Broadchurch series 2 review
Episodes: 8
Premiered: 2015
Duration: 1 hr
This follow-up to ITV’s surprise smash hit crime drama sees the continuing fallout of the murder of young Danny Latimer. As the small coastal Dorset town still reels from the news of the killer’s identity, the court case begins and young Danny’s family try to get over their grief.
Once again David Tennant and Olivia Colman head up the cast of the Jurassic Coast-set mystery. Series 2 lacks the impact and big reveal of its predecessor, but Broadchurch remains essential viewing that’s thoughtfully written and sensitively acted.
Read on for Joanna’s episode-by-episode Broadchurch series 2 review.
Spoilers for Broadchurch series 2 episode 1 below.
Oh it’s been worth the wait. Series two of this award-winning series is already offering more questions than answers, and has us all speculating about whether they were right the first time round. Oh, and there’s a new case.
The first episode picks up seamlessly where we left off, showing the devastating aftermath for the community rocked by the murder of 11-year-old Danny Latimer. A crude recap would remind us that in series 1 – watch it first if you haven’t already – DI Alec Hardy (David Tennant) and DS Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) were investigating the murder of Danny who was found on Broadchurch beach. The murderer turned out to be Ellie’s husband Joe Miller.
Series two kicks off with the day of the hearing and the main characters are all brought together in the court room. Danny’s parents Beth and Mark (who are about to have another baby), the vicar and even the B&B owner Danny was having an affair with. DI Miller is working in Devon and not coping well having lost her son, who moved to stay with relatives. She appears to be paying the price for this murder over and above her husband. She arrives late to the hearing and Danny’s parents can’t contain their contempt.
Meanwhile DI Hardy has been ignoring persistent calls from a ‘Claire’ who eventually bursts into the court room, only to be quickly ushered out by Alec. “I think he’s back and he’s looking for me,” she cries.
Suddenly all eyes are on Joe Miller as he walks into the dock. Then it happens. As the judge reads out the charge, that on 18 July 2013 Joe murdered Daniel Latimer on Broadchurch beach in Dorset, he changes his plea to “not guilty”, provoking roars of anger. Here we see the cast of superb actors really showcasing their talent in a series of close ups, demonstrating the shock and amount of suffering the characters have experienced.
This sets up the introduction of new characters Jocelyn Knight, a local retired QC played by Charlotte Rampling, who initially refuses to take on the case for the prosecution and Sharon Bishop, played by Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who takes on the defence. Later we see a beach encounter between Jocelyn and Sharon, during which we find out that Jocelyn used to be Sharon’s boss. There is clearly some history between the two, and Jocelyn decides to take the case for the prosecution.
It wouldn’t be Broadchurch without some secret liaisons – so we find the vicar going into prison to meet Joe and asking God for forgiveness, while also seeing Becca (Danny’s ex fling). Meanwhile Mark is still AWOL, but this time he’s meeting Tom Miller in a caravan to play computer games, eerily reminiscent of Joe’s relationship with Danny Latimer.
Gradually we begin to learn more about the new case. Claire, who we later find out is Claire Ripley (Eve Myles), has been living at Alec’s cottage since he arrived at Broadchurch seven months ago.
Alec takes DI Miller to the cottage and tells her everything. Claire is connected to his previous case. Two cousins aged 12 and 19 went missing. One was later found dead. The prime suspect was their neighbour Lee Ashworth (James D’Arcy), Claire’s husband. She gave him a false alibi, then backed down, but the case collapsed anyway. So Alec decided to run his own unofficial witness protection scheme and hid Claire in Broadchurch. But it’s not going so well. Lee breaks into Alec’s cottage and takes some of his bank statements and personal letters – one of which is from the NHS.
Returning to the current case, with the defence team playing dirty the episode ends with the exhumation of Danny’s body. Once again the main characters are brought together, this time in the graveyard, where Beth cannot contain her hatred for Ellie who she still holds responsible. Lee Ashworth observes all of this from the hilltop. This episode is peppered with fraught relationships and harrowing scenes.
The only other thing we need to mention is the letter Ellie finds addressed to Claire containing pressed bluebells. We know Broadchurch loves red herrings, so would hate to speculate. But Broadchurch series 2 episode 1 has left us with lots of questions.
