'Broadchurch' Recap: 'Series 3 - Episode 3'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

The mark of a good mystery, is that it should constantly keep you guessing. Just when you've think you've figured out that the cook was the one who committed a brutal crime, it turns out to be the butler...or perhaps someone else. It's that guessing game that keeps us engrossed and involved and as the third season of Broadchurch continues on, it's becoming clear that the series is going to continue to keep us guessing as we try to figure out who was behind the brutal assault committed against Trish Winterman.

In fact, Miller made a fine point when it comes to this conundrum last night, by pointing out that despite all the work put into the case thus far, they haven't narrowed down the vast field of suspects before them in the slightest and that's downright scary considering the fact that whomever did this is still on the streets, and while this week's entry in this sorrowful story didn't bring us any closer to figuring out who committed this atrocious crime, it certainly kept our interest. Because in many ways, the mystery surrounding this assault, is chipping away at the harmony in this community. Neighbors and friends are starting to suspect one another and that kind of suspicion will only cause problems for this case and relationships as a whole down the road.

However, despite the ambiguity this episode delivered our way, there are at least two suspects that clearly have something to hide here; Clive and Trish's ex husband Ian. Because as it turns out, Clive has done nothing but lie to the Police and well...everybody in his life. Not only did Hardy and Miller put a wrench into his alibi as to where he was on the night the assault was committed, they also came to discover that he's quite the Casanova around Broadchurch, dating women he picks up in his cab left and right, despite the fact that he's married and also a step-dad, and to make matters worse, he seems to have a strange collection of trinkets from the women he's 'loved' including something from Trish, which raises all kinds of questions about their relationship, and Clive for that matter.

But truly, Ian's behavior and story this go round is the biggest eyebrow raiser of them all, since he took the time to confess to Jim that he lied during his interview and well...that was quite the horrifying revelation to say the least. Because Ian admitted point blank that he drank too damn much and blacked out around the time that Trish was assaulted and well, it's freaky that not even Ian knows what on earth he did during that time frame and his stumbles didn't end there since he showed up at Trish's doorstep in a desperate attempt to speak with her and of course there was the biggest shocker of the night when it came to Ian; his strange meeting with the young man who runs his father's fishing supply business where Ian asks the man to remove something important from a laptop...

The implication is strong there that the laptop in question belongs to Trish and I am dying to know what the heck Ian did to it and really...that's the brilliance of this episode and this season as a whole. While one could complain that the mystery is going nowhere, the secrets that everyone seems to be hiding are drawing us in minute by minute and it seems as though in this instance, it won't be a smoking gun or some stunning find that brings our criminal to justice...it could come down to someone trying desperately to keep the facts from becoming public knowledge and their desperation will reveal the truth when they make a grand mistake. Either way, this investigation is incredibly engrossing and now that we are three episodes in, I'm truly hungry to know more and I'm counting down the minutes until next week's episode arrives. Until then. 

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