Broadchurch - Recap: Suspicious Minds

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A sizable portion of the episode makes Jack Marshall (David Bradley) out to be the likely murderer -- or, at the very least, a key figure of suspicion in the Latimer case. And for good reason. As the town's news agent, his shop serves as a peculiar sort of hub for the town, a center for the conveyance of information. Jack doesn't really have overt power in the community, but he's certainly integrated himself into the fabric of these peoples' lives, and the ease with which he's done this makes it seem suspicious in retrospect. He's unmarried and is the headmaster of a local, seafaring youth group. And, as we later learn, he's prone to taking photos of his young charges. While the pics themselves may be completely innocent -- little more than documentation of his time as headmaster of the Sea Brigade -- the suspicious nature of the photos, along with Jack's decision to burn them when he comes under police scrutiny, is worthy of attention. Yet that's not even the worst of it. Jack apparently has a conviction for underage sex, and previously lived in a town that places him near the scene of a similar crime years earlier. It's any wonder that the townspeople aren't storming his shop with torches and pitchforks.

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Jack tries to get out in front of the rumors, and approaches the Latimer family during a quaint luncheon hosted by Nige (Joe Sims) to cheer up the family. Ellie (Olivia Colman) and her family are there as well, which is a good thing since Jack shows up in the midst of the get-together to return Danny's missing cell phone, which he claims to have found at the bottom of Danny's paper route bag. He tries to explain that they're all going to hear stuff about him in the next several days, but stresses that none of it is true. Mark (Andrew Buchan) isn't biting, and he looks about ready to strangle Jack on the spot, as he knows about the old man's past as a convicted sex offender from Nige. Of course, Nige is concealing secrets of his own, as we learn that he shares a connection with Susan Wright (Pauline Quirke), who's been living in Broadchurch under an assumed name. Her real name is "Elaine Jones," and she's hiding a lot more than just Danny's skateboard. She confronts Nigel and tries to get him to face the truth, whatever that may be. But Nige refuses, and tells Susan to keep quiet about the secret, which only deepens the shadiness that surrounds them.

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The complexity of the investigation is underscored by the very human pain beneath the surface, as Jack comes across more as a tortured soul than a lecherous villain (although I'm not sure how you explain away an underage sex confession. It's not like he denied being guilty of the crime for which he went to prison). Also, Susan seems plagued by some nagging torment that has tethered her to Nigel, and I feel as though the bitterness over whatever happened in her shared past with him is at least partially to blame for her standoffish nature. Whoever she was in the past, she wants to keep that a secret, and she doesn't mind threatening Broadchurch Echo editor Maggie (Carolyn Pickles) with rape if she doesn't drop her investigation. Susan is definitely one of the show's most unsettling characters, regardless of whatever past issues made her this way (who knows? This just might be the kind of person she is, naturally). However, the complexity of character isn't limited to the suspects in the investigation...

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Hardy (David Tennant) is still having a hard time getting along with Ellie, but a pleasant little dinner at the Miller household helps him to loosen up. We learn that Hardy has a daughter from whom he's apparently estranged, as the girl lives with her mother. He's very tentative about revealing too much about himself, and it seems to be a clear extension of his guarded personality. However, Ellie's husband Joe (Matthew Gravelle) helps lubricate Hardy's gravelly personality by serving him more wine than the Detective Inspector should be drinking, given his medical condition (which presumably has something to do with his heart -- at least, that's my theory). The dinner scene is an interesting window into the character dynamics at play, outside of the context of the workplace and the investigation. It also illustrates Hardy's vulnerability, not only emotionally but physically, as he collapses upon returning to his room at Becca's inn. He's discovered unconscious on the floor of the bathroom by Becca (Simone McAullay), who gets him to a hospital before it's too late. Whatever is wrong with Hardy, his determination means that something has got to give: either his health, or the investigation.

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Naturally, with things progressing as slowly as they are, Beth (Jodie Whittaker) is anxious to get Danny's case the attention it deserves, particularly after Karen (Vicky McClure) coaxes the family into taking their story to the press. Her rationale is that Danny's case is being ignored by police because the victim isn't a little blond-haired, blue-eyed girl. The death of a tween boy just doesn't command the attention of media and law enforcement like it should, so she tells Beth and the Latimer family to get the message out. Of course, this backfires spectacularly, as the press now assumes the Latimer family is open to interacting with them. Their quaint little luncheon at Nige's ends up becoming a media spectacle, prompting Mark to chase the media off the lawn and out into the field (where they're shot with water by a teasing Nigel and Joe).

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Beth, however, is shaken. She is still clinging to the message Psychic Steve (Will Mellor) gave her last week about Danny's advice not to dig deeper into his murder. Beth's depression is also compounded by the knowledge of her husband's affair with Becca Fisher, a bombshell she lays at her husband's feet only moments before they're to participate in a press conference together. It's dynamite stuff, but it also tells us a lot about Beth's character, as her anger gives her something to hold onto beyond depression. At the luncheon, Beth asks Tom (Adam Wilson) for a hug, in a moment as heartfelt as it is sad, with Danny's mother desperately clinging to a shadow of her son. Between this and his participation in the crime reconstruction, the show continues to offer Tom as an eerie mirror of Danny Latimer. Hopefully, he won't meet the same end.

Speaking of Tom, we learn that Reverend Coates (Arthur Darvill) has been running an IT club which had Tom and Danny as members. Apparently, Tom and Danny were two of his most tech-savvy kids, which should raise further suspicions about whatever Tom was concealing on his hard drive. As for Coates, he lacks a solid alibi for the night of Danny's murder, saying he was busy working on a sermon. When questioned about having been out late the night before, he admits to suffering from chronic bouts of insomnia. Coates says he often finds himself at the church late at night. However, Hardy seems to retain a certain suspicion of the vicar, though that says less about the viability of Coates as a suspect and more about Hardy's inherent distrust of the seemingly idyllic town. A healthy level of suspicion seems to be his M.O., especially after last week's burning boat is discovered to contain strands of Danny Latimer's hair. Could Psychic Steve be right about Danny's murder involving a boat after all?

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Whether on mystery or character, Broadchurch keeps a tight focus on the different working components of its story, and it's an approach that makes it hard not to get drawn into this world. As we get exponentially closer to the secrets of the town being unveiled, we get closer to this mystery being solved. With any luck, the answer will be as compelling as the question.