Is Claire as innocent as she seems? What is Mark doing with Tom Miller? Why has Joe decided to plea not-guilty? What is Lee Ashworth’s next move? Next Monday already seems quite a wait.
Did you tune in for Broadchurch series 2 episode 1? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Read Joanna’s review of Broadchurch series 2 episode 2 here.
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Spoilers for Broadchurch series 2 episode 2 below. Still catching up? Read Joanna’s review of episode 1 here.
Did I miss something? Broadchurch hit the ground running last week, but episode two had a distinct lack of pace – so much so that it’s hard to remember what exactly happened, which made for a slightly disappointing viewing.
We did get some more emotional background on the characters, extra details about Joe’s arrest and some stunning shots of Broadchurch. But on the whole this episode just felt like filler, giving us information that might be useful later on, but which isn’t particularly interesting now.
So what happened? The trial starts, once again bringing all the characters back together (doesn’t it seem to have come round rather quickly?). We learn that Ellie “beat the living daylights” out of Joe when he was in custody, which was obviously against procedure, and could jeopardise the prosecution’s chances of using his confession.
We also find out more about Claire and Lee. Lee tells Alec that he wants to meet Claire, that he wants his life back, that he misses her. We discover how the two met, and learn of their instant infatuation with each other. “We met at a client’s BBQ, I fancied him straightaway. Three hours later I was shagging him.”
There are plenty of other threads – Alec’s ill health and how Lee found out about it, Ellie’s attempts to move on by asking a colleague out on a date and Paul’s secretive visits to see Joe in prison. We are also asked to question the relationships between Maggie and Jocelyn and Mark and Tom.
The other big development is the arrival of Meera Syal who plays the judge. She brilliantly meets the lawyers dressed casually in a pink tracksuit, but shows herself to be efficient and straight-talking, demanding that the case be run “with courtesy, dignity and respect”.
There were some gorgeous landscapes, reminiscent of series 1, to take our mind off the murder – especially shots of the multi-coloured beach huts on Broadchurch beach at sunset as Ellie and Claire bond over some chips. They talk about love and relationships, and in a rather surreal moment whether they thought their respective husbands could murder a child. That’s a fairly exclusive conversation.
The episode ends with the trial, as we hear more about Danny’s final movements. Not much of the information is new to us, but we do hear how Beth is coping on a day to day basis and how she thinks how things would have been different if she’s been a better parent.
The defence examination is short but to the point, asking whether Mark had ever had an affair or hit Danny. Beth had to say yes to both questions to the shock of the courtroom. “My husband slept with Becca Fisher, she owns the Trader’s Hotel.” Beth admitted they found out later that Danny knew.
The prosecution then questions Alec who is asked to outline Joe’s injuries in custody and explain how he got them. The judge agrees with the defence that the confession could have been coerced and that it is therefore no longer admissible.
The climax of the show comes as Lee and Claire finally meet at Ellie’s house with Alec waiting in the kitchen and Ellie outside. Beth comes to confront Ellie about the attack on Joe and losing the confession, taking her off her guard and away from the front door. During the ensuing argument, Beth’s waters break while at the same time Claire and Lee seem to vanish. Unlikely? Yes. A nice coincidence? Perhaps, but at least something actually happened.
The show’s moving but we haven’t seen enough twists yet and it remains to be seen whether we care enough about the characters to hold on. For this episode I’d say the jury’s out, but I’m going to be watching next week, as this could just be the calm before the storm.
Were you hooked on Broadchurch series 2 episode 2? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
Read Joanna’s review of Broadchurch series 2 episode 3 here.
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Spoilers for Broadchurch series 2 episode 3 below. Still catching up? Read Joanna’s review of episode 2 here.
That’s better. This week, it feels like we’ve finally finished with the who’s who and can get back to what Broadchurch does best – secrets and lies. We’re back on the investigations and there’s been a definite shift, so we’re no longer sure what to believe. Did Joe actually kill Danny or is there more to the case than we first thought? And did Lee murder the Sandbrook cousins, and if so, is Claire lying about what she knows?
