Broadchurch - S01E05.

Last weeks episode was the best episode so far, so what do you reckon this weeks will be shit?


Episode Four should probably annoy me, it had very little to say and very little action involving Danny's death and chose to once again focus itself on the wider goings on around this event. This feels almost inexcusable when we're only three episodes away from the ultimate resolution of the thing and have still learnt barely anything involving the actual death of Danny. And as Hardy's failure at Sandbrook constantly looms over us, I'm wondering if we'll get any true resolution here, either. It would seem Miller is feeling my concerns as well.

However, almost, being the keyword here. This episode may be largely one long tangent but the tangent is so wonderfully constructed, beautifully written and stunningly acted at a level that just feels like the show was going all out this week. When an episode is this good, it's hard to honestly care that it actually has little to do with anything that actually matters. Or is that the point? Just because Danny has died, that doesn't mean anyone else matters less, is less important. I don't know, excuse me. Before the episode had ended, I had laughed and cried more times than I've done in quite some time, it was powerful but it also gets people, it gets emotions, it always knows exactly how to hit the mark to get their desired reaction from the audience. It was just fucking fantastic.

Most specifically is the tragic tale of Jack Marshall who went to prison for having sex with a girl four weeks under the age of consent, a girl he eventually married when he got out of prison and had a son with. If life hadn't already done enough to Jack, his son died at age 6 in a car accident while his wife was driving. The grief eventually tore the couple apart and Jack escaped to Broadchurch to start again. All things involving the Sea Cadets that seemed creepy and paedophilic instead turned out to simply be a grief stricken man longing to hold his boy again.

However the past always catches up and a sexed-up accusation of paedophilia kicks up a media shitstorm that quickly spirals wildly out of control and with the trigger term of paedophilia floating about it doesn't take long for the whole town to turn on Jack, despite everything and this all ultimately leads to Jack's death. This is a surprisingly vicious attack on the press and a very cynical view of human nature but it's still no less poignant. Whether he was murdered or committed suicide... well we'll have to wait 'til next time on that one. And if that wasn't enough, we have to wonder if maybe his suicide was connected to Danny and not just to what they were saying about him in the press. Don't worry Broadchurch, I don't sleep anyway.

And yes, we can argue endlessly about whether the show was playing it safe, whether our sympathy was really just homophobia and that maybe we'd have seen this differently if it was a boy that lead to a homosexual relationship and an adoption but dammit if you aren't crying your eyes out in the moment, if you aren't burning with sympathy and hating yourself for believing the rumours, then you have no soul. You bastard Broadchurch, why must you hurt me so? And why do I always come back for more?

The other half of the episode largely focused on Beth as her grief took the form of rage. Despite empty cries of questions as to why God would punish her and the heartbreaking parallel to the body growing within her, while Danny's does no longer, this bitch stands tall. Not only does she completely back Mark into a corner until he's like a pathetic puppy, she also attacks Becca with crisps. How very British. How very awesome.

Hardy this week was a lot of fun, laugh out hilarious if I'm honest but it was odd too. I don't want to be that guy who brings up Doctor Who and when Hardy is the damaged dickhead he couldn't feel any further away from the Doctor. However when he shows a softer, more jokey side, it's difficult to forget the Doctor and it's a problem. It isn't like Hardy hasn't had comedy scenes before but with so little focus on him this week his comedy scenes really stood out that much more and made it that much more noticeable.

Ultimately though, Jack's death was the only resolution the episode provided and it wasn't a welcomed one. I could go at length into all the questions swimming around my brain from this episode alone but it's largely seeming fruitless with the cleverly manipulated slow drip of information to stop us connecting the dots too early. This is one of the most frustrating things about reviewing the show, as I'm not sat with you while it is playing, if I wanted to do any truly deep analysis I would have to basically write the screenplay and just put a massive fuck off list of questions in the margins around every scene. And I'm pretty sure that wont make for particularly interesting or coherent reading. So I have to largely skimp over the whole episodes and only divulge into detail about hard facts, things we have very few of yet.

However, if I have to pick a suspect, for arguments sake, I'm actually thinking more and more that it might be Ellie. Initially I thought it might be her husband, see the last review for details, but as that episode made me suspect him, it also drew my focus on Miller as well. And this weeks episode dragged me in to take an even closer look as both her sister and Olly have things that connect them closer to the case than originally realised. It seemed to in turn turn Miller into some kind of metaphorical Sun with the case floating in her orbit. Suspicious.

Further that, her sons weird behaviour could be understood very easily under the line of thinking that both his Mother did it and somehow he knows she did. Many of his actions and questions have made us, the audience, assume his guilt and assume he is simply trying to cover his arse but they could very easily be the actions of a kid trying to both protect his Mum if she is found out and find out what exactly he is supposed to be protecting her from. Food for thought I suppose, I've not seen many fingers pointed at her yet, despite all this.

Overall the tragic tale of Jack Marshall was a wonderful distraction from the main storyline. I'm honestly not normally a big fan of these kind of episodes, especially in shows with fixed lengths like this but when it's made this well, I really can't bloody argue, Broadchurch is just really fucking great telly.

Pros;

• It's just really fucking well made.
• RIP Jack, I'm sorry for everything.
• Beth was pretty awesome this week. 
• Hardy was hilarious.

Cons;

• We're five episodes in and although I feel I know the residents of the town well, the actual case itself is still shrouded in practically just as much mystery as it was by the end of the first episode. And that is just ridiculous this late on.

Think About It!

-Locke

What would you rate, 'Episode 5'?