[7.3/10] The mystery at the center of Broadchurch’s first season was not free of drama or contrivance. The Latimers’ home life in particular felt soapy. The woman who saw Danny’s body on the beach being the long lost mother of Mark's business partner is a little convenient. And the very fact that the murderer was the spouse of the investigating officer feels more tuned for maximum shock value than naturalism.
Still, if you’re willing to make room for some artistic license, the death of Danny Latimer and ensuing fallout feel like something that could happen in real life. Does it make for good television? Sure. But the crime and possible culprits are plausible, and seem like genuine human beings caught up in something awful.
The mystery in season 2 of Broadchurch plays like something out of a two dollar paperback. We’ve got a libidinous duplex where everyone was lusting after everyone else. There’s hints that one of the suspects is or at least was having an affair with the investigating officer, and his wife, another investigating officer, was having yet another affair with yet another investigating officer. Oh, and the murder involved rohypnol and possibly S&M and sabotaging evidence under cover of darkness and maybe even burning up the bodies in the furnace. It’s a much pulpier, soapier tale, and with two episodes to go, I’ve pretty much run out of interest in it.
Broadchurch throws twist after twist to this thing. Rather than introducing and exploring suspects, it gives us a fairly closed universe of potential killers, only to introduce increasingly implausible or salacious details to try to spice up what was supposedly a cold case to begin with. It’s cheesy in a way the show aspires not to be, and a far cry from the heightened yet still down-to-earth murder mystery of last season.
Still, I continue to find myself compelled by the character drama apart from the actual murder investigation. As terrible as it is, I sympathize with Tom lying to protect his dad, and god bless Jocelyn, of all people, for getting him to admit the falsehood on the stand in a way gentle enough not alienate the jury. This is actually a big boost of an episode for Jocelyn, with Maggie getting the best out of her. She admits her macular degeneration to her junior attorney, handles herself well in court, and even seems to be making amends with her lost love, one British twinkie at a time. It’s the most I’ve liked the character, professionally or personally, and having Maggie there to call her on her B.S. goes a long way on that front.
(Of course, just when things are going well for Jocelyn, she gets the phone call that her mom died, which feels like yet another conveniently dramatic contrivance in an episode not short on them, but I suppose we’ll face that another day.)
Most of all though, it results in a triumphant moment for Ellie. Colman knocks it out of the park so consistently on this show that I take it for granted. Nevertheless, the way she dresses down her son for lying under oath and decides that she’s tolerated his understandable need to deal with this one his own long enough and reinstates herself as his mother is extraordinary as both a piece of acting and a character moment. Her bringing Tom back into that house, and the two of them painting it to establish that it’s “theirs”, not Joe’s, is a great dramatization of the family healing and pushing past such terrible events. Her story is really what’s made this otherwise rocky season worth it.
I wish I could say the same about Hardy. In truth, I like what the show’s trying to do with him here. He too is healing, accepting that he has physical limitations that he seeks treatment for in the way of a pacemaker. He admits his vulnerabilities and has a moment with his ex-wife while he’s recovering from surgery and she looks after him. You get the sense of Hardy reckoning with his past mistakes, both as a detective and a husband, which pushes him beyond the generic “damaged detective” archetype and makes him a more well-rounded character.
The montage during his surgery is just a bit much. I don’t know if it’s this episode in particular or the season or show as a whole, but it feels like Broadchurch has gotten really overeager and showy when it comes to the editing. There’s always been some of that, but here it reaches the point of flash without substance. Beyond something like the surgical montage, which is at least designed to be a little disorienting and maximalist, even Hardy’s simple conversation with his ex in front of his house is over-edited, splicing together shots that don’t really fit together just for the fun of it. Like the hand-holding of the situation via dialogue, the episode just goes a little too far with everything.
Thankfully, the courtroom material was actually pretty decent this time around! Sharon’s still reprehensible (and I appreciated Ellie’s sister, of all people, calling out Phoebe Waller-Bridge). Her single tear doesn't do much for me when, once again, she’s trying to help a monster go free on specious theories and thin evidence. But she raises legitimate points about police misconduct in the case, and it’s not crazy for her to move for dismissal on that grounds. Jocelyn justifiably asks for time to corroborate and the judge hears the issue with the jury deliberately sent out of the room. The arguments are fair on both sides, and the judge rules to let things continue while taking the points seriously. It’s the most this has felt like a real trial, and it’s to the episode’s benefit, which wrings genuine tension from a legitimate possibility for the case’s dismissal.
Granted, we’re still in the land of B.S. twists, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge sleeping with Ollie and fishing through the family’s papers afterwards in another despicable move from the defense team. Still, as dribs and drabs of stories go, it’s balanced out by Rev. Coates going back to Joe and trying to convince him to repent, cutting through the killer’s self-justifications and excuses. My guess is that Ultimately, the trial will go poorly but Joe, wracked with guilt, will confess again and maybe even commit suicide as a form of repentence, but we’ll see.
That just leaves Mark. I’m glad that we finally get an explanation for the missing time from where he was the night of Danny’s death. I’m also glad that Beth finally calls him out for his non-disclosure bullshit (though blaming the trial going poorly on him is probably too far). It’s the most honest Mark has ever been in the series, and that’s a good thing for the show’s least likable character this side of Sharon. That said, it’s dumb that his confessions come in open court and not beforehand in preparations with Jocelyn. More cheap drama. But hey, it leads to another moment of solace between Ellie and Beth that seems to help thaw the ice between them.
