Image Credit: BBC America
Image Credit: BBC America

Broadchurch Review: Episode Five

We’re five episodes into the final season of Broadchurch but I don’t think we could be any further away from finding the attacker. This case has got to be driving Hardy and Miller bonkers in addition to adding heaps of stress to their lives. Every time they get a step closer to finding answers, more information is thrown at them, muddying up the case entirely. We’ve gone from a single attack, to another victim coming forward.

Image Credit: BBC America

I love how well her questioning is handled, Chris Chibnall has done such a fantastic job of taking this very intense subject matter and making it so relatable for the viewer. This new victim, didn’t want to come forward when her attack happened around two years ago, because she knew how the media would portray her. She had been drinking, was at the bar with friends, decided to walk home alone, had on a short skirt, did up her makeup. She was terrified that the media would portray her as an easy girl who really was just asking for it. Sad as that may be to see said aloud, it hits a very true chord for how real cases have been in the spotlight before. It’s absolutely heartbreaking to watch this victim process how she knows exactly what Trish is going through, and that if she could have just been a bit braver, maybe Trish wouldn’t have ever been attacked at all.

Image Credit: BBC America

There are so many side stories going on, that it’s difficult as the viewer to be completely concentrated on Trish and the attack, and I stand by my earlier statement, that the men of Broadchurch can be particularly sleazy. Let’s take a look at some of the interesting tidbits from episode five. Trish has decided to tell Cath about her and Jim, which doesn’t go over all that well. Jim doesn’t want Trish to tell Cath, but Trish stands by her decision in doing what she feels is right. Cath of course doesn’t take it well, she knows that Jim isn’t faithful to her, but it’s still gotta be hard to hear. Especially when it’s someone who is supposed to be your friend and it happened on the day of your own birthday party. Jim does seem like a jerk, and he probably isn’t the best guy, but he still isn’t high on my list of suspects as the attacker.

Aaron Mayford, the convicted rapist introduced last week, is still a seemingly likely culprit. Especially when we find out that he has been lying to the detectives. They don’t have enough on him to pin him, but there is definitely something going on with that guy that isn’t good. We find that he has a connection to both victims, having done IT work at each of the women’s places of employment. He also admits to having a football buddy that lived in the area where the first victim was attacked. On the night of Trish’s attack he said he went fishing, didn’t talk to anyone, and then went home. However the CCTV surveillance system can confirm that the route he says he drove to the beach, he didn’t. He said he caught about 12 mackerel and that the next day he cooked them for him and his wife, but she says he didn’t bring any fish home at all. She hates mackerel anyway and wouldn’t let him keep that in the house if he did bring it home. Upon searching his car and home they find condoms that match the brand at the scene of Trish’s attack and blue twine that could have been used to tie her hands. It’s so frustrating that he is such a sleazy guy and you can tell that there is something very uncool about him, but as it is, there isn’t enough to tie him to the case yet and so they have to let him go. Even if his questioning did reveal a bit about his lying and creepy personality.

Image Credit: BBC America

Clive is another we should keep an eye on, it’s very clear he does what he wants and doesn’t have any type of regard for the feelings of others, it seems like he would be capable of committing such an act. He is a little too interested in what happened to Trish and being a taxi driver, gets to hear all the gossip about it as people get in and out of his car. Jim’s tow truck breaks down, rough day for him I imagine, after Trish told Cath what happened, and his luck hasn’t improved. He gets a ride from Clive, who thinks the whole situation is funny. Their small talk soon turns to Trish and the party that Jim put on, must be terrible to realize that someone on the invite list did something so terrible. It really does seem like Clive is trying to push Jim’s buttons a bit, especially when he mentions seeing the two of them outside together in what was a heated and more than just friends conversation. Jim then turns on Clive, suggesting that he is the one who did it, hanging about the house all night driving people around. A true color of Jim shines through as he physically threatens Clive, what other business is Jim in and where has this anger been hiding? 

