Countdown to Thirteen: Broadchurch: Series 3, Episode 2 (2017)

Still wary – there’s a lot here that’s being done sensitively and right, but there’s also stuff that makes me nervous.  This season is going to depend greatly on how the Trish storyline is handled.

With evidence that Trish’s rape was premeditated, Hardy and Ellie are trying to hit the ground running on the investigation, but it’s difficult.  There are a number of variables in the case, they have limited resources, and while Hardy is anxious to get Trish’s full statement as soon as possible, Ellie doesn’t want to push Trish before she’s ready.  Beth, serving as an advocate for Trish, feels caught between what her client needs and what the police want.

I’m still taking a wait-and-see approach here.  As I said, there are aspects of this plot that I think are done well.  I like the recognition that there are fewer department resources devoted to sex crimes, and as I said last week, it is realistic that not everyone believes Trish’s story (I just don’t like that seemingly the one voice of suspicion is from a young woman.)  I also appreciate that Trish isn’t a “perfect victim” – she was drinking the night of the attack, and she has a history of casual sex, neither of which negate what happened to her or make her feel any less violated.

It’s just a matter of what the show does with this moving forward.  I’d like some acknowledgment of how police disbelief can negatively impace a case, and I’m kind of nervous about Hardy’s preoccupation with a “rapist in the bushes” figure prowling the streets.  I hope the season gets into myths about rape, and I hope we get to see some of the women really taking others to task over their misconceptions.

I love Jodie Whittaker in this episode.  As Trish’s advocate, Beth admits that she doesn’t have all the answers and can’t “fix” things for Trish, but she can assure this survivor that all her feelings are normal and valid, that what happened to her wasn’t her fault, and that she’s stronger and braver than she thinks.  Beth’s first meeting with Trish is a really beautiful scene – even if Beth has doubts in her own abilities, it’s obvious that she’s brimming with compassion and wants to help Trish take charge of her own healing process.

Something else I like about the episode is how it shows the lingering effects of Danny’s death.  Three years later, that grief is still strong, but without an investigation or a trial to focus on, there isn’t as clear a place for it, and the characters struggle to know what to do with it.  That feels very believable to me, and I look forward to seeing their ongoing journeys on this.