Broadchurch (TV Series) Episode #3.4 (2017) User Reviews

A brilliant episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 20 June 2017]

Trish finally returns to the house from the night of the party. She begins recollecting the events of that night, Cath's fiftieth. Trish visits the scene of the attack, and painfully remembers the events, including a light that shone on her from a distance. Katie digs up a local sex offender recently released, Aaron, who's alibi for the night of the attack is vague. Trish's boss Ed seems to have joined the list of interested parties. Meanwhile Mark has tracked the whereabouts of Joe Miller. Another twist for Alec and Ellie sees another, earlier victim come forward.

Possibly the most Powerful episode so far, Trish's painful recounting of her attack was chillingly brought to life by Julie Hesmondhalgh, she really has been incredible throughout​. Finally a lighter moment, Alec's blind date added a slightly needed softer scene. It's good to see series one revisited, will Joe Miller return?

Half way through and instead of beginning to tie anything up, they add yet more suspects with loose alibis.

Really enjoyed this one, excellent, 9/10

Some Chickens Come Home to Roost

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 17 January 2018]

This episode sets up a few more possible suspects and answers to a couple questions. We get to know who sent the threatening note. The flowers are still a mystery. The young policewoman (who has secrets of her own) is confronted outside her surveillance area and threatened in sexual terms. It is finally found out who Trish had sex with the morning she was raped. And there is a kicker at the end of the episode. Meanwhile, Mark makes nice with his wife, but he has received a document from a private investigator. He has information on Miller and his actions are going to be interesting. He goes to the Vicar. There's more than this. What needs saying is that we are still loaded up with suspects and some possible red herrings. Can't wait for Episode 5.

Great performances and a handful of answers push Broadchurch past the midway point on good form

[ryanjmorris · 8/10 · 20 March 2017]

Narrative momentum are two words that rarely come surrounded in positive connotations when it comes to whodunnit crime dramas. More often than not, they all follow the same structure: episode one will deal with a crime; episode two will introduce suspects; everything between that point and the penultimate episode is used solely for red herrings, false alarms and character growth; finally, everything comes out in the finale. It's a tried and tested formula, we know it works. Yet, even in the most successful examples, it creates the kind of narrative that always risks turning stale at any moment.

It's pretty exciting, then, to see that Broadchurch is willing to wrap up a few of its most notable dangling threads so soon. After two episodes of suspect interviewing and blame passing, we're getting answers. The man that Trish slept with on the morning of her assault was her best friend's husband, Jim Atwood. The person who sent the abusive texts to Trish days after her assault was her estranged husband Ian's new girlfriend. Granted, this takes us no closer to discovering who Trish's rapist is, but it allows for a renewed focus heading into the back half of the series.

It's probably possible to massively over analyse this, and read so far into who has been revealed as what so far that we can start to rule people out. Would so much focus be put on Jim so early on if he is eventually to be revealed as the rapist? Is the ex-husband archetype all too obvious? Push these aside though, and we find more questions still unanswered. Who sent Trish the flowers and mysterious note? Why is salesman Leo Humphries so blunt and aggressive? There's a lot still to learn.

All that in mind, Broadchurch is balancing itself nicely at this point in time. Answers and questions are dropping in equal measure, creating a simultaneous sense of both mystery and resolve. It's easy for detective dramas to stall for so long that the detectives themselves can't help but feel lacklustre - Broadchurch isn't slipping into that pitfall. Alec Hardy and Ellie Miller are still great at their job, and Tennant and Colman are still great in their performances - the way Tennant played that wonderfully awkward date sequence was a delight, as was the disgust on Colman's face during the interview with Aaron Mayford.

Even with this sense of narrative momentum, though, Broadchurch's third series still feels as if its unsure of itself. The general supporting cast remain frustratingly under written, bar one or two exceptions - Lindsay Lucas may be the most heartbreaking secondary character the show has written this series. The story feels full swing now, but Broadchurch as a show still seems to be holding back. It makes for a more satisfying fourth episode, but the cracks in the series three's foundations aren't getting any closer to sealing up. If they don't, we could be in for a solid ride to the finish line but a pretty shoddy celebration.

Grade: B+

www.morrismovies.co.uk

What An Ending!

[Littleman95 · 10/10 · 25 December 2020]

Great episode that starts moving things and stick together some puzzle pieces. And the end. Oh the end! Can't wait to watch the next one!

Umissable telly

[studioAT · 6/10 · 16 June 2017]

Another solid episode of 'Broadchurch' - not that I really bought into the argument that it had gone downhill in series 2 in the first place.

The great thing about this show, both in this series and across the trilogy is that it features lots of turns by actors who know, but yet aren't over exposed.

Lenny Henry for example is marvellous here, a million miles away from the comedy joker we came to know him as previously.

Everyone comes together to add to the rich tapestry of intrigue surrounding the case that seemingly has a hundred suspects.

Keep watching. The nation certainly is.