It’s time for this week’s Broadchurch review, courtesy of the lovely Leah!

Title Episode 7

Two-Sentence Summary Alec seems more like his old self once again and sets into motion a plan to catch the Sandbrook culprits, creating conflict for Claire, Lee, and Ricky. Both sides make their closing arguments in court, and the jury goes into deliberations, returning with a majority verdict that we’ll have to wait until next week to see.

Favorite Lines “Stop thinking of life as something that happens to you. What we do now, that’s who we are.” (Beth)

“I stopped and turned around and faced the demons I’d been avoiding. There was no other way to go, so I fought back. When I’m weak…then, I am strong.” (Paul)

“I look at you and I see someone stained by death. I think it haunts you every single day.” (Alec)

My Thoughts We’ve finally reached the penultimate episode of this season, and we’re so close to answering so many of the questions we had at the beginning of the season. Joe’s trial is almost over, and Alec and Ellie are very close to unraveling the thread of all that happened the night Pippa and Lisa disappeared. This episode felt a little bit jumbled because of the amount of times we jumped between different characters, but overall I thought it was an enjoyable one, as we were given many scenes showing how the characters were doing as we moved closer to the verdict.

The trial finished with its witnesses in this episode, as Ellie was attacked on the stand one final time—this time about lending her sister money. The trend of “no one ever tells Jocelyn what she needs to know to do her job properly” continued, since Ellie had not told her about the loan. I spent most of the time while Ellie was on the stand wishing for it to be done with because we’ve seen her attacked a million times already, and nothing different was going to come from this line of questioning. That’s probably why this felt a little out of place in the episode for me; the jury were already going to consider the possibility of the police being corrupt in this instance, and other than setting an ominous tone for the ending of the trial, it felt a bit weird to end with an imbalance in witnesses of sorts, especially since we didn’t even see Jocelyn get to try to ask Ellie questions that would counter some of the damage done.

Finally, though, we came to the last major part of the trial, and Sharon and Jocelyn each presented their closing arguments to the jury. In my opinion, both lawyers presented a compelling argument, though Sharon’s was focused more on speculation and theory, and Jocelyn’s pointed out key evidence. I am assuming that we will receive a guilty verdict at the beginning of the next episode, but I know that if I was part of this jury it would be a difficult case to decide on. The show has done a good job of taking moments from Season One that could look suspicious if viewed through a different lens and using them to fuel the defense’s case, which means that, while I am assuming we will likely get a guilty verdict, I cannot feel certain. Broadchurch is the type of show that could potentially have enough daring to try to pull off a not guilty verdict and perhaps even succeed, though that doesn’t hold much appeal for me.

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Leah is back with her thoughts on the latest episode of Broadchurch!

Title Episode 6

Two-Sentence Summary While Tom’s testimony ultimately leads to a reunion with Ellie, Mark’s testimony creates a wedge between him and Beth. In the process of putting pressure on their Sandbrook suspects, Ellie discovers a picture of Claire wearing Pippa’s pendant, and the audience is shown a flashback of Claire stealing the necklace from Tess’s car.

Favorite Lines
“This isn’t about your dad; this is about your friend Danny. Because Danny can’t speak up for himself anymore. So our job is to find out what Danny would say if he was here.” (Jocelyn)

“Your father has done enough damage, and I won’t let him destroy us too!” (Ellie)

“I never thought it would be a part of this.”
“Everything’s a part of it, Mark.” (Mark and Jocelyn)

“I’ll give you money to shut up.”
“I’ll give you more money to stop being less of a knob.” (Alec and Ellie)

“They’d have ruined your career. I got away with mine…just.” (Alec)

My Thoughts This episode was very enjoyable, even though some of it felt like setup for the final two episodes. I enjoyed seeing Ellie gaining confidence and taking charge, and seeing more of Alec with his family. I’m glad we’re finally starting to narrow in on the Sandbrook case and figure out what happened, and that Joe’s trial will reach a verdict soon so we won’t have to keep watching people being attacked on the stand.

