When we last left Broadchurch, we were mere seconds away from hearing the verdict on the Joe Miller case before the show decided to fade to black and leave all of us shouting at our televisions because the suspense was killing us. I mentioned last week that despite this tortuous move, the wait would be worth it and I was right, because last night's season finale, "Episode 8" was by far one of the finest episodes of the show to date.

Thankfully the show wasted no time in bringing us the verdict on Joe Miller and holy hell it was infuriating and shocking to say the least, because the damn jury found Joe...not guilty. All the mistakes made, the poor decisions, all of it came to a head because clearly there was enough for the Jury to send Joe home a free man. But, rather than dwell on the sheer shock of this decision...there was one other matter that needed to be resolved, the fact that Claire had the pendant in her possession, which led to her arrest.  

Of course Claire being the piece of crap she is, she did her best to antagonize Miller and Hardy, but Hardy's master plan to finally get one of them to crack and tell the truth finally worked. A quick phone call to Lee, letting him know she was arrested sent him over the edge as he ransacked the cottage looking for the pendant. A move that finally allowed Hardy to bring him in for questioning as well and at last...the truth came out. It turns out Lee was sleeping with Lisa the night she died, an act that Ricky found offensive when he found them together and well...in the ensuing fight between Ricky and Lisa, Ricky killed her. 

Of course it only gets worse after that. Claire comes home to find an upset Pippa and then quickly discovers the horror of what has just occurred, so naturally, Ricky puts together a plan to deal with Lisa's body and after Claire drugs Lisa with rohypnol, Lee smothers the young girl with a pillow as insurance. Ricky is of course arrested as well, the body of Lisa is recovered and well...the Sandbrook case finally comes to a close and Hardy is vindicated at last.  

But despite that lovely ending...there is still the matter of Joe to be dealt with, for this king of cowards wants to come home to Broadchurch, and seeks out help from Reverend Paul...who in turn takes matters into his own hands. Joe is kidnapped by Mark and Nigel and taken to the place where he killed Danny, to be confronted by Beth and Ellie where he is reminded of what a piece of garbage he truly is...before they banish him from Broadchurch forever. 

So, suffice it to say...this was a brilliant end to the season. I was completely blown away with every single twist and turn we went on this week. Offended of course by the disgusting verdict from the jury, but in its own special way justice was served for everyone last night. I love the fact that Joe has nothing left in Broadchurch and is essentially left to wander the world alone, and that the people he hurt most handled him in incredible fashion and owned up to their mistakes and man...it was one satisfying thing to see the Sandbrook case finally come to a close and Hardy finally get the right people locked up behind bars. I mean this is how you do a season finale folks. Every little loose end tied up, every character getting the closure needed to their story...just brilliant. 

But it would seem the story isn't quite over just yet. The end credits made mention that the show would return and it has been announced that a Third Series will be commissioned for the show.  This is news that of course has me excited, and curious as to where exactly the story will go from here. Granted this would be a good time to sit here and conjecture what possible plot lines they could explore, but I think I would rather not, simply because of the fact that this was a damn satisfying season finale, one that the characters and audience deserved.  So before we delve into the darkness of Broadchurch once again I'll just sit here and bask in the glow of this fantastic finale...and let the show surprise me when it returns.  Until then...

If there has been one giant theme present on Broadchurch this entire season, it is that the past will undoubtedly come back to haunt you. We have seen it mostly in the courtroom as past transgressions have been revealed to the jury during Joe Miller's trial, but last night, in "Episode 7" that theme took front and center as the past returned to haunt everyone and at last...there may be consequences for the choices everyone has made.  

But before we get to that we need to talk about the awesomeness of our favorite Detectives with Hardy and Miller continuing to put the squeeze on Lee and Claire and hell, even Ricky. First came a phone call to Claire confronting her about the photograph showing her wearing the pendant and then Hardy visiting Lee to drop an incredible bomb on him...the fact that Claire was pregnant and had an abortion while Lee was in custody over the murder of the girls. This led to one ugly and violent confrontation between the two on again off again lovers in one devastating scene. While they waited for the squeeze to hopefully break someone, Hardy and Miller tried to get something more out of Ricky, but all they could do is connect the fact that the other phone number in Claire's phone...belongs to Ricky.

It turns out though that the squeeze worked and Claire makes a tough decision and heads toward the courthouse, where there was plenty of drama to be found as well. After sleeping with Miller's nephew...Sharon's sleazy assistant brings forth the fact that Miller gave her sister a cool thousand pounds to help her out, the day that Hardy discovered Joe had killed Danny. Naturally, Sharon tries to tie it into Miller bribing her sister to frame Joe. This of course, is the last thing the Defense leaves the Jury with before deliberations and it's one hell of a punch to do it with. Naturally the Jury comes back with a verdict in a few days...and before the verdict is read, we are treated to one incredible surprise. Claire arrives in the nick of time...to give Hardy the pendant, still in the evidence bag she stole from Tess' car moments before the verdict arrives and of course, we are left wondering exactly what the verdict will be because the show faded to black mere seconds before the foreman read the verdict.

