Grantchester (TV Series) Episode #5.5 (2020) User Reviews

A powerful episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 7 February 2020]

Vic is the local celebrity as he hosts a boxing match between two of his lads, but the two leads end up fighting for their lives after an apparent joint suicide attempt.

I criticised the show last week for being a little mundane, a bit bland, that definitely wasn't the case here, this was very tough viewing, because it dealt with some harrowing themes, but this was excellent, despite the tragedy of it all.

There was one bit of fun, Leonard watching the boxing as a pacifist finding the animal within.

Super acting, possibly the best episode for Will, we didn't get much of the personal lives this week, it was story focussed.

Excellent. 9/10

Back on Track

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 20 July 2020]

When two young men are found near death in a boxing ring, things get dicey. The trainer, Vic, whom we've met before, is trusted and loved by everyone, including Will. Unfortunately, there are goings on that suddenly creep into the picture, causing Will to have a loss of faith. There is also an interesting confrontation between the house keeper and her husband (whom we realize isn't exactly perfect in a previous episode). This is a very good episode.

Leonard is wonderful!

[conmck-2 · 10/10 · 11 March 2022]

Throughout the seasons I have really enjoyed Leonard. Al Weaver who plays Leonard is an absolute delight in bringing his character to life. I love all the characters but Leonard is my favorite.

Best episode of the entire series so far

[fiona_r_lamb · 10/10 · 17 July 2020]

I got a bit fed up with the last few episodes but this one gave a serious punch to the stomach - pun intended. I, too, was totally taken in by Vic, just like Will was. And I got so angry at the end. Reminded me how white men of a certain age do tend to get away with murder. Sickening. Anyway, I think it was handled very well by the writers and producers. Well done!

Episode 5.5

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 14 March 2020]

This series has seen Will helping out in the boxing club and having a good rapport with Vic Morgan. He is the trainer who runs the boxing club that helps out many of the teenage tearaways like Mathew Butler.

After a local boxing match, two of them including Mathew are found lying unconscious. It looks like an attempted double suicide.

Geordie and Will find out that through newspapers ads, they were befriending older men for money.

However Will gets an uneasy feeling that these young men were being groomed at the boxing club.

An uncomfortable episode with a swerve regarding the series arc. More appropriate to the era, Vic acts like someone who is convinced the jury will never believe he could do such acts.

The lighter moments came with Leonard who attempted to reconcile Mrs Chapman with her husband.

A surprise

[Pegasus-10 · 4/10 · 7 August 2020]

That the child abuser was not the clergyman for a change.

Why?

[Apd227 · 3/10 · 26 July 2022]

Jack pillaged money and jewels from desperate Indians trying to escape British tyranny. If he had did it from the Jews they wouldn't have been so easy on him in this show. Hut somehow it's excused in this show. He should give it all back. Indians are not as indispensable as the Brits writing the show think. Brits stole so much. It's time it was acknowledged and not justified.

Soap Opera, Anyone?

[Warin_West-El · 2/10 · 15 June 2023]

Over the course of several seasons, Grantchester has morphed from an interesting mystery series into a full-blown soap opera.

There seems to be a consistent subtext running through pretty much all of these episodes: Evil is caused by Secrets. Despite all of the machinations during this episode, the child abuse is finally halted when Marie Morgan steps forward and testifies against her husband.

She tells Will she's been married for nineteen years. Which is really a confession of how long she stood by and allowed her husband to get away with child abuse. In reality, Marie was just was guilty as Vic. It was her preservation of the secret which allowed the evil to continue.

The scene where Will smashes the mirror was gratuitous violence. That scene felt staged and entirely disingenuous. It's doubtful a real vicar would act in that manner.

Starting with Season Four, I fast-forwarded through the sermons at the end of the episodes. In previous seasons, the sermons were on point with the mysteries that were solved. But now they're just preachy soap opera hogwash.