This episode didn’t have quite as clear of a theme for me as the past couple of episodes, but I did notice a few similarities between some of the characters. Our detective duo had some familial reunions, while Mark and Beth were torn further apart. Alec had surgery to put in a pacemaker to deal with his illness, and his ex-wife Tess showed up to help look after him. I don’t know if she is there because she feels obligated to him, since she said part of the reason she showed up was because she wanted to tell him she loved him for covering for her in Sandbrook. Or maybe she still loves him in the way divorced parents can think of each other as family, and she’s there because they’ll always be family through their daughter. Either way, these two seemed to have made peace with each other, as is evident by the somewhat heavy-handed “No more broken heart” Alec told his daughter (about the surgery) while looking at Tess. It’s nice to see they’ve gotten to the point in their relationship where they can talk and still care about each other without getting angry or resentful. Hopefully this means Alec will start to live for things outside of the Sandbrook case again, and he’ll be happier and healthier.

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It’s time once again for the lovely Leah’s weekly take on Broadchurch!

Title Episode 5

Two-Sentence Summary The prosecution and defense teams trade off in witness wins with Susan and Nigel, and we start to finally get some sense of what the defense is going to provide as the alternative to Joe. Familial strife is abundant in this episode, and Ellie dives deeper into the Sandbrook investigation and manages to find a new clue.

Favorite Lines
“Look, Tom, I know you want that to be true, and I know you blame me. But your dad killed Danny. And if I could’ve spotted what was going on or if I could go back and make it un-happen I would, but I can’t.” (Ellie)

“I was reading about another family. They were saying that a trial was as bad as a murder, and I thought that can’t be right. But then going in there every day, seeing our lives get turned inside out…when all we did was love our son. I get it.” (Mark)

“Because I didn’t like you enough. And I always knew you’d blame me if you lost. Because that’s what you always did, every time you didn’t win, every time you missed out on a big brief—you always blame someone else.” (Jocelyn)

My Thoughts The more time we spend out of the courtroom, the more I tend to enjoy these episodes, and this hour was no exception. I also found myself enjoying the Sandbrook case more now that we’re focusing less on Lee and Claire, and more on the case itself.

The trial feels like it’s beginning to finally narrow in on a conclusion now that we know the basics of the alternative theory the defense will present to the jury. I am already dreading seeing Mark being attacked on the stand, but I do think that, from an outsider’s perspective, it’s a credible theory on some level. Tom’s testimony is probably going to be both frustrating and painful, because I’m not sure he understands what he’s getting himself into. From his conversation with Ellie, it seems like he doesn’t know very much about the details of the case and has tried to avoid dealing with the emotional fallout that would happen if he accepted that his dad killed Danny, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up hearing about a piece of evidence in court and has a moment of painful realization or (equally painful for the audience) denial.

Mark hit on the thing that I hate most about trials in his conversation with Jocelyn—that in some ways it’s as bad as the murder. When someone is killed, there are other people left behind who become victims as well. Trials too often feel to me like a reinjuring of those who are already devastated by the original event. It’s one of the worst parts of our imperfect justice system, and this second season is highlighting that through the way the Latimers have been attacked in this case, as well as Ellie, Alec, and a few other members of their community, too.

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Leah is back with her thoughts in the latest episode of Broadchurch!

Title Episode 4

Two-Sentence Summary Joe’s trial continues, with each side introducing a surprise witness that throws a wrench into the other’s case. Claire and Lee reunite, while Alec and Ellie continue to look into the Sandbrook case by visiting the town and end up discovering new information that points them toward the grieving father.

Favorite Lines “Is that why it got to you? Because you could never be sure.” (Ellie to Alec, about the Sandbrook case)

“Willie Pep: 241 fights, 229 wins. Reportedly claimed he could win a fight without throwing a single punch.” (Ben to Jocelyn, about Jocelyn’s prizefighter metaphor)

My Thoughts This episode gave us some new information along with a few surprises. I enjoyed this episode a bit more than last week’s, probably because my favorite character (Ellie) wasn’t being attacked, and because I enjoyed learning more about the Sandbrook case as well as Alec’s psyche. I’m going to try a slightly different format this week, taking a look at some of the themes I saw in this episode.

First, a quick recap of the new information we learned: Joe’s trial introduced two new witnesses that provided a big hit to each side’s case. Jocelyn brought in Joe’s old paramedic shift partner, who told the story of a night when Joe snapped and seriously hurt a man, providing evidence of Joe’s temper and capability for violence. Sharon ended the episode dramatically by calling Susan Wright to the stand and revealing the defense’s alternative killer: Nigel. Meanwhile, Ellie and Alec traveled to Sandbrook to do some more investigating and discovered that Ricky Gillespie’s alibi is not as solid as it seemed, giving Alec doubts about whether he made a mistake going after Lee. Claire and Lee reunited, and the audience learned that Claire is definitely withholding information from Alec and Ellie about something she and Lee did in the past.