Either way, this episode gets Broadchurch firmly back on track, with plenty of watercooler questions allowing us to come up with our own conspiracy theories. Life in Broadchurch also moves on as Beth gives birth, helped by the one person she doesn’t want anywhere near – Ellie. She’s not the only unwelcome visitor though. When the vicar tries to draw the sign of the cross on the baby’s head, Mark isn’t happy: ‘God is not in this house, surely that’s clear by now’. In the most moving scene of the series so far, Mark welcomes baby Lizzie into the world telling her tearfully she is loved, and they’ll look after her. ‘We’ll get it right this time’ he says as all the Broadchurch die-hards are screaming ‘but what does that actually mean?!’
Meanwhile Alec tracks down Claire and Lee and finally we get the twist we’ve been looking for. It appears Claire might have known a little bit more than she let on about what happened at Sandbrook. A flashback sees her screaming ‘What have you done?’ and she later tells Ellie after a drunken night out that Lee drugged her with Rohypnol on the night of the murder and she woke up at 5am to find him cleaning the whole flat. Ellie secretly takes down Lee’s number from Claire’s phone.
We also get some insight into the other characters – Sharon’s son is in prison for an unknown crime and has six years left on his sentence. Jocelyn is seen visiting her elderly mother and is in arrears for her care-home bill. We see her become dazed and confused on the road after working long hours, leading her to crash her car. Is there more to her emotional state than meets the eye?
Lee clearly has an issue with Alec and reports him for falsely recording his conversation and attacking him simply to make a point and to get a public apology. He later turns up at Alec’s house with a bag full of evidence, urging Alec to take another look at the case. Crucially he denies sending Claire the bluebells, which she seems rather cagey about. So who is lying?
In the Broadchurch case we finally get to trial. Here we hear Danny had a second mobile phone given to him by Joe and that he received emails from a false account set up on the family computer. The messages are intimate, talking about spending time together secretly. But they’re not necessarily sordid. One message from Joe reads ‘I know your dad will be sorry for hitting you. You can talk to me any time.’
The defence goes on to sow the seeds of doubt by saying the whole Miller family had access to the computer and that the texts merely show the phone was in the Millers’ house. The defence points out that Ellie would have had access to both right up until Joe’s arrest.
From there the defence takes it one step further, suggesting that Ellie was having an affair with Alec, because after the arrest she left her children to spend two and a half hours with him in a hotel room. She roughed up her husband and then met up with Alec, the defence says, to conspire to frame Joe. Implausible, yes, but wouldn’t that be a twist you didn’t see coming? Things definitely aren’t what they seem. I‘m back in.
What did you think of Broadchurch series 2 episode 3? Let us know in the comments below…
Read Joanna’s review of Broadchurch series 2 episode 4 here.
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Spoilers for Broadchurch series 2 episode 4 below. Still catching up? Read Joanna’s review of episode 3 here.
Odds are you’re still not sure who killed Danny. Or the cousins. Would you put money on it yet? Here we are at Broadchurch series 2 episode 4 – halfway through the series – and suddenly there’s everything to play for.
Much of this week’s action revolves around Sandbrook, with Ellie and Alec taking a road trip to see if they can get the case reopened due to ‘new evidence’ – the bluebells sent to Claire and her admission that Lee drugged her and she woke up to find him cleaning the house.
During the journey to Sandbrook, we find out why the case still haunts Alec so much. “I found her – Pippa Gillespie. She was in the river,” he tells Ellie. “She’d been in there maybe three days. Water rots the body. She was the same age as my daughter. I can still feel the weight of her, water dripping off her clothes all down me. What sort of a person leaves a child like that?”
In Sandbrook we meet Alec’s ex-wife, as well as Kate and Ricky Gillespie. Kate tells Alec her ex-husband was constantly unfaithful when they were together, including with Claire. Crucially, Kate reveals that Ricky was off with a bridesmaid at the wedding on the night of the murder – essentially removing his alibi.
So is Ricky now the key suspect? If not, why doesn’t he want the case reopened? And why on earth does Claire have his number on her new phone? As the camera pans slowly to a photo on the wall of Ricky’s office – a photo of a woodland scene filled with bluebells – the questions come thick and fast.