Next up is Leo, manager on duty at Humphreys Nets who gave Miller sass over sending samples of the twine and rope they produce. He gave his alibi as his girlfriend, who he spent the entire night with. Sure enough, her story is rehearsed so well and spot on that she’s got a quick reply for every question. It’s pretty obvious she is lying at least a little bit, not taking any time at all to recall how busy the kabob shop was, for example. Miller makes sure to brightly remind the girl that when she stops by the station, she’ll have to sign her statement. Which is really no big deal, just means that if she’s found out to be lying she’ll go to prison for it, all while giving the young girl a big grin. This seems to unnerve her a bit, but a phone call with Leo proves that she was covering up something for him. He now owes her three favors, and she said that whatever she was doing on Thursday night, would be expensive and on his dime. He is then picked up by a taxi, which is of course none other than Clive. Oh the tangled web that Broadchurch always becomes.

Beth is having a review session with one of her supervisors about how things are going with her and Trish. Standard procedure of course, making sure that Beth has all the tools she needs to help Trish. When she recounts what Trish said in her police interview about how the attack happened, her supervisor immediately becomes uncomfortable. It appears that she had a victim a few years back that decided to not report the attack, but that the details of how it happened were uncanny to Trish’s recount of her own attack. So we’ve now gone from just Trish to potentially 3 victims in the past few years, all attacked the same way. The only new information we can gather from this possible third victim is that she specifically remembers the attacker using a dirty sock to gag her mouth with, not just any cloth. This also contradicts Aaron as the attacker, as he was in jail at the time of this attack. Like I said, every time we get a step closer, we end up taking a few steps back.

Image Credit: BBC America

Homeowner at the party location, Arthur Tamwell, makes an interesting discovery. He calls DI Hardy and says that one of his dogs might have found something that could be useful, he wasn’t sure so figured it best to pass along. It appears one of his dogs has found a dirty sock somewhere on the property. A cutaway scene implies to the viewer that this sock matches those of a bunch of footballers having a match, and member of that football team….Leo. Could be a red herring, could be something more, you never know with Broadchurch and plenty of blokes in the town probably play pickup football games.

DI Hardy even experiences a moment this week of complete failure. His daughter Daisy admits that there is an issue going on at school and that she doesn’t want to live in Broadchurch. All he ever does is work, and school life is hard for her after someone stole her phone and sent out a questionable picture of her to basically everyone in town. Broadchurch being a small town, everyone knows everyone else and it’s likely that every kid at her school was on the receiving end of whatever picture got sent out. Hardy doesn’t seem mad at her over this, but it just another example of how young kids are being exposed to pornographic material and pressured into images or acts, even at a young age. I’m sure though, with a serial rapist on the loose, a questionable image of your teenage daughter is definitely something you want floating around.

Image Credit: BBC America

Ed, Trish and Cath’s boss has a run in with both Jim and Ian, it’s pretty evident he is on the women’s side. Which could be interesting when things at work become awkward between Trish and Cath. Ian comes around asking to rent out a caravan from Ed, as he is going to be kicked out of his girlfriend’s house soon. Ed gives him shit for this because he’s basically thrown it all away. I mean a wife, daughter and house, to a girlfriend and flat, to nothing. Ed refuses to rent him a caravan because he doesn’t think Ian is a trustworthy person. Jim, he seeks out. After Cath admits to him that Trish slept with Jim, he goes to Jim’s shop and roughs him up quite a bit. He doesn’t say a word, just beats him up and walks out. It’s great that Ed seems to be a nice guy who is just looking out for his coworkers/employees/friends, but he also could be pretty close to crossing some lines, I’m not quite sure what to think about him at the moment.

Last up, for tonight’s “Broadchurch’s Crazy Men” we look at Mark Latimer, who against the advice of basically everyone around him, has decided to follow up a lead on Joe Miller’s whereabouts. Beth cannot handle his living in the past and hanging onto his grief. He lost his boy and because of his inability to move past it, has lost his wife and girls too. He is still very hurt, but he also isn’t making the most rational choices at the moment and following this lead to Joe Miller is a bad decision. His questionable decision becomes even murkier when he takes along a box cutter and hammer in his weekend bag. Taking the life of Joe isn’t going to bring back or give justice to Danny, but I don’t think he fully understands that yet. Looks like his expensive private eye at least was a good one, and the lead on where Joe Miller might be hiding now proves true.

Image Credit: BBC America

We are no closer to closing Trish’s case, and with only 3 episodes left to go in this final season, you should buckle your seatbelt, because we’re all in for one hell of a last ride.

Think you know who done it? Leave me a comment or find me on Twitter and tell me who/why!

Be sure to watch live on BBC America and join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #Broadchurch

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