As much a TV-watcher as I am, I don’t particularly care for binge watching. I know, I know, it’s the latest craze. I just don’t normally have enough time to sit long enough to watch an entire series or season of a series. Even with an entire series or season available at one time, I’m less likely to watch than I am if a show is simply scheduled to air once a week. Hence, I haven’t completed the second season of House of Cards and am only a couple episodes into Daredevil, just to name two examples.
That’s all background to let you know how good the second season of Broadchurch must be for me to watch it in its entirety, in only two sittings spread over only two evenings! For those of you not familiar with Broadchurch, it is a British television crime drama that first aired in March, 2013. It follows the investigation of the death of an 11-year old boy in a small, close-knit town in Dorset, conducted by detectives Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and Ellie Miller (Olivia Coleman).
If that sounds familiar, Fox remade the first season as a “miniseries event” called Gracepoint and, like the recent adaptation of The Returned, it’s a pale comparison of the original. Some shows simply play better in their native countries. Even though the same creator/writer (Chris Chibnall) and director (James Strong) made Gracepoint, and Tennant also starred, it just didn’t work in the United States. For me, characters that are so strong in the original are simply caricatures in the remake.
The second season of Broadchurch is primarily about the trial of the killer who confessed at the end of the first season. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t watch the first season, although I certainly recommend that you do, because throughout the court proceedings, the secrets previously revealed to us as viewers of the show are exposed to other characters within the show. It’s a great way to learn (or review) what happened in the past, but also a great dramatic device for moving toward the future.
At the same time, a case from Hardy’s past comes back to haunt him. He’s been harboring Claire Ripley (Eve Myles), the wife of the suspected killer of two young women, Lee Ashworth (James D’Arcy). Convinced that Ashworth is guilty, he believes Claire is in great danger. When Ashworth shows up in town, what started as a secondary story becomes as compelling as the primary story of the trial when a down and out Miller finds rejuvenation in the prospect of helping Hardy solve the case.
Other additions to the cast in the second season (“series” as the call it across the pond) are Charlotte Rampling as Jocelyn Knight, the prosecuting attorney and Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Sharon Bishop, the defense attorney. The two have a delicious history and want nothing more than to steal victory from each other in the courtroom. They each also have personal stories that occasionally rear their heads and may end up having larger significance before the whole thing is over.
The acting is top-notch all around, from leads to supporting actors. I became invested in their emotional ups and downs, as well as changes in the status of their relationships. In privacy, I even applauded one particular outcome, so happy was I to see it finally happen. The town and its inhabitants are so intimate, intricately involved with each other whether they want to be or not, that the smallest event can have much larger implications.
It’s hard to be much more detailed without spoiling every little plot turn, from either of the stories. Overall, what drives the trial portion for me is the audacity of someone who confessed to a hideous crime to later declare him or herself “not guilty.” Everyone in town is aware of the guilt; it’s not questioned. But that doesn’t matter to a jury who has to objectively look at all the evidence. Will a guilty person be found innocent, mainly because he/she just doesn’t want to go to jail for the crime?
Why does Bishop defend this person? To what lengths will she go to do so? Who will she present as an alternative to the killer? What stunts will she pull? And how in the world does Knight obtain a guilty verdict? Is the evidence enough? It’s all very suspenseful and more thrilling as it goes on. It also skates along the edge of being soapy, but the quality of acting, writing, directing keeps it from falling in. Oh, and the music… the score is fantastic, a perfectly moody accompaniment to the story.
I absolutely loved the second series of Broadchurch. If you never saw the first series, or if you watched the American remake and didn’t like it, neither is an excuse to not watch this one. While rooted in what came before, it grows into something new. I understand there will be a third series, and I can’t wait! Hardy and Miller are sad, complex characters who may have reached a turning point. I want to see what happens to them next.
Broadchurch: The Complete Second Season is released on DVD May 12, 2015, by entertainmentone.
