As in the first series, the acting in Broadchurch is excellent, giving achingly believable portrayals of people who are struggling to pick up the pieces after an unthinkable tragedy and return to some semblance of a normal life. Their efforts are then stymied by the court case, which again rips open the wounds which, if not healed, had at least been beginning to scab over. James D'Arcy gives a suitably creepy performance as a suspect who, whether or not he committed murder, is obviously a bit off in some way. Much like Tennant, he's playing against character as I've only previously seen him in benign roles- Nicholas Nickleby and Agent Carter, for example.
We just finished watching Series 2 of Broadchurch, the British crime drama. David Tennant and Olivia Colman reprise their roles as English police officers dealing with the fallout from the murder investigation which occurred in Series 1. The series picks up a while after the previous one, as the trial for Danny Latimer's murderer commences. Much has changed since the investigation: D.I. Hardy (Tennant) has been put on medical leave because of his heart condition and Ellie Miller (Colman) is no longer a detective, now a uniformed cop in another district. The entire town of Broadchurch is struggling to deal with the aftermath of a murder and investigation which ripped apart their community and exposed a lot of dark corners and dirty secrets. This is exacerbated by the fact that the murderer, despite having confessed to his actions, decides to plead "Not guilty." This means that Danny's family is forced to sit through the trial, having their lives picked over and exposed by a ruthless and cynical defense team, being victimised once again. The courtroom- and family- scenes are frequently raw, anguished, and angry as we see that the murderer's villainy didn't end with taking the life of young Danny Latimer: he's also destroyed and devastated many other lives and continues to do so, forcing them to go through this long, invasive process in the selfish hope that his lawyers will manage to get him off, despite his guilt. While the court case is ongoing and he's off the job, Hardy goes back to working on the Sandbrook case which destroyed his health and almost destroyed his career: the murders of a young girl and her babysitter. He drags a- at first- reluctant Miller into his unofficial investigation and they start sifting through the evidence from the cold case, reinterviewing witnesses and suspects. Ellie, skilled at organising old evidence and arranging it into timelines, is invaluable to Hardy's investigation and it provides a welcome distraction from the trial for her. As in the first series, the acting in Broadchurch is excellent, giving achingly believable portrayals of people who are struggling to pick up the pieces after an unthinkable tragedy and return to some semblance of a normal life. Their efforts are then stymied by the court case, which again rips open the wounds which, if not healed, had at least been beginning to scab over. James D'Arcy gives a suitably creepy performance as a suspect who, whether or not he committed murder, is obviously a bit off in some way. Much like Tennant, he's playing against character as I've only previously seen him in benign roles- Nicholas Nickleby and Agent Carter, for example. As in the first series, the highlight is the prickly relationship between Hardy and Miller. Ellie is struggling to get her life and career back together in the wake of the devastating outcome of the investigation into Danny Latimer's death, while Alec is obsessed with solving the Sandbrook case which has haunted him (and ruined his health). The two of them bicker, argue, and frequently yell at each other but are an effective team and, strangely enough, good for each other. And, as becomes clear, they have a mutual respect and liking-perhaps even affection- though wild horses couldn't drag that admission from either of them. This is a strong follow-up to Series 1.
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