Andrew Buchan (Mark Latimer) has been turning in a consistently brilliant performance this season, despite his character being in the background. It's really almost impossible to fault any of the cast, they are so consistently outstanding. 

It would be a crime not to mention the cinematography, which is more exquisite than ever this episode. There was a lot of looking through windows and at faces reflected in glass, swimming in and out of focus - an echo of the duplicity, façade, and uncertainty that permeates the show. A standout scene, combined with superb editing, was the scene where Alec, sitting outside his house having a cardiac episode, hallucinates about the murdered Pippa and passes out as Ellie works on the case inside. Billowing white curtains, dripping water, incoming tide, out-of-focus fairy lights, blue sky and sunset, all intercut with the faces of the murdered girls in a sequence that's so beautiful it begs to be re-wound and watched again.

The episode ends on a surprisingly grisly note. Have we found Lisa's remains? I've assumed up until now that she's still alive. Maybe that's wrong. But this episode shows us just how far we have to go in three more episodes to solve Sandbrook, unless someone comes forward and confesses. 


So where to from here? This episode left me with so many questions and competing theories I thought my brain would burst! 

Who killed Pippa? I have no idea any more, but I think it's entirely possible that it was an accident. We know Ricky has a temper, and most likely something to hide. Maybe Pippa discovered about one of his numerous affairs - caught him in the act, even - and he got angry and killed her by accident. 

"Don't worry, Lee, I'm sure our harmless fling won't end in double murder and a TV show."

What if we focus on Lisa? In Season 1 the killer was sitting right there in plain sight. It's episode 5 - it's almost beyond doubt that we've actually seen the killer by now. What if this time it's the same, and it's Kate? What if Kate did it? After the closing scene of this episode, if we ask the obvious question: "Who knew about Thorps Agriculture?" the most obvious answer is Kate. But what could her motive be? Jealousy and sexual possessiveness has been a big theme with Lee and Claire. And we are almost certain that Lee and Kate were having an affair. It's also entirely possible that Lee and Lisa were having an affair (something I've wondered about for a while now). So Kate's motive for killing Lisa could be jealousy, when she discovered that Lee was having an affair with Lisa. It's possible. And perhaps Claire knows about Lee's affair, but won't tell the police because she's afraid he'll be arrested for Pippa's or both girls' murders. 

What if Kate's guilty - or at least involved - and Alec overlooked it because his MO is to protect women? Last season, Alec would have solved the case sooner if he'd believed the psychic - but his concept of reality wouldn't allow that. What if a different kind of brain block is preventing him seeing the solution to Sandbrook, and it comes from his consistent behavioural pattern of instinctively protecting women, even when they don't deserve it? First he took the fall for his wife, on his daughter's behalf; (as a child he probably protected his mother, if you read between the lines a bit); now he's looking out for Ellie; he's been sheltering Claire and made the mistake of having an affair with her; and what about Kate? Has he avoided looking too closely at her because she's the bereaved mother? It's an interesting theory. 

Ah, Ricky, the unfaithful husband who likes the odd fistfight and who doesn't want his daughter's murder investigated. We know Ricky has a temper. What if he found out that Lee and Kate were having an affair - caught them in the house - Kate has no alibi, remember - and lost the plot, tried to beat up Kate and accidentally killed Pippa instead? We also know that Ricky likes to sleep around and that he's not above drugging a woman to get her to cooperate - did he do that to Lisa? I really hope not - that would be very grim indeed. But the question that bothers me most is, why would Ricky let Kate see him flirting with Claire? Is Kate lying, or was Ricky flirting with Claire to distract Kate from something worse he was doing? 

"Alec Hardy's not the only one who can stare broodingly at the horizon, you know."

 And then there's Lee, who despite his gorgeous face and impressive physique persists in being almost as creepy as Ricky. At this point, though, we grudgingly have to admit that there's a chance Lee is innocent. So how was he involved, if he didn't kill anyone? What if Lee was having an affair with both Kate and Lisa separately, Kate snuck away from the wedding back to her house to see Lee (Claire was asleep upstairs, drugged), Lisa came over from next door where she was babysitting Pippa (as she often did), and found Lee and Kate together, and in the ensuing violence Kate accidentally or deliberately killed Lisa? 

This might be really far-fetched, but what if Lee and Ricky are accomplices? The thought struck me early on in the episode, before we saw Ricky beating up Lee. When Lee saw Ricky walking across the fields toward him, why didn't he just run away? And he's taller than Ricky and in great physical shape, how did Ricky beat him up so badly? What if Lee and Ricky are protecting each other because they both have dirt on each other, but each one will frame the other if they get the chance? 