Overall, the mystery element of the show has taken a nosedive right when the legal elements seem to be perking up. It’s apparently too much to ask for the show to fire on all-cylinders, or at least work reasonably well on all fronts. But the character work keeps me coming back, and Ellie’s story especially continues to be a highlight.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-06-23T05:12:42Z
[7.3/10] The mystery at the center of Broadchurch’s first season was not free of drama or contrivance. The Latimers’ home life in particular felt soapy. The woman who saw Danny’s body on the beach being the long lost mother of Mark's business partner is a little convenient. And the very fact that the murderer was the spouse of the investigating officer feels more tuned for maximum shock value than naturalism.
Still, if you’re willing to make room for some artistic license, the death of Danny Latimer and ensuing fallout feel like something that could happen in real life. Does it make for good television? Sure. But the crime and possible culprits are plausible, and seem like genuine human beings caught up in something awful.
The mystery in season 2 of Broadchurch plays like something out of a two dollar paperback. We’ve got a libidinous duplex where everyone was lusting after everyone else. There’s hints that one of the suspects is or at least was having an affair with the investigating officer, and his wife, another investigating officer, was having yet another affair with yet another investigating officer. Oh, and the murder involved rohypnol and possibly S&M and sabotaging evidence under cover of darkness and maybe even burning up the bodies in the furnace. It’s a much pulpier, soapier tale, and with two episodes to go, I’ve pretty much run out of interest in it.
Broadchurch throws twist after twist to this thing. Rather than introducing and exploring suspects, it gives us a fairly closed universe of potential killers, only to introduce increasingly implausible or salacious details to try to spice up what was supposedly a cold case to begin with. It’s cheesy in a way the show aspires not to be, and a far cry from the heightened yet still down-to-earth murder mystery of last season.
Still, I continue to find myself compelled by the character drama apart from the actual murder investigation. As terrible as it is, I sympathize with Tom lying to protect his dad, and god bless Jocelyn, of all people, for getting him to admit the falsehood on the stand in a way gentle enough not alienate the jury. This is actually a big boost of an episode for Jocelyn, with Maggie getting the best out of her. She admits her macular degeneration to her junior attorney, handles herself well in court, and even seems to be making amends with her lost love, one British twinkie at a time. It’s the most I’ve liked the character, professionally or personally, and having Maggie there to call her on her B.S. goes a long way on that front.
(Of course, just when things are going well for Jocelyn, she gets the phone call that her mom died, which feels like yet another conveniently dramatic contrivance in an episode not short on them, but I suppose we’ll face that another day.)
Most of all though, it results in a triumphant moment for Ellie. Colman knocks it out of the park so consistently on this show that I take it for granted. Nevertheless, the way she dresses down her son for lying under oath and decides that she’s tolerated his understandable need to deal with this one his own long enough and reinstates herself as his mother is extraordinary as both a piece of acting and a character moment. Her bringing Tom back into that house, and the two of them painting it to establish that it’s “theirs”, not Joe’s, is a great dramatization of the family healing and pushing past such terrible events. Her story is really what’s made this otherwise rocky season worth it.
I wish I could say the same about Hardy. In truth, I like what the show’s trying to do with him here. He too is healing, accepting that he has physical limitations that he seeks treatment for in the way of a pacemaker. He admits his vulnerabilities and has a moment with his ex-wife while he’s recovering from surgery and she looks after him. You get the sense of Hardy reckoning with his past mistakes, both as a detective and a husband, which pushes him beyond the generic “damaged detective” archetype and makes him a more well-rounded character.
The montage during his surgery is just a bit much. I don’t know if it’s this episode in particular or the season or show as a whole, but it feels like Broadchurch has gotten really overeager and showy when it comes to the editing. There’s always been some of that, but here it reaches the point of flash without substance. Beyond something like the surgical montage, which is at least designed to be a little disorienting and maximalist, even Hardy’s simple conversation with his ex in front of his house is over-edited, splicing together shots that don’t really fit together just for the fun of it. Like the hand-holding of the situation via dialogue, the episode just goes a little too far with everything.
Thankfully, the courtroom material was actually pretty decent this time around! Sharon’s still reprehensible (and I appreciated Ellie’s sister, of all people, calling out Phoebe Waller-Bridge). Her single tear doesn't do much for me when, once again, she’s trying to help a monster go free on specious theories and thin evidence. But she raises legitimate points about police misconduct in the case, and it’s not crazy for her to move for dismissal on that grounds. Jocelyn justifiably asks for time to corroborate and the judge hears the issue with the jury deliberately sent out of the room. The arguments are fair on both sides, and the judge rules to let things continue while taking the points seriously. It’s the most this has felt like a real trial, and it’s to the episode’s benefit, which wrings genuine tension from a legitimate possibility for the case’s dismissal.
Granted, we’re still in the land of B.S. twists, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge sleeping with Ollie and fishing through the family’s papers afterwards in another despicable move from the defense team. Still, as dribs and drabs of stories go, it’s balanced out by Rev. Coates going back to Joe and trying to convince him to repent, cutting through the killer’s self-justifications and excuses. My guess is that Ultimately, the trial will go poorly but Joe, wracked with guilt, will confess again and maybe even commit suicide as a form of repentence, but we’ll see.
That just leaves Mark. I’m glad that we finally get an explanation for the missing time from where he was the night of Danny’s death. I’m also glad that Beth finally calls him out for his non-disclosure bullshit (though blaming the trial going poorly on him is probably too far). It’s the most honest Mark has ever been in the series, and that’s a good thing for the show’s least likable character this side of Sharon. That said, it’s dumb that his confessions come in open court and not beforehand in preparations with Jocelyn. More cheap drama. But hey, it leads to another moment of solace between Ellie and Beth that seems to help thaw the ice between them.
Overall, the mystery element of the show has taken a nosedive right when the legal elements seem to be perking up. It’s apparently too much to ask for the show to fire on all-cylinders, or at least work reasonably well on all fronts. But the character work keeps me coming back, and Ellie’s story especially continues to be a highlight.