Episode 7 of Gracepoint has just aired on ITV Encore. Please see our review below - but be aware that it contains spoilers if you haven't caught up yet.
It is inevitable that in any discussion of Gracepoint that comparison will sooner
or later be made to Broadchurch, the original ITV series on which it is based. However, Episode 7 of the US remake saw the
long-awaited major plot divergence which clearly confirms that Gracepoint is starting to stand up as a
series in its own right.
The episode opens to find the town reeling from the shocking
conclusion of the previous instalment. Jack Reinhold (Nick Nolte), a previously
much loved and respected elder of the town was hounded to suicide by the people
among whom he made his home after being wrongly accused of crimes against
children. His vindication came too late and now the community are assembling to
say their farewells to him. But just as the population believe this surely must
be the last trauma they must face, another is just around the corner, and one
that strikes into the very heart of the investigation.
Paul Coates (Kevin Rankin), never one to resist an
opportunity to exploit a crisis as a platform for his own agenda, uses the
funeral service to launch a barely veiled attack on Emmett Carver (David
Tennant). He’s now been labelled The Worst Cop in California by the press, who
need a new scapegoat to defer attention from their own hand in Jack’s death. Carver
and colleague Ellie Miller (Anna Gunn) are not just there as mourners; they are
there to observe too, and Ellie is deeply self-conscious that Carver’s methods
are starting to rub off on her. Somewhat hypocritically, many key figures in
the events leading up to the tragedy are also there: Vince (Stephen Louis
Grush), who led the lynch mob, Dean (Kendrick Sampson) who accused the Wildlife
Group leader of touching the boys, and Owen (Kevin Zegers) who wrote the
damning article. Notable by her absence is Renee (Jessica Lucas), who fled town
when the news broke, leaving Owen to take the flak. Carver and Coates clash,
and Carver’s suspicions about the priest are further fuelled when he sees
Coates with his hand on Ellie’s son Tom’s (Jack Irvine) knee. His attempt to discuss
this with Tom is scuppered by a furious Joe (Josh Hamilton) who accuses him of
making everyone unhappy and suspecting everyone. “Sometimes I’m right,” retorts
Carver. But it will turn out that Carver’s covert interview attempt will be the
least of Joe’s worries.
For the first time the investigation shifts away from Danny
Solano and onto the fate of another child: Tom Miller, who has been acting
strangely since Danny’s death. He’s deleted texts and computer files, rooted
out the backpacker’s contact details and subjects mum Ellie to an outburst. His
ranting “You don’t know anything about me anymore” mirrors Dean’s report of a
similar statement by Danny. But worse is to come. In the morning Tom persuades Joe
to let him go on alone for the last three blocks of the journey to school. He
never arrives. Movingly, the whole town, recently divided by prejudice and
suspicion, now pulls together to search for the missing boy. The hunt is led
by Mark Solano (Michael Peña). He and Beth (Virginia Kull) alone know what the
Millers must be going through, and now that they are ready to try to step back
into normal life they feel strong enough to reach out to help others.
Ironically, just as one family experience the loss of their
child, another parent in Gracepoint is reunited with theirs. Carver’s daughter
Julianne (Chloe Babcook) makes an unexpected appearance at the police station to see him. It’s
not the best timed visit for Carver. The press have turned on him, he’s
learned that the whole town hates him, the police force are cutting resources
for his investigation and there are calls for him to step down. Julianne
turning up on the day of Tom’s disappearance doesn’t set the foundation for the
longed-for reconciliation either. As he heads off to yet another interview, she
accuses him of paying more attention to other peoples’ children than to her,
and of taking risks with his health after she discovers his heart medication. Possibly
she’s being naive: he’s a high profile detective in the middle of a murder
investigation, and is hardly likely to drop everything to play happy families. She
isn’t around for long, but her visit and abrupt departure shows a softer and
more human side to Carver and reveals more of his vulnerabilities. This is just part of the shift in roles of Carver and Miller in this episode. He’s
quite content to take a step back because there is no holding a frantic and
riled Ellie. Now, she’s the one barking out orders, accusing everyone and
blowing her top at suspects in the interrogation room. She has moved on
significantly from the friendly, open-minded local cop from episode one.
Suspiciously, the disappearance of Tom is marked by two
significant reappearances. First up, and now central to Carver’s investigation,
is the returning backpacker Lars Pierson (Brendan Fletcher). The vague and
twitchy Lars, with his repeated phrase ‘He’s a good looking boy’ and a stash of
firearms in his cabin, is a difficult interviewee. He is mentally ill, possibly
with PTSD and he struggles to remember events or even to construct a cohesive
conversation, but there is absolutely one thing that he is crystal clear about,
and that is his meeting with Danny on the clifftop. Whether he will turn out to
be a disturbed drifter, or whether the creepy interactions are all an act
remains to be seen. Meanwhile he stays in Carver’s custody. The other returnee
is Raymond Connelly (Adam Greydon Reid), hotfooting it to Beth’s door with
another psychic message, this time concerning Tom. Again, does he have genuine
insight or is it all part of a more sinister game? Beth is sensible enough not
to mention him to Ellie – and perhaps this is why Raymond thought he could slip
in under the radar – but she does share the message with Joe.
Elsewhere, Vince and Susan are still exploring their mysterious
connection. Susan has been bold enough to access Vince’s home and talk to his
mother. She accuses him of being in trouble and knows, she says, what he has
done. What indeed? When we first see Vince he has blood all over his face and
hands and is locking something in to a freezer. From hunting, he says. He’s
absent from the search for Tom though and instead goes to try to bribe and then
threaten Susan to stay away. Remember too, that Susan invited Tom to help her
walk the dog – was he hoping to take up her invitation?
The episode climaxes with a horrifying discovery for Ellie
and Joe Miller, found by Paul Coates in the woods. And with Tom still missing it’s
quite possible that, instead of the one-time killer of Broadchurch, the culprit in Gracepoint
could turn out to be a serial offender. Or
is there a copycat killer? Has Tom got himself wrapped up in something
dangerous? Is it something to do with Rosemont? Whatever the outcome it’s good
to see that the series is making good on the promise to be different and that
feelings of déjà vu were happily absent this week. The final three episodes
promise to be a tense ride.
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