Broadchurch Season 3: Hope to See You Again

BBC America offered the series finale of Broadchurch last night - the end of the third and apparently final season - with customary complexity, emotional turmoil, and sheer brilliance.

The lead characters Hardy (David Tennant) and Miller (Olivia Colman) were good and true to their personas to the very last drop, with Hardy saying no to Miller's offer to have a drink, she ever striving to humanize their relationship and he ever resisting.

The plot this season, as the two search for a rapist of an older woman, once again managed to serve up a plethora of suspects, all plausible and many despicable, each in their own ways.  And the revelation at the end of the whodunnit was nonetheless surprising.

This third season also managed to provide at least a little closure on the crime which started the series off two seasons ago, the death of Danny.  The Latimers are fractured, maybe, almost, beyond repair, and the final scene between Beth (Jodie Whittaker, moving on to Dr. Who, which of course Tennant once played) and Mark (Andrew Buchan) was itself worth the price of admission.

For a variety of reasons, the American version of this drama (Gracepoint), which also starred Tennant, was disappointing, and lasted only a single season.  But the British version, also for a variety of reasons, is memorable as one of the best police dramas ever on any television, and certainly deserves and could support further seasons, in case that counts for anything.

Those reasons include superb acting in all the leading and supporting roles, stories with sharp turns at every juncture, and a realistic view of human nature that is almost Dickensian, except darker and Freudian, too.

I hope to see more of it, someday - and Miller, I'll have a drink with you any time.

See also Broadchurch 2.1: Stronger than Ever

And see also  Broadchurch: Powerful Viewing ... Broadchurch 1.2: Brooding Excellence ... Broadchurch 1.3: The Spy ... Broadchurch 1.4: The Unusual Suspects ... Broadchurch 1.5: Good Loving and Almost Loving ... Broadchurch 1.6: "A Break from Being Sad" ... Broadchurch 1.7: Missing Links ... Broadchurch Season 1 Finale: "Lying Next to the Murderer"

a different kind of murderer