Episode 5 

Before we get into it, I want to talk about something that intrigues me: the weather on this show. Why is it always so gorgeous and sunny in Broadchurch? I have been to coastal England, and it was gray and cold almost every day. And yet despite the terrible child murder and secrets and lies plaguing this town, it’s always so gorgeous. I would totally move there.

Enough about that. Onto the opening scene, where Ellie meets up with her son Tom for the first time this season. She wants them to reunite and live together again, but he wants nothing to do with that. In fact, he’s asking who is defending his dad Joe, because he says he thinks he’s innocent. (Don’t forget my theory from last week that Joe could be covering something up for his son! I still don’t like or trust Tom all that much.)

Last week, we left off with crazy trailer-lady Susan telling everyone in court that it was actually her son Nigel, Mark Latimer’s toothy plumber partner, who brought Danny’s body from a boat to the beach, and NOT Joe Miller. Back at the courthouse, Ellie confronts Susan, asking why she’s lying about seeing Nigel there. But is she lying?

Okay. Let’s talk Susan Wright for a minute. Who is she, and WHAT does she have to do with all of this? I can’t figure out what she’s all about. Why is she now trying to blame Danny’s death on Nigel? Why did she take Danny’s skateboard and hide it? Why did they find four of her cigarettes by Danny’s body the day after he dies? Why did she threaten to sic some men to rape the old newspaper editor?

After Ellie asks why she’s lying, Susan tells her, “We all know. We all turn a blind eye.” Poor Ellie. In the car after the incident, she tells Hardy that she knows everyone will always think she knew about her husband all along. I have zero reason to suspect she did know anything, because she is simply the best. I feel for her character.

The two of them go to visit Claire to shake her up for some answers, and Hardy demands the truth from her once and for all. Claire admits to both of them that she thinks she was roofied by Lee the night of the murders, and woke up to Lee cleaning the house from top to bottom. Strike one million against Lee Ashworth for the Sandbrook murder!

BUT WAIT. Creepy Priest Paul still wants Beth Latimer to start a charity in her son’s name that supports sex offenders. Why? I mean, my best guess is that he’s a reformed sex offender himself. Right?  And then all of a sudden, he refuses to be a character witness for Joe Miller, even though he’s been his “friend,” visiting him in jail regularly. So why won’t he testify? He also doesn’t want the Latimers to know that he’s been visiting Joe in jail. He confesses all of this to Becca, the Aussie innkeeper floozie that he’s sleeping with. (I only call her a floozie because she also slept with Mark Latimer, and I am Team Beth all the way. Otherwise, I kind of like Becca.) 

On that note: Are priests allowed to sleep with women?

We then have another scene where we are shown, yet again, that prosecuting barrister Jocelyn is going blind. We get it. Enough foreshadowing. Something is going to get screwed up royally because Jocelyn couldn’t read an important doc, and was too proud to ask for help or wear some reading glasses. Ugh.

Next up, Ellie and Hardy head to his trailer by the sea, where they bump into Ricky Gillespie, the dad of the dead Sandbrook girl. (Whom we can also consider a suspect, because he’s an apparent horndog who who not only slept with Claire, but may also have had the hots for his own niece.) He’s looking for Lee Ashworth.

FLASHBACK! Lee Ashworth, playing hide and seek with the missing girls in the woods. Then dad Ricky Gillespie also shows up to play with them. So wait, which of them is guilty? Both?

Back at Hardy’s cute riverside trailer, Miller starts getting as obsessed with Sandbrook as Hardy is. Hardy tells her to let it go, that this isn’t good for anyone. Miller looks at him, admitting that she has nothing else to do or live for, and says, “I’m going to solve it.”  YES. Go Miller.

So what does Miller suggest, after looking at all the bodies, alibis, etc. on a map? Something entirely different! She suggests that the older Sandbrook babysitter girl, Lisa, whose body still hasn’t ben found, killed Pippa by accident, got rid of the body, then fled the country.

(Sidenote: Holy crap, in the following scene it’s actually raining in Broadchurch. That feels like a first.)

Next we see Lee Ashworth, standing in his field, calling Hardy and asking if he told Ricky Gillespie where he was staying—because apparently he’s fast approaching Lee, looking to beat him up. Hardy rushes to the scene, and pulls Ricky off of Lee, who is pummeling him like crazy.

Okay. Hold up. Lest we forget, Lee is buff as hell. Last weekend we saw him in a tank top, whacking fence poles with a sledgehammer. Yet he can’t defend himself from a pudgy, middle-aged guy like Ricky? Yeah, right. This scene smells fishy. Were the two of them actually in cahoots? Did they kill the girls together?

Blind barrister Jocelyn then confronts Mark Latimer about going on the stand. She doesn’t want  him to, because there’s an hour missing from his alibi. I forgot about that. Where WAS Mark for that missing hour? Who knows. He sure is loving on his newborn daughter, which is kind of nice to see.

Back in the court, there’s a tense argument between Jocelyn and defense lawyer Sharon. We discover they used to work together, and Sharon asks why Jocelyn never defended her son (who is in jail, remember). Jocelyn shouts, “Because I didn’t like you enough!” Burn! We end the show here, but we’re obviously getting closer to figuring out what happened at Sandbrook. Ellie will surely solve things. If only her petulant son Tom would move back in with her, things might even start looking up for her.

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