Other Doctor Lives: Broadchurch: Series 2, Episode 7 (2015)

*Written in 2018*

Another season, another penultimate episode. That brings with it the requisite suspense and revelations, although, by and large, I’d say series 1 does it better. What I will say in the episode’s decided favor is that I’m not sure which way the finale is going to go, both with the trial and with the Sandbrook case.

The trial wraps up with closing arguments, and the jury deliberates, naturally holding back any decision for the next episode and keeping the Latimers on grieving pins and needles. As Hardy and Ellie keep putting the pieces together on Sandbrook, Hardy thinks he’s found the thread that will lead him to the proof he needs.

Watching the last scenes of the trial makes me realize that I think Jocelyn is a pretty lousy lawyer. It was harder to spot early on because Sharon is so over-the-top ridiculous as an attorney, so she draws a lot of the focus, but for the talk about how awesome Jocelyn is, I’m not all that impressed with her. She does mainly fine when she’s making arguments and questioning her own witnesses, but she’s continually, utterly blindsided by all the crazy stuff that Sharon pulls, which leaves her witnesses floundering when Sharon makes her outlandish accusations. You’d think that, after the first few times at least, that she’d get something of a feel for the game Sharon is playing and prep her witnesses to be ready for it, but she’s just as flummoxed as everyone else—boo. On a positive note, I turned out to be fairly on the money with some speculation I’d been making about Jocelyn and another character, so I feel vindicated there.

I’m not quite sure where we’re going with Sandbrook. There are a lot of clues Ellie and Hardy are sifting through, and they have yet to coalesce into much solid sense for me, though I can tell Hardy sees something in them. I still see several plausible suspects in the case—hopefully it’s one of them. Also, I haven’t taken the time to say it before, but I really like James D’Arcy’s work here. He’s an actor I’ve seen in a handful of things, but I of course know him best as the terrific Jarvis on Agent Carter. It’s to his credit that, when I’m watching him in this role, I’m really not thinking of Jarvis at all, and that can be tough to achieve when actors make such a big impression as a particular character.

Not a whole lot of Beth, but Jodie Whittaker does get two pretty good scenes. I especially like the first, in which she and Mark discuss the future of their family and what they can do about it. It’s maybe something of a reversal from where they both are at the end of the previous episode, but in a way that’s believable for me.

*Written in 2025*

After his health issues in the previous episode, Hardy comes at the case with renewed vigor here—though I have to say, he’s probably up and about too much considering said health issues. A key piece of evidence has been given a radical new context, and he’s champing at the bit to see the case through to the end. Upon hearing that one suspect made a rash move, he crows, “Then [they’re] panicking. That’s good, eh? I like it when they panic,” and he’s practically strutting when he goes to confront another.

David Tennant plays this well. You can tell that Hardy feels like he has a new lease on life, not just with his health, but with the case itself. It’s been grinding him down for so long, and although he’s continued to investigate because he can’t let it go, it’s been with waning hope. Now, though, he feels a new wind beneath his sails and thinks he really can solve it as last. It changes his whole demeanor.

This episode highlights another aspect of Hardy, one that can be troubling: even when he’s working unofficially, he has a lot of power and that can affect other people’s lives. He’s been increasingly frustrated with Claire all season, and I definitely understand why, but that becomes an issue when he plays fast and loose with her safety, seemingly to punish her for being uncooperative. We’ve seen Hardy blow up something in a suspect’s life before, generally in service of the “greater good” of the investigation, and it often feels like it could’ve been avoided. In this episode, it feels especially personal, and his choices pose an actual threat to Claire. Yep, further reinforcement that TV cops are bastards too.