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Leah is back with her thoughts on the latest episode of Broadchurch!

Title Episode 3

Two-Sentence Summary Lee continues to cause trouble for Alec, and Ellie gets Claire to tell her what really happened the night the Sandbrook girls disappeared. Meanwhile, Beth gives birth to new baby Lizzie, and the trial continues with Ellie’s testimony.

Favorite Lines “I am sick to the back teeth of taking flack for stuff I haven’t done.” (Ellie)

“Ellie, listen. The world is screwing you over right now. You owe you something.” (Claire)

My Thoughts This episode seemed like one in which not much actually happened, but I was glad to get a bit more information on how all the characters are doing mentally and emotionally. I probably enjoyed this episode more for that reason, though I am still tired of Ellie being the show’s punching bag, and I hope this does not continue through the whole season.

One of the storylines I enjoyed most in this episode was the birth of baby Lizzie. I was glad Ellie stayed with Chloe while Beth was in labor, and their conversation on the stairs was one of my favorite moment, in which Chloe simply asks whether Ellie knew what Joe was doing instead of screaming at her like Beth has been doing. Meanwhile, Mark was absent for hours on end without being reachable on his phone. You would think with a wife who is ready to give birth any day that he’d answer his phone when it rings, but if he was spending time with Tom, then maybe he feels so guilty every time he’s there that he ignores all calls. The most emotional part of this for me was when Mark first held Lizzie. He broke my heart with his teary promises to take good care of her, as well his assurances that she was wanted and loved and that they wouldn’t make the same mistakes this time. Mark clearly still has a lot of guilt over feeling like they failed Danny as parents, and he wants to make sure they don’t fail Lizzie, too. I loved how realistic the emotions from Mark felt in that moment, because the show is showing us how losing your child in the way the Latimers did changes so much about your life, including how you feel about yourself as a parent.

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Today, the lovely Leah is back with her thoughts on the latest episode of Broadchurch. 

Title Episode 2

Two-Sentence Summary The preparation for and the beginning of the trial occur, which results in Joe’s confession being excluded from evidence. Alec and Ellie convince Claire to meet with Lee in the hopes that he’ll reveal something incriminating, but their plan goes awry when Beth unwittingly provides a distraction that lets Lee escape and take Claire with him.

Favorite Line “Because my life, my old life, is gone. And I made so many mistakes—some big ones. And I need to put something right. We could do it together.” (Ellie Miller)

My Thoughts I want to admit something, so you know where I’m coming from while I discuss certain parts of this episode: Personally, I am not a fan of shows that focus on courtroom scenes or the technicalities of the legal system. They usually infuriate or annoy me in some way—probably because of the way the victims or their families are often treated on the stand and because the audience usually has to spend a lot of time with the guilty party (or their lawyer) making smug faces. Thus, because of my bias against those types of scenes, I felt a fair dose of annoyance along with the enjoyment of other aspects of this episode.

Since I prefer to end things on a positive note, let’s start with the storyline that annoyed me more: the trial. A lot of this episode was spent in following the setup for and then the start of Joe Miler’s trial, and we got to see Jocelyn scolding a lot of people and the first witnesses giving their testimony. Most of the trial scenes were centered on one aspect of the case that the defense would attack heavily: the circumstances around the arrest of Joe Miller. Here is where my annoyance starts, and a lot of it is from what I touched on in my review last week. In going through this trial realistically, the show is asking me to apply reality (or at least some version of it) to the very emotional events of the Season One finale, which felt to me to have more impact because of the decisions made to not have it follow strictly realistic police procedure and instead let it play out in a more dramatic way.

When I look at Joe’s arrest from this new point of view, it’s no surprise to me that Joe’s confession was tossed out as evidence. Despite knowing that the confession was not coerced, I thought that Sharon provided a strong enough argument to create reasonable doubt that his confession was made freely. Unsurprisingly, this will make the case a lot harder to prosecute. It will be interesting to see what evidence Jocelyn focuses on in making the prosecution’s case, since I feel like, without Joe’s confession, most of the evidence that we know of is circumstantial.

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