Broadchurch 2: A Blog Review

At the moment it’s too early to predict the impact that the second series of Broadchurch will have but if last night’s debut episode of series 2 was anything to go by, we’re in for another eight weeks of good solid drama with likable characters and interesting plots. And maybe it wasn’t perfect - did we really need all that secrecy? - but at the moment, it’s delivering all that it should be delivering.

 

The main focus on series 2 doesn’t seem to be on a mystery - although we’re promised something like that with DI Alec Hardy’s previous case - but on the trial after Joe Miller’s shock decision to plead ‘Not Guilty’. Something I really didn’t see coming but now seems so obvious that that’s where the story was headed. The courtroom drama - while a little cliched at one point with the victim’s father Mark Latimer shouting at the accused and told to sit down, as seems to happen on every tv drama courtroom across the country - reached an exciting and intense climax as various people reacted to the surprise revelation of Joe’s plea. Ellie, the Latimers, the press, Alec. No one was left out.

 

 

And so with the news that there would indeed be a trial comes a whole host of new characters. The most promising one by far is the introduction of formerly retired prosecution lawyer Jocelyn Knight played wonderfully by Charlotte Rampling. She spends most of her debut adamant that she’d seen through her last case and won’t help the Latimers out, displaying a stubbornness that was frustrating at times, and yet Rampling made us feel a certain amount of pity by injecting some humanity into her character. Clearly there’s more to her story that is yet to be revealed. My theory right now is that she lost her case in a humiliating undignified fashion, putting her off the world of law until now. But I hope that if my theory is right, then there’s more to the story than that. Although of course, I’m happy to be proved wrong.

 

 

On the opposite side of the courtroom, defence lawyer Sharon Bishop comes down from London to take on the case of Joe Miller, and while the viewers can’t really be on her side (over that small matter of defending a child murderer), Marianne-Jean Baptiste brings to her character a certain amount of compassion amidst her cool professional attitude. A further twist when it is revealed that Jocelyn was her former boss, something that suspends my disbelief a little bit but I’ll let it slide. After all, a case of such prominence is bound to attract the top lawyers. I’m looking forward to what secrets Sharon could be hiding as well. There’s definitely tension between her and Jocelyn that comes down to more than rivals on the opposite side of a courtroom.

 

And then we have the other storyline - I can’t work out whether this is serving as another main story or a side story at the moment - of what happened during the Sandbrook case. I must say that I’m disappointed with Eve Myles’s character Claire Ripley. She bugs the hell out of me and I’m not sure why. Maybe she’s the one behind the girl’s disappearances and her husband wants revenge. I wouldn’t be too upset at this plot twist if it gets the character off my screen. Because the fact that I dislike this character is stopping me enjoying what is otherwise a pretty gripping mystery.

 

 

The strength of Broadchurch though lies not in the plots but in its characters (save one), the proof being that I could remember every single character and how they fitted into the original story two years later (and I usually can’t remember what I had for dinner last night!). Ellie in particular though was the most memorable character last night as she tried to cope with her husband being a child murderer the last couple of months (or so. Unless I missed it, the time passed since the first series in the Broadchurch universe wasn’t made clear). Plus Olivia Colman and David Tennant have a great rapport. One of the highlights of the episode was their characters arguing in the ladies bathroom. I have a feeling the best scenes will be them talking or bantering or arguing.

 

 

Arthur Darvill’s Reverend Coates also continues to be a likable character as he provided support to all who needed it, included Joe which impressed me the most. He’s always seemed a little out of place in the story though so I hope with a budding romance that he’ll come to the forefront a bit more this series. The Latimers are also worth mentioning as they deal with the impact Danny’s death had on them. I’m interested mostly in what appears to be a weird friendship between Mark Latimer and Tom Miller. I can’t have been the only one to get a creepy vibe from their scenes surely?

 

So to conclude, the debut episode of Broadchurch 2 surprised me in a good way! I was fully expecting to write a blog post slating how rubbish the writing and series had become (and in a way, I was looking forward to writing a negative blog post because they’re the most fun to write!) but that isn’t necessary because the writing, the acting, and the series as a whole continues to be a delight to watch. It may not be perfect - the original story wasn’t either in my opinion - but it looks like the second series is getting people talking already as much as the first one has, and that’s what we ultimately want from a TV drama. I look forward to seeing what will happen in the coming weeks, and anticipate the twists and turns that this series will no doubt bring.