Broadchurch 2.1: Stronger than Ever

Broadchurch was back tonight with its second season on BBC America, which seems not long at all after the first, but that's because the American remake Gracepoint, with David Tennant also in the lead, was actually on just this past December.  And seeing Broadchurch again tonight made me realize, among other things, how much better Broadchurch was and is than Gracepoint, which is saying a lot, because Gracepoint definitely had its moments.

The two series had virtually the same narrative until the end, with the killer in Broadchurch being DS Ellie Miller's husband, and in Gracepoint Ellie's son.   I didn't think Broadchurch had the more meaningful and original ending at the time, but I've changed my mind.  The cop's spouse as killer is something I don't recall seeing before and it's really stayed with me - and the second season picks right up on this, with a stunner of its own:  Joe Miller is pleading not guilty to the crime he confessed to.

This sets up what will no doubt be a powerful part of this second season, the battle in the courtroom and among lawyers over Joe and his plea.  Charlotte Rampling on hand - or brought in - to play the Crown Prosecutor is a great addition, promising some compelling drama in the trial and its attendant machinations.

But that's just part of this second season, which also brings us back to DI Hardy's previous case, the shadow of which loomed large over his investigation into the death of Danny.   It looks as if we'll get to see much more about this case now - including Hardy clean shaven in a flash back - which is welcome indeed, as this looks to be a riveting story, too.

And, we learn that there's apparently more to the story of Danny's death than we saw last season, as well. Although it's not likely that Joe confessed to save someone else - though you never really know for sure, in this age of cinematic unreliable flashbacks - there's more of this story here to be told, with parts by who knows what familiar and unfamiliar characters in this cursed town, which should make for a harrowingly winning season.

Broadchurch has a brooding, almost symphonic pace in a discordant key, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

See also Gracepoint Debuts: Deja Vu with a Vengeance ... Gracepoint Finale: Satisfying and More Realistic in the End

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

The Missing Season 1: Worth Finding

Checking in with a review of The Missing, which I saw over a couple of nights on Starz On Demand earlier this week.   It's much in the new tradition of The Killing, Secrets and Lies,  Broadchurch, and its American remake Gracepoint - which is to say, excellent in its portrayal of the impact of the crime on the victim's family and people in the town, a place with no shortage of plausible suspects - and in some ways The Missing is even better.

The special power of The Missing in contrast to those other crime shows no doubt stems from the fact that the crime at hand is a kidnapping not a murder - or, a missing boy who we learn pretty early on survived his being taken - which makes the parents much more active in pursuit of their child and hence the kidnapper than the parents of the murder victim in the other series.  Indeed, whereas the police are the central characters in the other series, the father - Tony Hughes - takes that role in The Missing, and is given a riveting performance by James Nesbitt.   Tony is most assisted by Julien Baptiste - a retired French detective brought back to the case after he retired from it and the police when the initial investigation in 2006 turned up nothing, and now believes there's a chance of finding the missing boy, Ollie.  Julien is a class act and a memorable detective - wonderfully played by Tchéky Karyo - who more than anyone other than Tony (including Tony's wife Emily, well played by Francis O'Connor last seen as Mr. Selfridge's wife) believes Ollie may be still alive and can be found. But even he comes to believe that Ollie was killed, which leaves Tony alone in his belief, pursuing his son in the face of all reason, except he turns out to be right.

The press are portrayed as villains in just about all of the other series - not the killers or kidnappers, but getting in the way of the police at every turn - and in The Missing, the free lance reporter, looking for a lift in his career, is almost as despicable as the kidnapper.   But he's fortunately as vulnerable to blackmail as the people he's been threatening and manipulating for information, and near the end provides some crucial clues.

I guessed who the kidnapper was - a combination of being around and not being brought in for any questioning always raises my suspicions - but the ultimate question is not who was responsible for Ollie's kidnapping, but will Tony, now totally alone again in his pursuit of his son, ever find him. The ending is ambiguous, but, I think, hopeful.  If I'm interpreting what's on the screen correctly, Tony has tracked Ollie down to the Eastern European place where he now lives.   We know that the boy is Ollie, because he has drawn the same picture that Ollie drew before he was kidnapped.   When Tony shows the boy, now almost a teenager, the picture, the boy doesn't respond.   But I think the most likely explanation is that Ollie needs some time to process this.   Or, even if this boy is not Ollie, someone drew the picture in the snow, so Tony can't be too far off.  Why he and we are deprived of seeing him reunited with his boy is a good question.  Probably the creators of the show thought an outright happy ending would be too easy or trite.

But in any case, even without an unambiguously happy ending, The Missing concludes its first season on a more positive note than the other series, and that's a plus in my book.  It's coming back for a second season - with a new case - and I'll definitely be watching.



different kinds of crimes

Secrets and Lies: Excellent Australian Whodunnit

Hey, I want to recommend to you Secrets and Lies, an Australian TV mini-series which I just saw on Netflix.   The story is very much in the Broadchurch/Gracepoint new tradition - a boy is found murdered, and there's no shortage of suspects, including and especially family members and people who live on the same block.  But Secrets and Lies, maybe because of the evocative Australian countryside, but also because of its pacing, has a winning style all its own.

