Gracepoint - Episode 9 - Review

My review of last week's episode.

It's been a pretty good year for small-screen Brits in the U.S. of A. Not only has David Tennant hopped the Atlantic and gained an accent, but so has Martin Freeman. In other quarters, Ioan Gruffudd and Jonny Lee Miller investigate crime in the big city.

For Gracepoint, the things lost in the passage are subtlety, originality, and faith. It doesn't help that comparison to the much superior Broadchurch is almost impossible not to make when Gracepoint has steadfastly refused to break out a new plot. Rather than a poignant reconciliation under the direction of Paul Coates, we get a pedestrian love-triangle which climaxes in an argument between Beth and Mark (followed by...revelation? reconciliation? what?). At least we can hope that that subplot has finally been played out, because, like Beth, none of us care about Paul.

Among other revelations: due to annoying journalists, we finally know the truth about both Carver and Susan Wright. Susan manages to gain just a bit of sympathy when we find out that she was married to a rapist-murderer. Her vindictiveness and reticence are now aptly explained. Who doesn't get sympathy? Her son, Vince. He really does seem to have a lot of his father in him. Enough to become a killer himself? His mother says so, swears to it, in fact.


This unlikely story-line results in Ellie, once more, asking Susan "How could you not know?" All of this furthers the theme - in a world where you can't trust anyone, is it worth it investing in a relationship?

Carver's backstory would seem to say no. It's another case of betrayal, when his wife, in the midst of an affair, not only ruined their marriage but his career and, presumably, his health. Like the cliched noble sufferer that he is, he took the blame when Mrs. Carver bungled the Rosemont case. It's the most we've seen of his personal life thus far, and appropriately handled.

Tom Miller still Knows Something, and when Paul Coates decides to hand in Tom's battered laptop, he threatens to tell Carver that Coates hit Danny on the camping trip. Spider bite indeed.

We're left with Vince in prison (more evidence from Ellie's sister is even more damning), Susan Wright skipping town, Emmett Carver with one day left and a grand total of one lead (said laptop), Ellie starting to gripe at her husband, Mark sulking, and Beth trying to keep her head when no one else will.

But the real question? Who did Susan see on the beach? My money is currently on Dean Iverson, the perfect boyfriend who certainly would've known how to access Mark's van, and whose hair is short enough to make him look like Vince from a distance. Additionally, he had more contact with Danny in this show than he did in Broadchurch. 

So there. This is my guess. We'll see.

My review of the finale

Want something good to watch? Check out my full list of good detective shows.

Hannah Long