3x05 Episode 5

[7.4/10] So let’s hit the two funniest moments in the episode right off the bat. First, I love when Miller and Hardy ask for a suspect’s girlfriend name and she says, “Weird, people don’t normally know my name.” It’s such an amusing, non-T.V. response, and I just love it. Second, I get why they do it, but there’s something low-key hysterical about the scene where they focus on Lee the Twine Guy playing soccer and slowly pan down to show him wearing athletic socks. I know the point is to tie him to the sock the Axehampton owner found on his property, but there’s just no unfunny way to do a dramatic zoom down to somebody’s socks.

All that aside, I generally liked this episode. I appreciate the new wrinkle here that Hardy and Miller are suddenly investigating a serial rapist rather than an isolated incident. It works from a plot standpoint because it complicates the detectives’ job. They have both more and less to go on now, with more data points to process that could add both signal and noise to their investigation. As they say in the episode, the net keeps getting wider, and the serial nature of the crime adds urgency to catching the culprit lest he strike again.

But it also gives the show a chance to explore all the reasons that victims choose not to speak out or go to the police even when a grave wrong has been committed like this one. The broader project of season 3 seems to be exposing the flaws of how our societal institutions deal with rape, and maybe aspirationally highlighting how this can be done right. The sensitive way Miller and Hardy deal with the successive victims and their representatives, and the understandable but damning reason those women didn’t want to come forward, serves both of those notions well.

That said, I don’t love every development in the mystery department. For one thing, there’s some contrivances or coincidences that feel like a little too much, like Jim’s car breaking down and him just so happening to get a ride in Clive’s cab. Likewise, Clive being the regular cab drive for Lee the Twine guy feels a little convenient too. Maybe it would feel more organic if we didn’t get both developments in the same episode, let alone the sock situation. Oh, and I just realized that Clive’s stepson is one of the kids who was asking around for Hardy’s daughter, and given the small universe problem in this show, is probably the one who stole her phone and sent her nude photos around. So the web of connections starts to feel more than a little strained.

More to the point, I’m still not on board with the soap opera aspects of the Trish/Jim/Cath/Ben/Ian clusterfuck. Cath’s threats to torch Jim’s life are meant to be scary and portentous, but just come off weird. The same goes for her awkward conversation with Ben, her boss, over whether he’d want to shag her. I know Ben beating up Jim out of some misplaced chivalry or jealousy is supposed to suggest he has a violent side that could mean he’s the culprit, but I don’t buy it. And even the drama of Ian sneaking into his ex-wife’s home at night seems like an obvious red herring moment rather than the revealing and scary detail it’s framed as.

All that aside, I actually really liked the confession scene between Trish and Cath. There’s a realness to it that’s missing from the rest of this love pentagon situation. Trish’s apologies and excuse are heartfelt and self-defeating. And Cath’s response is brutally cold, albeit understandable given the circumstances. There’s moments in life when people are hurt, and so they trust try to lob the most hurtful thing they can think of back. Cath feigning incredulity that of all the women at the party, someone would rape Trish may be the peak of that. It’s a horrible thing to say, but it feels like the sort of barb a real person in this situation might inflict on the other woman they thought was a friend. I’ll take it over the rest of the prime time soap material Broadchurch otherwise spews onto this storyline.

Then we have the Mark Latimer situation. I’ll confess, I’m still curious as to where the show’s going with this, especially now that he’s located Joe, so I have to give it that. As in the Trish/Cath scene, everyone feels true to character, even as they’re in opposition. Rev. Coates remains frustrated at the feeling that he doesn’t have a purpose in the Broadchurch community anymore, religious or otherwise. Beth is tired of having to clean-up Mark’s messes and be responsible for him even after she split up with him. And even after a subtle warning from Maggie, Mark can’t shake his need to go after some rough justice. Characters with conflicting (or at least contrary) motivations making choices true to those impulses that could affect all of them are the stuff good storytelling is made of, so I’m reluctantly on board with this seemingly vestigial storyline.

I’m also curious to see where the situation with Alec and his daughter is going. We haven’t had as much of Miller and Hardy away from the case this season, which is a shame since it’s been the backbone of prior seasons. But I like the little moments we get here, of Hardy not knowing how to handle the situation, his daughter feeling like things aren’t better in this new place the way her dad promised, and Miller commiserating that that’s just parenthood (something she knows better than anyone). Unfortunately, my suspicion is that this will connect to the mystery somehow, rather than simply being a compelling domestic issue modern families have to deal with, but we shall see.

Overall though, this was a much better episode than the last one, and points the way toward a few more worthwhile clues to who the culprit is, at the same time the show widens its scope as to the wrong our heroes are looking to rectify. The new crew’s issues still leave something to be desired, but the core of the mystery is taking shape in a compelling way.

Top Suspects

-- 1. I’m still all-in on Clive’s son as the culprit. Spotting him as one of the boys calling on Hardy’s daughter in the “Previously On” helped cinch that he’s involved somehow in my mind. Also, I have a crazy theory that Ben might be his bio dad, since Broadchurch has played the “secret biological parent” card before, but that’s just a shot in the dark.

-- 2. Ben -- I really don’t think it’s him. He’s been too front and center for a while now. But you know there’s going to be complications with him beating up Jim and his daughter being on the force, so maybe there’s more there than I think.

-- 3. The Axehampton Estate Owner -- It would be out of nowhere, since he’s barely had any personality. But he does keep finding relevant evidence, and if the crimes are seasonal, maybe he doesn’t stay near the estate year-round, so there’s something there.

-- 4. Leo the Twine Guy’s dad -- I put forward this crazy theory before, and he got another mention here, so I’m going to re-up this guess in last place. Maybe he lives in that house that’s near the Axehampton estate but travels around playing golf, and so isn’t always there? Again, I’m grasping at straws here, but maybe there’s some meat to my suspicions.