As an aside, judging by the number of affairs that are potentially going on between the Gillespies, the Ashworths, and Lisa, I'm guessing that one or both deaths were crimes of passion, not premeditated. It's also possible that the extent to which any of the parties are guilty by law may be minimal. In Season 1, Joe's confession was somehow unsatisfactory, because the colossal damage he'd caused could never be summed up in one murder charge. He has caused untold suffering and distress to so many people - things that the justice system can never address. He's violated innocence - shattered a family - broken his wife's heart - and above all, broken people's beliefs that the world is a relatively safe place and that people can be trusted. Whatever the legal outcome of Sandbrook, I'm guessing that the conclusion will still leave us somehow unsatisfied, just like Season 1 did. 


I'm not done with the questions. Here are a few peripheral ones: 

-What is Sharon's son in jail for? Is it connected to Sandbrook? 
-What if there's more than one killer? 
-How is Alec and Claire's affair going to affect the outcome of Sandbrook? 
-How is Joe's trial connected with the outcome of Sandbrook? Does this lie with Lucy, Ellie's sister? What is Lucy hiding? Was she involved with Ricky at some point, and if so, what does she know? 
-What's the significance of the Willow Man sculpture that Alec looks at when he and Ellie are driving along the M5 to Sandbrook? 
-Where is the post-mortem on Pippa's body? Surely that can give us some hints? 

And of course there's the big question that keeps being raised about Joe's trial - did Joe actually do it after all? I'm absolutely convinced he did, only because to change the story would require us to believe that the visual account of Danny's murder that we saw in Season 1 was a lie. That is far too big for me to swallow and I hope, and assume, that the writers think so as well. 

Well, that's all until next time. I can't wait.

"Come on, Uncle Alec, just one go on the teacups." "Fine, Millah, but doon't expect me to look happy aboot it."

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N.B. This post contains spoilers for Broadchurch Season 2 Episode 2. If you haven't seen Season 1, click here.

Well, Broadchurch Season 2 is kicking into gear for real now. Episode 2 was a bit of a mixed bag for me - the good, the great, and the slightly over-the-top - but I enjoyed it for sure. Let's see if I can put down some of my thoughts on the episode and also speculate on where we might be headed from here.

Episode 2 spent a lot of time on Joe Miller's trial, showing us how the Latimers are dealing with it and giving us more insight into Joe's brutally ruthless legal team - and culminating in the gasp-inducing (though not unexpected) judicial decision to exclude poor Hardy's evidence from the trial. (For just a moment there, I thought the honourable soul might be about to take the rap for Ellie). It's a bitter blow for the detective, but he took it on the chin and got back to his work on Sandbrook, arranging for Claire to meet her ex-husband Lee Ashworth in secret. Unfortunately, that particular meeting went sour very quickly. Now Claire is gone, either absconding with or kidnapped by the murder-accused, and Hardy's back to square one.

If we learned anything from this episode, it's that Lee Ashworth, accused and acquitted of the Sandbrook murders, is one creepy guy. And very resourceful, too - we know now who stole Alec Hardy's NHS letter. On top of that, he seems to be a magnet for the ladies, a character twist which I found very unnerving, if slightly clichéd. I'm guessing that Claire won't be coming to her senses any time soon, and to be honest I'd be surprised if she makes it out of this season alive. But that all depends on exactly who Lee Ashworth is and what he's capable of - something the writers are making sure to cast into doubt.

Do I believe Ashworth killed the girls? I'm not sure. Honestly, all the dramatic signposts at this stage are pointing to "he didn't do it". There are a million different explanations. Perhaps, like Joe, he's simply delusional enough to believe he's innocent when he is in fact guilty. Maybe, just maybe, he's truly innocent. Perhaps he was guilty in intent but not in action. Perhaps he shares the guilt with someone else. Perhaps he just took the fall for it. Who knows. If the finale of Season 1 is anything to go by, the exact nature of guilt is going to be complicated, and the line between innocent and guilty become uncomfortably blurry.

The stand-out scene for me was Ellie's beachside conversation with Claire. Olivia Colman goes from strength to strength in this episode - it's an underrated gift to be able to play an ordinary, good-hearted, honourable person without becoming trite or cliched. Colman absolutely nails it. One gets the impression that she's very much a Method actor and that her performance comes from the heart.

