Homicide, especially that of a child, is a gut wrenching affair. This is the premise behind the story of Gracepoint. The story opens with a montage of the town of Gracepoint. A small maritime community with a charming façade that is full of cracks.
We meet Danny briefly as he stands on a cliff above the seaside, blood dripping from his finger tips and sadness on his face. We are then rushed to the waking scenes of the town. Gracepoint springs to life. The movement of the Solano family as it intertwines with their neighbors, co-workers and friends paints an intimate picture that shows just enough undertones of contention to make the viewer go hmmm.
Anna Gunn as Ellie Miller, a detective in town, returns to work to discover she was passed over for promotion. Frustrated and on the defensive she meets Emmett Carver, played by David Tennant, at the crime scene.  The tension between the pair is palpable and creates a fission worth watching for.
I found the edgy presentation of the characters to be similar to the show Twin Peaks. The older lady and her dog distinctly put me in mind of the Log lady. The surreal aspect of Nick Nolte’s character Jack Reinhold, and Emmett Carver’s own abrupt and succinct responses to situations all offered shade of Twin Peaks. In no way does Gracepoint proffer the irreverence of Twin Peaks with its dark humor, but rather the cinematography lends an element of the familiar.
The ground work is laid for murder, the suspects are being introduced. I look forward to next Thursday when we will meet some of the more fringe characters of the show, but more importantly learn more about why Danny was killed. I have no speculation on this point. I have not watched the Broadchurch series deliberately to avoid polluting my thoughts on the matter.
I like the idea of short series television. The definitive end is a good thing in my book of the way things should be. Gracepoint will deliver a solid conclusion with just enough answers unlike Twin Peaks which dragged out, was canceled and then produced a dis-satisfactory movie to conclude the show for fans. All in all the short series is a win for everyone involved.
My take on Gracepoint. I like it well enough. It is solid on all fronts. I enjoyed the energy between Emmet and Ellie. This felt real. Tennant did an excellent job of portraying Detective Carver, his character exuded the levels of gruffness and low key energy to paint Emmet as a private man who is not about to open up to anyone. There was no overplay on the underlying story of why he was in the town of Gracepoint
Ellie Miller, I had a more difficult time with Anna Gunn’s character. Maybe it is the script or maybe it is the acting, but it is probably a combination of both. I walked away with the idea that Danny’s murder took away from her own personal drama. The histrionics of the character were a bit off putting mainly because Gunn moved the character from being a mature reasonable adult to a temper tantrum throwing child lost points. Yes I expect emotion, but I expect it to be appropriate to the parameters of the character. We shall see how this progresses, it could just be growing pains.
There are a few instances where I have had to engage my suspension of disbelief with Gracepoint, mainly because I am the mother of a twelve-year-old boy, and I have lived in a small town. I have two schools of thought on who the killer is, first is to find the person with the most motive and second to consider the least likely person. I cast my vote, you should too!
Who do you think killed Danny? Vote now: http://www.suspecteveryone.com/
Follow me on Twitter @TaraBoomdeeay
Subscribe to Threeifbyspace.net for instant notification of new articles