Meanwhile, back in Broadchurch, Lee and Claire are getting it back on the minute Alex has gone – a cheeky takeaway delivery from Lee and a text message is all it takes, the infatuation is so strong. And just as we’re thinking maybe Lee didn’t do it after all we see even more signs of his possible guilt, such as when he warns Claire that she better not have told the police anything. But what is the alternative storyline if it’s not murder? And did Alec really sleep with Claire as Lee insists?
Back at the trial, new witnesses take the stand. Lucy tells the prosecution she saw a man putting something in the bin at 4.45am and she was convinced it was Joe. The defence points out that in her original statement said she couldn’t be sure, and that she didn’t report the sighting until 57 days after the murder, but Lucy is adamant. “He’s my brother-in-law. I know what he looks like, I’d know him from miles off.”
A further nail in the coffin comes when one of Joe’s paramedic ex-colleagues tells the court she stopped working with him after he beat someone up in a car park while on duty. Attesting to his violent temper, the witness states “He blew. I saw him go. It was like a switch had been flipped in him.”
There’s also a sense of foreboding surrounding Tom Miller, as Mark tells him he can’t meet him any more because he’s got the baby to look after. The conversation seems to imply that Mark is really just looking out for Tom rather than anything more suspicious. “I’ve got no-one,” Tom says in tears. “You’re just gonna leave me, like my dad, like my mum.” However, someone new does come back into his life – Susan Wright (Pauline Quirke) who comes back to testify, reclaim her caravan, and apparently make amends with her son Nigel. She tells Nigel she’s dying of lung cancer. He’s not interested.
The defence decide against putting Joe on the stand as he’s terrible under pressure and flip-flopping all over the place. Even Abby, the defence barrister’s junior, is convinced he’s guilty. Instead of putting Joe on the bench that night, the defence calls Susan to the stand. She tells the court it was Nigel she saw, her son, laying out Danny’s body on Broadchurch beach.
So, four weeks in and we’ve got two new suspects, but I’m not sure the odds are that strong on either of them. I’m not much of a gambler, but I’d put my money on Claire. Something’s not right there. What do you reckon?
What did you think of Broadchurch series 2 episode 4? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Read Joanna’s review of Broadchurch series 2 episode 5 here.
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Spoilers for Broadchurch series 2 episode 5 below. Still catching up? Read Joanna’s review of episode 4 here.
There’s something lovely and old-fashioned about appointment-to-view TV, but this week we really could have done with watching another couple of hours in the hope of a bit more action. Things are moving, but everything seems to take a long time to happen. Who else feels impatient and wishes they could watch the final few episodes in one sitting?
In Broadchurch series 2 episode 5 there was certainly less flitting about than in previous episodes, allowing us to sit back and watch rather than constantly needing to remember who said what, or which case we were focusing on. The pace slowed – perhaps too much – but we learned a lot more.
In the Miller trial, Susan Wright proves to be a liability for the defence. Jocelyn doubts Susan’s night vision and asks how she could recognise a man she hadn’t seen for 28 years. She also questioned why Susan didn’t call the police immediately, the presence of four cigarette butts near Danny’s body and her reason for taking his skateboard. The fatal blow, however, came when evidence surfaced that Susan threatened Maggie saying she knew men who could rape her. She was far from convincing as a witness. “You want to pin the blame on the son who rejected you,” shouted Jocelyn.
Alongside the trial, life in Broadchurch continues. Beth is trying to move on and set up the charity, but Mark is more interested in spending time with baby Lizzie. When Beth is actually confronted with a group of fairly shifty looking sex offenders she runs like the wind. Understandably.
Meanwhile Tom Miller announces he wants to give evidence in court. At the same time, Mark also offers to take the stand, knowing that Sharon wants to suggest that Mark killed Danny, and that Nigel simply put him on the beach.
The characters are all beginning to come together for the finale. Broadchurch and Sandbrook collide when Ricky turns up to see Alec, and then goes on to beat the living daylights out of Lee. But what is the bond between the two men? We see flashbacks of them playing hide and seek with the girls – and then of Lee and Kate having an affair. Lee admits he used rohypnol once, and that he got it from Ricky. But then there’s the creepy shot of Claire plaiting Philippa’s hair in the garden. Is she jealous?
Ellie, spurred on by her crappy situation, is on fire. With nothing to lose she works through the night reassembling the Sandbrook evidence in Alec’s house. “This case has done too much damage to everyone,” says Alec. “Not to me,” says Ellie. “I’m gonna solve it. I’m going to need your wall.”
