Catch up on the episode five recap here
Oh no. I must admit to having a soft spot for Mark Latimer so I found this extremely distressing. It was a great job by Andrew Buchan, who has made something very poignant out of what can sometimes be a cardboard cut-out role. Must we assume that Mark is dead? I think so. Although there was a window for Chloe to call for help. Or he could change his mind and swim back to the boat? I predict a funeral next week with the spectre of The Guilty Vicar looming large ...
What does this development mean? And did Joe Miller tell Mark Latimer something new that he may have written down somewhere? If anything, I am more confused than ever. Is it possible that Mark killed his own son? I think it is generally agreed that it is not 100% certain Joe did it (even though he took the blame). Is there a chance Joe thinks he committed this crime when in fact he didn’t? And what does all this mean for the rapist storyline?
There’s so much riding on the next two episodes, I almost can’t bear it. Writer Chris Chibnall loves to play exceptionally high stakes. What happens in the next two hours of screen time could unravel the popularity not only of this series but of the entire Broadchurch project, if it turns out we’ve been led a merry dance over Danny’s death, which I rather suspect we have.
In other news, surprise, surprise, Lenny Henry is a stalker. I had some believability issues with this. He’s Trish’s boss. Would he photograph her (in a very small town) 5,000 times over 10 years when they also spent most of the working day together? And if he did have this level of obsession, how did other people at work not know about it? Then, of course, it comes out that Ian complained about Ed’s sexual harassment of Trish. And yet no one has mentioned this until now, including co-worker Cath who has the biggest gob in Wessex? Hmm. If there was a report of harassment, wouldn’t Miller and Hardy have come across it already? Ed Burnett’s guilt is too obvious, but it feels like he might be guilty of a crime we don’t yet know about. “There’s a lot stacking up against you, Ed ...” How did his wife die?
Elsewhere in the crime hotspot that is Broadchurch, there is clearly some kind of porn ring. The rapist may or may not be a part of it, but Miller’s son is definitely a major part of it. “Where did you get that porn from? Does his dad drive a taxi?” Miller would appear to be perilously close to Kate’s position. She has a connection to a suspect, and she has destroyed evidence. Again, I had plausibility issues with this. You can see why an enraged Miller would smash the laptop – but she would immediately regret it.
The flashback scenes with Mark Latimer and Joe Miller were wonderfully acted but pointless in terms of moving things on. “Talk me through the night it happened.” “Why?” Because not everyone will remember series one and we need some circularity to this three-part narrative. “I’m only here because I’m not brave enough to kill myself.” Joe Miller is still following the same story. I’m not certain we know the truth about what happened that night. (There has long been a theory that Joe Miller is covering for someone, possibly his own son.) But these scenes just reminded us of what we know. Tell us what actually happened already!
Miller vs Hardy: the score so far
“Might put you in charge of bollockings from now on, Miller.” “Fine by me.” Suddenly Miller has ended up in a place of great hypocrisy, thanks to her idiot son. This provided a nice foil to her antipathy towards Kate: “I fought all the battles you now benefit from.” “You’ve never liked me, have you, Ellie?” “Actually I was starting not to mind you.” It was a bit rich, Miller giving lectures about wanting to believe that someone closely related to them is innocent ... But you have to feel for Miller here. Her husband ended up being the murderer. (Or is he?) And her son is at the very least a major customer of the Broadchurch porn-sharing hub. Hardy is going to have her for breakfast instead of a Scotch egg when he finds out. Meanwhile the storyline with Hardy’s daughter remains indistinct. When he said his wistful line, it was almost as if he was trying to convince himself: “This stupid place, with these stupid cliffs ... I’m meant to be here.” Miller 0, Hardy 1.
Not the usual suspects
There was a genius “here’s the story so far” scene at the beginning of this episode: “55 men we know were present at the party. We have ruled out 42. So we are left with: Ian, Jim, Lucas (taxi), Leo (twine boy) ...” Miller got cut off there, which leaves us with nine additional suspects from the party alone. At least the Local Rapist with a Fake Mackerel Fetish was off the hook this week. Twine Emporium Heir suddenly seemed to be more caught up in the porn ring. (Presumably the girlfriend who lied about going to the kebab shop with him is also caught up in this, hence her mention of payment last week.) In short: despite the too-obvious arrest of Ed Burnett, we are none the wiser.
Life lesson
Never walk across a field. Fields are getting very bad press in this series. Mind you, cliffs are not a great place to hang out either. Or the sea.
Trademark Wessex words of wisdom
“He even bloody took a cloth to wipe his hands on.” The cheek of it.
“If it’s any consolation, I think she was just stupid not bent.” Wise words from Miller.
“Dad, I really need you not to behave weirdly at the moment.” Trish’s daughter sums up what we are all thinking.
“You look proper shit.” Ah, there’s still a flame flickering between Cath and Jim. “We can style it out ...” Good luck with that.
