Countdown to Thirteen: Broadchurch: Series 1, Episode 8 (2013)

Series 1 finale.  As I’ve said before, this is my second time through the show’s first season, so going in, I already knew how it shakes out.  I find it to be kind of a mixed bag – while some of the emotions are undeniably powerful, it doesn’t feel entirely put-together from a storytelling perspective (some very, very vague spoilers.)

The pressure is really on in the case, with Hardy desperate to find answers.  The killer is revealed, and numerous lives are changed in the process.

Seeing it the second time, I still don’t know how I feel about the reveal of the killer.  While there’s admittedly a bit a groundwork laid for who it is, especially in later episodes, I get more of a sense that the killer was chosen based on maximum “twist” value rather than what made the most narrative sense.  And to be fair, that does sometimes happen with these sorts of crimes, “the person you’d least suspect” – but I don’t know.  I might need to see how the upcoming episodes deal with the fallout from the reveal to really decide how I feel about it.

Additionally, the actual “aha!” situation itself on the detectives’ part reminds me a little of The Assets, in that it’s not really any great police work or deductive brilliance that brings our heroes to the right solution.  The physical nuts and bolts of determining “whodunit” is a bit anticlimactic.  (Although, narratively, it still plays out differently than in The Assets – there, the audience knows the whole time who the mole is, whereas here, at least part of the motivation is to hold info back in order to heighten the twist.)

However, the episode does have some incredibly-strong, emotional acting from several cast members, and I do think the reveal raises some interesting thematic questions.  Again, I think the true test will be to see what the show does with it moving forward.

As for Jodie Whittaker, I’m sorry to report that there really isn’t a ton for her to do here, which seems weird.  Beth’s journey and emotional state has been a pretty important thread of the season, but here, when we actually learn who killed her son, she feels all but absent.  Not that she isn’t there, but her screentime feels comparatively minimal, and when she is onscreen, the focus is more often on how other characters are reacting to the reveal.  Definitely feels like a dropped ball there.

The next Broadchurch episode I review will be new to me.  I’m curious going forward but also a little apprehensive – I haven’t heard the most encouraging things about series 2 and 3, and again, since Chris Chibnall is the one who will be taking over showrunning duties at Who, that worries me.