Broadchurch - Season Finale - Recap: How Could You Not Know?

Credit: ITV/BBC America

In a devastating reveal that's all the more brutal for how perfunctorily it's exposed, we learn that Ellie's husband Joe (Matthew Gravelle) is the person who killed Danny. Yet while one might have been able to guess that Joe could have committed the act, I'm not sure many people would have pinpointed the context surrounding the murder. The natural speculation would be that Joe did it to protect Tom (Adam Wilson) in some way, as the season has been building a foreboding aura around the boy's possible involvement in Danny's murder. But it turns out that Joe's association with Danny existed independent from his son. In one of the more profoundly shocking developments I've seen on TV all year, we learn that Joe is a repressed pedophile who was in love with Danny. Apparently, Tom and Danny had a falling out when Danny found himself a new, older friend. Little did anyone know that the friend in question was Joe; and while the relationship never escalated to the physical level, it's clear from the flashbacks we see that it was an urge with which Joe frequently found himself wrestling. Even though we know what's about to happen to Danny in those flashbacks, the scene remains profoundly uncomfortable, as well it should have felt. The viewer is almost encouraged to hope against hope that an act set in stone will somehow be reversed, that maybe Danny will make it out alive, that Joe won't accidentally strangle Danny to death after the boy threatens to expose the inappropriate nature of their connection. It's akin to watching The Lion King over and over on VHS as a kid, and hoping that this might be the one time where Mufasa doesn't die.

Credit: ITV/BBC America

Credit: ITV/BBC America

It's remarkable that the finale managed to convey such a devastating reality, only to then marginalize that revelation, to cast it to the sidelines in favor of what has always been the real meat of the story: the effect of Danny Latimer's killing on the Dorset town of Broadchurch. As always, the killer's identity wasn't really the point beyond what that revelation would mean to the people of Broadchurch, what it would mean to their preconceived notions. As we quickly see, everyone completely falls apart once Hardy (David Tennant) is able to track the contact on Danny's phone back to Joe, thus revealing the true culprit. The Latimers are justifiably sickened, particularly Mark (Andrew Buchan), and while Joe seems to genuinely regret what happened, it's cold comfort. The circumstances of the tragedy didn't need to be inexorable, nor did the outcome need to be inevitable, but Joe's sickness and poor decision-making made them so. It's gut-wrenching, and it gets even more painful once Beth (Jodie Whittaker) tosses Ellie's own foreboding question from last week right back in her face...

"How could you not know?"

Credit: ITV/BBC America

It's a condemnation that rings throughout the finale like mission bells, and it's that guilt, that heaviness that informs Olivia Colman's remarkable performance. From the moment Hardy breaks the news to Ellie that her husband has confessed to Danny's murder, to the moment she breaks the news to Tom, it's a virtual master's class of acting from Colman. In a world where awards are often bestowed not upon the person who does the best acting but to the person who does the most acting, Colman manages to find moments of quiet restraint amidst the devastation of having her entire life upended. It's not simply that she's devastated, not simply that she's wracked by depression, but also that she's angry. She's angry that Joe could take the life of a child the same age as their own son, she's furious that he could hide this from her, that he could be afflicted with such sickness in the first place. When she attacks Joe in the interrogation room, it's the most cathartic moment in an episode that is as much about release as it is about the burden of guilt. And Ellie has plenty of guilt to keep her weighted down for years to come, as she silently shares some measure of responsibility for what Joe did, for her failure to recognize her husband's proclivities, and his ill deeds.

Credit: BBC America/ITV

The season started out with Hardy attempting to get Ellie to look at her hometown, and its people, from the position of an impartial observer. Her attachment to Broadchurch was a handicap on her abilities of perception, and although those abilities refined as the series went on, they were never honed to the point where she could ever seriously consider someone she knew well as a suspect. And, really, why would she suspect her own husband? Why would anybody? Joe Miller was the very appearance of fatherhood and fidelity. It's chilling to speculate on how someone who appeared to be a good man could fall so far, every bit as it is chilling to dwell on the unanswered questions of the series, such as the nature of Danny's alleged argument with the postman on the week of his death, or Tom's texts from a number listed as "Mum" at 3am. We don't always get all the answers, and the show pretty much accomplishes the impossible by providing a satisfying conclusion to an overarching, serialized mystery, especially when so many mysteries these days boil down to "The Most Famous Guy Did It."

Credit: BBC America/ITV

Credit: ITV/BBC America

Jodie Whittaker and David Tennant also deserve to be lauded for their work here, more so than usual. Hardy never seemed to care about who killed Danny Latimer beyond what it would mean to his reputation. Broadchurch was his chance to redeem his name after the messy business in Sanbrooke, yet as the investigation rolled on, he seemed to genuinely grow to care about Ellie. He couldn't protect her from the truth about Joe like he could his daughter from the truth about her mother, and if there's a failing in Hardy's success, it's that it had to come to this. I'm sure he would have preferred for it to have been Susan Wright (Pauline Quirke) or Nige (Joe Sims), but he's damned by his abilities as a detective, condemned to follow where the evidence leads, no matter how devastating the endpoint. It's a tremendous, nuanced performance that should go a long way in showing the world just how versatile an actor Tennant is, and has always been. Meanwhile, Whittaker brings her performance as Beth Latimer full circle. From happening upon the crime scene at the beach, to seeing beacons lit all across the shore in honor of Danny, Beth has been the character with, arguably, the most difficult role to play. Whittaker needed to find a way to keep Beth's grief compelling, even as it remained unchanging, save for brief moments of levity. Yet she managed to find balance, and it's some of the best work on TV this year. I genuinely hope the Emmys don't forget these performances come this time next year, as I can't think of many scenes more affecting than Beth seeing the beacons lit and realizing that her boy wasn't just hers. He belonged, like all of Broadchurch, to a community. A community that mourns his loss together.

Credit: ITV/BBC America

The show is apparently coming back for a second season, though damned if I could tell you how. The central conceit of Broadchurch is that crimes like this don't happen here, which is why the murder of Danny Latimer was such a conspicuous, show-worthy occurrence. So I'll be interested to see if creator Chris Chibnall can find a way to bring the show back in a way that doesn't feel contrived. However, even if the reason relies on a similar crime occurring all over again, I'll have a hard time finding fault with it since 1) crime is a reality in society and it would be silly to pretend it hasn't always been and won't always be, and 2) this means Broadchurch doesn't end here. The show will return. If there's a cause for celebration amid all this bleakness, it's in that fact.