At the same time, Alec’s health seems to be deteriorating and he goes to Jocelyn to get her to write his will. We learn that Jocelyn missed the boat relationship-wise and never told a certain someone (who could that be?) how she felt. We also find out why there’s so much tension between her and Sharon, as she refused to take Sharon’s son’s case. “A man died because of your boy,” she said, adding that she didn’t take the case because “I didn’t like you enough and I knew you’d blame me if I didn’t win”.
Broadchurch series 2 episode 5 ends with Ellie’s breakthrough – the last known location of Lisa’s phone in Portsmouth, and coincidentally (or not) the location of Thorpe Agri Services. Ellie discovered the name of this company scribbled on the back of a vehicle check form bundled in with all the old evidence. So she and Alec set off to investigate, letting themselves into a disused warehouse owned by the agricultural services company – the whole thing feeling very Silent Witness. As well as blood, a terrible smell and chains, they find an animal incinerator. As the ominous music builds, Alec asks, “Still think Lisa’s alive?”
You’ve got to admit it doesn’t look good. But what does it all mean? Where was Ricky for those two lost hours at the wedding, and where was Mark for an hour the night Danny died? And what is it with Claire and her infatuation with Lee?
With so many questions left to answer, can there really only be three episodes left?
What did you think of Broadchurch series 2 episode 5? Are you fed up of the slow pace? Let us know in the comments below!
Read Joanna’s review of Broadchurch series 2 episode 6 here.
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Spoilers for Broadchurch series 2 episode 6 below. Still catching up? Read Joanna’s review of episode 5 here.
It’s hardly surprising Broadchurch was trending on Twitter as the show went out this week. In a sign the series is really ramping up I had to take a peek to see what people were saying, just to make sure I wasn’t alone. Turns out I’m not. No one else knows what’s going on either or what that blasted pendant actually means.
Either which way, things are certainly moving – but the main questions remain. Did Joe do it, and if not why isn’t he shouting and screaming his innocence? He didn’t even deny his guilt to Paul, who refuses to continue visiting him since Joe clearly lacks any sense of remorse. And what is Alec’s connection with the two cases, beyond the obvious?
In the Broadchurch trial, we see Tom and Mark both take the stand. There are emotional scenes as Tom lies under oath to try and protect his father, claiming Mark told him he was guilty of Danny’s death. Jocelyn soon untangles his lies, and Tom retracts his accusation. Mark admits to meeting Tom in secret, explaining that it was an attempt to feel close to Dan and that he’s aware it looks “a bit odd”.
This is all news to Beth, who now realises where Mark was when he went AWOL – but that’s not all of it. Mark tells the court he was with Becca the night Danny was killed, and that in the hour that’s unaccounted for he was parked up in his car writing Beth a note saying their marriage was over because he’d met someone else. Cue (understandable) hysterics from Beth outside court. The defence suggests Mark killed Danny because he saw his father having an affair. It’s also revealed to the court that Mark got to see Joe in custody thanks to the unprofessionalism of the custody sergeant, Mark’s old friend. Sharon asks the judge to dismiss the case because proper judicial procedures were not followed – but thankfully the judge believes Joe can still get a fair trail and the case continues.
Ellie and Alec go back to Sandbrook and revisit the place Pippa was found. They’re both suspicious of Claire, and Alec decides to give her 48 hours to move out. She smashes the house up, then ends up getting nearly strangled by Lee. Predictably, the strangulation turns into sex.
This is all a bit disturbing, but something else isn’t right. Lee tells Claire they had a plan but she “screwed it”. They begin to look for somewhere to live together – but then Lee decides they can’t move with each other. Claire simply responds, “I’m not myself when I’m with you.”
Meanwhile Alec finally has his pacemaker operation, and his wife Tess comes to take him home. Ellie seems a little left out. Are there more to her feelings? Is Alec actually a bit of a player himself? Claire also implies he’s jealous of her and Lee.
In Broadchurch series 2 episode 6, we’re also presented with some new questions. Why does Abby really sleep with Ollie? What evidence does she steal from his house? And in the Sandbrook flashbacks, why does Lisa hate Kate so much when Kate is flirting with Lee?