The acting is excellent.  But what especially caught my attention was Anthony Hayes as the lead investigator Ian Cornielle.   He has a quiet power that you don't usually see in cops on any continent - or, at least, how they are portrayed on television - that's almost reminiscent of Mickey Rourke.

The ending was genuinely surprising, if a little rushed, but it certainly made sense in retrospect.   One problem with these Broadchurch kinds of stories is that you soon realize that every new suspect, regardless of how suspicious and convincing, is just a straw man or woman to occupy our attention until the end of that episode.  I'm not sure what can be done about this narrative predictability, because it's so fundamental to the story.   But Secrets and Lies worked quite well anyway.

In fact, so well, that ABC here in America was impressed enough to commission an American version of this same story, from a brand new script.  I'll probably watch it, but it likely won't be quite as good as the Australian original, just as Gracepoint, though it had its moments, generally fell a little short of Broadchurch.  The problem is that however much the remake may change some of the details, we already know the story.   It may well be that the whole notion of remakes needs to be re-examined in this age in which we can easily see TV series from overseas on cable, Netflix, and Amazon.

So my advice is see Secret and Lies as soon as you can, and then decide about its American remake.

Gracepoint Finale: Satisfying and More Realistic in the End

Well, I was having my doubts about Gracepoint - the American remake of the excellent British Broadchurch - all season, because there frankly were not enough differences between the two series to make the American Gracepoint worth watching.   I mean, well acted, for sure - David Tennant as the lead detective (now named Carver) was strong and sensitive, as he was as Hardy in Broadchurch, and Breaking Bad's Anna Gun was top-notch as his second in command Ellie Miller - but other than Carver not actually sleeping with the blonde inn keeper (a change for the worse), I can't recall any significant differences between the two series.

Until tonight's ending - which I've got to say, was better than the ending of Broadchurch.  Joe Miller as the killer was a stretch in Broadchurch, a wild enough twist, except that it was mostly unmotivated.   The same would have been true in Gracepoint, where we saw even less of Joe through the story than we did of Joe in Broadchurch - so Gracepoint went ahead and pulled out another rabbit from the narrative hat, and one which makes more sense.

Tom, furious at what he saw going on between his father and Danny, swings at his father with a hockey stick and hits Danny.   And then, to protect his son - and feeling guilty because it was his, Joe's, lust for Danny that put of all this in motion - Joe takes the rap for Danny when he can't keep this all to himself any longer.  That makes more sense.

And it also opens the story up to what happens after, as Carver, the brilliant detective, begins to realize what actually happened, and moves to confront Ellie about it.   And that's where Gracepoint ends - at least, for now.  A good place to end, I think, with Carver's brooding face on the screen.

So, I would say that Gracepoint was worth watching, if only for this new, more satisfying and realistic ending, which was effective indeed.  Broadchurch is returning with a second season, which I'll definitely watch.  Hey, I'd be up for a second season of Gracepoint at this point, too.

See also Gracepoint Debuts: Deja Vu with a Vengeance

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 police fiction

Gracepoint Debuts: Deja Vu with a Vengeance

Gracepoint debuted on Fox this past Thursday - the 10-part remake of the 8-part British series Broadchurch, which was on BBC America last year, and, word has it, was originally supposed to have 10 episodes, too.   Word also has it that the ending has been changed for Gracepoint - meaning, the killer in Broadchurch will not be the killer in Gracepoint - but otherwise the story will be the same.

And it's a powerful, heart-wrenching story indeed, in which there are as many or more prime suspects in the killing of Danny as his age - 11.   Further, these suspects come from everywhere, including Danny's family and the family of one of the two main investigating officers.

In a remarkable move, David Tennant plays the lead investigator in Gracepoint as well as Broadchurch, though with different names.  Anna Gunn of Breaking Bad fame plays his second in command, with the same name, though with a ranking of Detective rather than DS, which was Ellie Miller's rank in Broadchurch for the character memorably played by Olivia Colman.

There's been lots of head-scratching and even complaint about why a series recently shown in America should be re-made with the same lead actor no less.   But I've got to say:  after feeling the same way, I'm now glad that the series has been remade.   Why?   Because the story is so compelling, complex in plot yet fundamentally raw in emotion, that I'm happy to see it again.

I reviewed Broadchurch here last year.  You're welcome to read those reviews, though they will no doubt contain spoilers, if not about the ending then about how our story and characters get there. And to make matters even more interesting on the meta level, there will be a second season of Broadchurch over in the UK.

It's enough to make your head spin - deja vu with a vengeance - but you know what? - I think it's good for television to do crazy things like this.

#SFWApro



A different kind of police fiction