I know most people will hate the idea of this (or will they?) but is something more than acrimonious friendship on the horizon for Miller and Hardy? He's definitely become more protective of her this season, in his own clumsy way; his body language around her has changed, and his overjoyed declaration that he "could kiss her" in this episode didn't seem to disgust her entirely. I can't say I wouldn't ship them, but really I hope the story doesn't go down that road - some on-screen relationships lose their spice when romance is added, and I think Miller+Hardy is one of them. They're at their best when they're hating-but-not-really-hating each other, and although I'd love to see them become less belligerent, I think that's as far as it should go.

Again, I'm not overly keen on the courtroom-drama side of things. Sure, it's gripping and well done (although some of the technicalities of the court proceedings might not be too accurate), but on a character and story level it's bound to involve a lot of re-hashing of the Season 1 angst - who has secrets, when will they be revealed, what heartbreak will it cause - etc, etc. If Season 2 is to have a fresh new angle and not feel like a laboured run-on from Season 1, it's going to have to focus on Sandbrook and use Joe's trial as a backdrop only. The highlight here was David Tennant's performance when Alec Hardy takes the stand. Tennant excels at emotionally intense characters and underdogs, and those big brown eyes practically blazed with a sort of desperate, compelling integrity as Hardy tried unsuccessfully to persuade the court of his side.

And as for future episodes...I can't resist making predictions, so here's mine. Claire is now totally under the spell of her magnetic maybe-killer husband and their chemical attraction. Despite what he says, Lee is in fact the killer, but not the only guilty party. His conviction of his own innocence is only true insofar as he shares the guilt of the murder(s) to some extent with Claire, and that's how he justifies what he's done. (Sound like Joe Miller in the previous episode, maybe?) I hope I'm wrong, but I think Lee's relationship with the older victim - the 19 year old Lisa- was something more than just murderer and victim. This episode has established that he has a certain kind of fatal attractiveness, and it's just possible that Lee was actually having an affair with Lisa, something Claire likely knew nothing about. The bluebell wood, I think, is the site the girl's body was found, or a place that Lee met with one or both of his victims, or both. We know the two girls played there, and that Alec Hardy knows where it is.

The bluebells are intriguing. Since they came up in the season's teaser trailer, I knew they would be an important symbol this season (much like the all-pervasive sea was in Season 1). So I did a bit of digging as to what bluebells traditionally symbolise. And some of it was very interesting:

[The bluebell symbolises] humility, constancy, gratitude, and everlasting love in Scotland. It is also associated with death in Britain and is often planted on graves. [...] [...]it was considered unlucky to walk through a field of bluebells. [...] According to others, fairies used the bluebell to trap passersby, especially children.[x]
Bluebells have long been symbolic of humility and gratitude. They are associated with constancy, gratitude and everlasting love. Bluebells are also closely linked to the realm of fairies and are sometimes referred to as "fairy thimbles." [...] Another name for bluebells is Dead Man's bells. This is due to the fact that fairies were believed to cast spells on those who dare to pick or damage the beautiful, delicate flowers.[x]

Now there's an obvious connection here because Alec Hardy is Scottish, but I don't think that means anything. No, whoever picked the bluebells - whether it was Claire or Lee, or someone else - is guilty of something pretty terrible, and they're going to reap the consequences eventually. It's not hard to see that the bluebells are symbolic of the girls themselves - and the price that must be paid by anyone who destroys innocent life. All of which could well indicate that Lee is the killer, and that Claire has been more involved than she's told Hardy.
Bluebells are also a symbol of constancy and undying love. Which, if relevant, means either that Claire kept the flowers as a symbol of love (presumably love for Lee?) or that Lee kept the flowers because he had a romantic attachment to one or both of his victims (if he is the killer).
And we know something else. The killer kept the pendant, and he (or she) may have kept the bluebells too. So we know he's a magpie - he likes to hang on to keepsakes of his crime. What else has he hidden?

The episode ended with not one but two big cliffhangers, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It felt like a bit too much drama all at once to be credible - Beth's waters breaking, really!? I hope the less-is-more approach of Season 1 is allowed to continue - it's one of Broadchurch's strongest assets, and the series is gripping enough without piling on pointless dramatic turns. The most realistic part of the final scene, I felt, was when we realise that Claire has run off with Lee. I always thought she was harbouring some loyalty toward him. It feels good to be right, although I'm aware that only fools rush in to guess where Broadchurch is headed. That doesn't seem to stop me, though.

A question that keeps lurking in the back of my head is: what secrets is Hardy keeping about Sandbrook? Chris Chibnall commented that Hardy's little house hides "lots, if not all" of the secrets of this season, so I'm guessing Hardy has a few big bombshells that we won't see coming. Exciting!

Until next week...


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