Then finally we get to the pendant. Tess thanks Alec for covering for her when the pendant was stolen from her car. This is the same pendant that Pippa was wearing – but then we next see it in a picture of Claire in her own portfolio. Ellie’s heart stops. That pendant was found in Lee’s car, hence his arrest. The loss of evidence meant the case collapsed. Now we find out that Claire stole the evidence – that pendant – from Tess’s car. It kind of makes sense. Doesn’t it?
It’s reassuring to know I’m definitely not alone in my confusion. Whether Twitter users are loving or hating Broadchurch, there are a couple of things we agree on – one is Olivia Colman’s incredible acting, especially when she’s getting Tom to come back and live with her, and the other is that that after watching this latest episode we’re more confused than ever.
“Broadchurch has basically removed my brain, tuned it inside out, and put it back in upside down,” said one tweet. I know how they feel. I’m going for a lie down. But I’m really, really looking forward to next week.
What did you think of Broadchurch series 2 episode 6? Let us know in the comments below!
Read Joanna’s review of Broadchurch series 2 episode 7 here.
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Spoilers for Broadchurch series 2 episode 7 below. Still catching up? Read Joanna’s review of episode 6 here.
No need to check Twitter this week to discover the mood of the nation. As the credits rolled at the end of Broadchurch series 2 episode 7 there can’t have been a single viewer who didn’t scream at the television. We’re going to have to watch until the last minute – when everything (we hope) will be revealed.
But no complaints about the set-up. We’ve got all the pieces, they’re just not lined up yet. We’ve got a new ‘suspect’ (/red herring) Gary Thorpe, who took over Thorpe Agri Services after his father died. Gary had been following Lisa and also borrowed some money off Ricky. Then we’ve got the bombshell no one saw coming: Claire had an abortion when Lee was in custody.
As we would expect, both cases are gearing up to a conclusion. The jury in the Broadchurch case have come to a majority conclusion (at 9.59pm) and in Sandbrook we’re now led to believe that Lee really did do something bad – with or without Claire – but between them, they’re probably guilty in some way. Otherwise why else would we see a haunting image of him looking into an incinerator?
The Broadchurch defence attempts to throw suspicion on everyone other than Joe. After her snoop around Ollie’s house, Abby discovers that Ellie gave her sister £1000 on the day Joe was arrested ‘to pay off her gambling debts’. This is seen by the defence as a bribe to get Lucy to claim she saw Joe that night. The defence also insist that Mark killed Danny after Danny allegedly saw his father and Becca together, with Mark then moving the body with the help of Nigel. On top of this, they say, the police investigation was flawed due to Ellie’s violence towards Joe in custody. Either way, they claim there must be reasonable doubt it wasn’t Joe.
The Sandbrook case has been left more open. Gary, the new suspect, went out with Lisa a few times but didn’t go to the wedding the night the girls disappeared. “I fell for Lisa but she didn’t feel the same about me,” he says. “I used to follow her a bit. I’m not proud of it.” The night the girls disappeared he was in hospital. “I tried to kill myself.”
But Ricky is also still looking a bit dodgy, what with the photo of bluebells on his wall, and his work number saved in Claire’s phone.
Thankfully Alec is back on form now he’s had his operation, and has a new lease of life – as does Jocelyn who finally tells Maggie how she feels. Alec tells Lee, “After the operation the first thing I felt was angry – for the Gillespies, for Pippa, for Lisa.” Now he’s determined to get justice. He tells Lee about Claire’s baby, which leads to a violent confrontation between Lee and Claire in the sea and the two of them finally splitting up. “Can you trust me to keep your secrets?” asks Claire. “Can you trust me to keep yours?” replies Lee.
Meanwhile Ellie and Alec think they realise why Lee’s lying. He must have known about Gary and Thorpe Agri Services through Lisa – not Kate as he claimed, because she never worked there. So how close was Lee to Lisa?
Out of options, and spurred on by the vicar, the end of Broadchurch series 2 episode 7 sees Claire head back to court to tackle her demons face on. She hands Alec the stolen pendant – her pendant she says. As he’s screaming in anger, the Broadchurch verdict arrives – a majority decision – and Alec manhandles Claire into court. The key characters are all in that courtroom. It’s 9.59. The jury has reached a decision.
