Broadchurch - S01E07.

Got my computer back already, as such here is the new, polished version of the review!

It turns out Susan didn't kill Danny after all but with so much evidence connecting her to to the murder, its clear she has an important role somehow anyway. As it turns out, she found the body and caught Nige dropping the body onto the beach. Her reaction shaped from a direct retaliation against the police, who she claimed ruined her life. 

Susan is one of Broadchurch's goofiest characters and so in turn she is one of my least favourite. She just feels frankly out of place in what is for the most part a very social-realist and respectful portrayal of grief and the reality of it. Fittingly her backstory is truly ludicrous and has the show pushing the boundaries of how much it can try and get away with, while trying to remain believable and honest. Much like before with the rape line, I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be laughing but does the show really expect me to take this seriously?

Ludicrous is a word that seems to follow Susan around as a late twist in the episode reveals that she is in fact Nige's Mum. I don't really get what is worse, how out of nowhere this comes or how shameless it seems to be in throwing out these ridiculous soap operas twists. The end of this series is a very different beast to how it started, I personally liked the show much more at the start. Was I supposed to be impressed by this twist? Because I wasn't. I was certainly shocked, shocked that a show with such great characters and writing can also have awful shit like this thrown in.

That is a problem with the episode in general, it felt like lots of vignettes of markedly different quality barely holding together in any cohesive form minus maybe vaguely similar themes. The episode, and in many senses the show in general, seems to be at war with itself. A war with its own identity and purpose, and it is worrying that the show still seems to be trying to find itself in the penultimate episode.

What certainly provides more compelling drama is the truth about Sandbrook. Yes maybe it was unnecessary to turn Hardy into some kind of martyr but its actually pretty refreshing to find out the dark past was in fact because of a good deed, not a bad one. I found myself with new found respect for Hardy, especially considering how horrible people are behind his back.

It was a good episode for Hardy in general though. You can't really show more determination for something than dragging yourself in, half dead. Its a big deal, physically and thematically when Hardy claims he is willing to die to solve this case and he makes damn sure we believe him when he claims that. That being said, I wasn't so impressed by his choice to go running to the supposed psychic, sure he is running out of time but no one is that desperate, surely?

This does raise questions about his motivations though. As he took the fall at Sandbrook and wasn't the real reason it fell apart, his motivations can't be as selfish as they originally seemed, beyond the whole, 'it was under my watch' thing. So what are his motivations then? Human compassion or not, it's a big deal to be willing to die for a case, does he just want to make sure he is better than his now ex-wife?

You know what I also love about this show? There doesn't feel much of an obvious need to appeal to teenagers. Meanwhile Doctor Who is trying its hardest to sex up, well...everything, Tennant has moved into a role and drama that is about the performances and not so much how well the person looks performing it. Tennant is a heartthrob but Hardy is also dying. It would be frankly quite insulting to try and sex up a dying man but lesser shows would try anyway.

Miller got a pretty great episode as well, watching her lead the team and control the terrifying Susan shows how much she has grown over these seven weeks. Broadchurch is slow drama, plagued with filler, but for Miller at least, she's come a long way. And this makes her one of the most enjoyable characters to watch.

Mark and Beth both got a lot of good stuff to work with this week as well, for the most part the acting in this show is wonderful but from a character and acting standpoint, the scenes they shared with Paul and the scenes that followed were a highlight. They are so believable, so well written.

Once again we come to the end of a Broadchurch episode with more fresh questions than answers to our existing ones which is frankly very irritating considering that we're so close to the end and red herrings are still being played. Then again if they pull out more twists and back stories like the ones involving Nige and Susan, you can keep those cards against your chest. We're better off not knowing.

Pros;

• Great acting. 
• I'm glad the show doesn't feel the need to sex it up.
• Hardy, Miller, Mark and Beth all got a lot of good stuff this week.

Cons;

• Susan is by far the worst part of this show. I really do hope she is gone for good.
• Everything involving Susan and Nige was just so fucking stupid and out of place.
• The lack of a cohesive tone and narrative direction.
• Are you really gonna save every answer for the final episode? Fucks sake.

Think About It!

-Locke

What would you rate, 'Episode 7'?