You know the rest. Needless to say, the internet is awash with theories. I’m staying away. It’s been seven weeks coming and I want to enjoy the finale for what it is. Great, gripping television.
What did you think of Broadchurch series 2 episode 7? Let us know in the comments below!
Read Joanna’s review of Broadchurch series 2 episode 8 here.
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Spoilers for Broadchurch series 2 episode 8 below. Still catching up? Read Joanna’s review of episode 7 here.
So, that’s it – Broadchurch series 2 is over and we now have all the answers. The only thing we don’t know is what on earth they’ll do in series three now that all the loose ends from one and two have been tied up.
Broadchurch series 2 episode 8 got off to an explosive start, picking up exactly where last week’s episode had left off. The jury delivered their verdict in the Broadchurch case – not guilty. And no sooner than the family start to take in the news, DI Hardy is arresting Claire in the courtroom for the murder of Lisa Newbury and Pippa Gillespie.
Claire doesn’t give anything away in questioning. It’s only when Alec and Ellie call in Lee things start to get interesting. Once Lee realises Claire has handed over the pendant, he knows she means business. But does she just want to get everything off her chest, or does she really hope it will bring her and Lee back closer together?
Meanwhile Ellie gets the breakthrough – identical receipts for wood flooring two days apart, raising the question of why Lee required a new floor. “What happened to the first lot? What happened to your floor?” It’s the combination of the flooring and the pendant that breaks Lee. “The pendant proves Pippa was in your car that night,” says Alec. “That was the insurance policy. Claire stitched you up. And she never told you about the baby. You might have been in love, but you can’t trust anyone.”
Then it all unravels through a series of flashbacks. We see Lisa and Pippa go next door to Lee’s house the night of the murders, as Lisa’s stalker Gary Thorpe is hanging around outside. Lee beats him up then ends up having sex with Lisa in the lounge while Pippa is asleep in Lee and Claire’s bed. Ricky comes back early from the wedding and catches them at it. He goes mad, Lisa accuses him of being jealous and then he snaps, battering her on the floor and killing her.
Then things happen quickly. Claire arrives home, and Ricky tells her to give Pippa a drink from his hipflask to help her sleep. Ricky threatens to pin the murder on Lee if he thinks of going to the police – which shouldn’t be too difficult with Lee’s DNA evidence all over her body. The two bundle Lisa into the back of a van and Ricky leaves to dispose of her body.
Claire gives Pippa the drink and finds out how much she knows – too much – so Lee smothers her while she is asleep to ensure she doesn’t talk. This bit does jar slightly and seems rather out of character for someone whose only fault up until this point had been infidelity.
When Ricky returns, Claire drives him to the wood and tells him Pippa reacted badly to the contents of the hipflask and died. She tells him she’s buried the hipflask somewhere in the field of bluebells, and should he ever think of blaming them she’ll dig it up and prove otherwise. She’s good is Claire. While in questioning, Ricky confesses and admits he buried Lisa in the graveyard.
Back in Broadchurch the community is reeling from the verdict. When Joe takes to the sanctuary of the church, the vicar hands him over to Nigel and Dan who drag him away, ignoring his screams. We’re made to wait, thinking maybe – just maybe – something really bad is going to happen. But with this being Broadchurch and not Silent Witness, instead of killing or torturing Joe they take him to face Ellie and Beth in the hut where Danny died and then force him to leave town to go and live in a halfway house in Sheffield. “You are dead to us now” says Ellie, “And if you ever try and contact your children, I will kill you, and unlike you I will face the consequences.”
The episode closes with the Millers and the Latimers on the beach hugging and close together again. It’s nice. And pretty emotional.
Oh, but there are still two ends which are a little bit loose. Will Jocelyn and Sharon end up working together on Sharon’s son’s appeal? And where does Alec go next? From that wistful look on his face as he’s about to get into his taxi, I predict he’ll decide to stay put. But who knows. These are just little ends, and surely the stage is being set for a totally new case for series three. Right?
What did you think of Broadchurch series 2 episode 8? Let us know in the comments below!
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I waited all evening for episode 2, but went to bed after 20 minutes, as I couldn’t follow where it was going, and I was becoming confused! Will try to pick up again next Monday