But what matters most...is that this was the best episode of the season so far. In the last two weeks Broadchurch has thoroughly impressed me with its breakneck speed and quality storytelling and I am stunned at the fact that there is a strong chance that Joe may be found not guilty. That final blow from Sharon was simply brutal, it broke Miller on the stand and the Jury did spend time questioning the evidence. There is a real chance all the emotionally poor choices made up to this point may come back to haunt the people of this town come next week when the verdict is read. 

On the plus side however, kudos to Hardy and Miller for making some major progress in the Sandbrook case. I recall the scene where Hardy said he was feeling rejuvenated to Lee after his surgery and man...that's no joke. He was ruthless in this episode, planting those seeds of doubt in the minds of the two people that have tormented the man the entire season. It was simply magical to watch because wow...it worked. Despite the fact we were plunged into a cliffhanger in the nastiest of fashion, I'm dying to see what happens next, and something tells me the week long wait to find out if Joe is guilty or not guilty and to see Sandbrook finally come to a close....will be worth it. Until then.   

Last time on Broadchurch, the show managed to completely underwhelm the audience for the first time in the entire series, leaving me worried that perhaps the show was hitting a slump.  But I'm pleased to say that this week that was not the case as the show delivered some incredible scenes, performances and revelations in "Episode 6". 

If anything the courtroom continues to be the show's greatest strength as it truly has become the source of the show's conflicts now that every character's darkest secrets are being revealed from the witness stand. This week Joe's son Tom took the stand and well...flat out lied to the jury, claiming that Mark confessed to him that he killed Danny and that his Father was innocent. Despite the fact that Jocelyn picked his testimony to pieces, Mark took the stand to clear his name and revealed that in that hour he was missing on the night Danny died he was sitting by the side of the road writing a letter to let Beth know he was planning to leave her.  

This revelation of course appears to have shattered Mark and Beth's relationship to its absolute core and as the Latimers begin to deal with the fallout of all of this, things got real interesting on the Sandbrook side of the story. Both desperate to get the case moving before Hardy finally goes in to have his heart repaired with a pacemaker, a plan is set in motion and Hardy surprises Claire by playing bad cop and letting her know she is no longer under his protection and to leave the Cottage ASAP because of her inability to tell the truth. 

This allows Ellie to play good cop and give Claire a chance to come clean...but that opportunity leads to one tense moment. For Claire offers to do Ellie's hair, something she hasn't done in forever and as they sit and chat over Claire's hairdressing abilities, Claire offers to let Ellie see her portfolio.  Ellie is happy to do so, but as she does she finds a picture of Claire wearing the pendant that was found on Pippa's body. The same one that went missing from Tess' car which cost Hardy the case.  Ellie of course lets Tess know, who is hoping Miller can get her hands on the photo, but alas Claire has set it ablaze and as it burns she reminisces on the fact she was the one who broke into Tess' car that night, long ago, to take it back.

Now this is what I was waiting for when it came to last week. There was not a scene wasted this week as everything moved forward in incredible fashion. We already knew Claire was a scumbag, but now we know just how big of a scumbag she truly is and it's clear now her involvement in the Sandbrook case goes far deeper than we ever expected. I absolutely loved this fascinating twist in the story, and quite frankly this was the strongest episode of the season to date. There's a sense of dread on this show that I haven't felt since season one and I'm sure it will only get worse as Miller and Hardy close in on figuring out the Sandbrook case and the Joe Miller trial comes to a close. Until next time. 

Every man has his breaking point, I think there's a lot of truth of that. But I don't think a person's breaking point is quite what we expect it to be. We often associate it with a complete and utter snap, where everything in their life is destroyed in a matter of minutes courtesy of self loathing and anger.  But I don't think it always works that way, sometimes our breaking point allows us to evolve and grow, for better or for worse and Jimmy McGill proved that point on last night's season finale of Better Call Saul.  

Last night's episode, "Marco" took us back to Jimmy's roots, and quite frankly gave us one of the finest performances of Bob Odenkirk's career as Jimmy dealt with the fallout of his beloved brother betraying him through and through.  At first it seemed like Jimmy was going to handle it in stride. He gave the case to HH&M, discovered that Howard wasn't actually the giant DBag we all thought he was and even left instructions on how to take care of his brother to the firm before apologizing to Kim. I mean seriously, so much class was oozing from Jimmy it seemed like a different show. Then things went completely off the rails. He snapped in front of his beloved seniors during a bingo session, explaining how he was almost the "sex offender" that forced Chuck to get him out of jail and bring him to New Mexico. I'll spare the details, just know that it was a hilarious and incredible monologue and it involved a "Chicago Sunroof." 

This moment of lucidity led to Jimmy returning home to Chicago to look up his former partner in crime Marco. You may remember him from the watch scam we saw earlier in the season and well, these were some lovely scenes to watch. It's funny in fact to think back on the whole show now and see how Chuck and Jimmy interact on screen. Despite the fact they are brothers, that link you see between family is never quite there. You think for a moment that's because Chuck is mentally ill, but after the last two weeks on the show...we now know it's because they are merely brothers by blood. Chuck has no love for Jimmy and Jimmy only wants approval...the kind he finds with Marco. These two guys act like brothers, that unity is there and by getting the two of them back together, Slippin' Jimmy returns in force and the two go on a weeklong bender, running one incredible scam after another and clearly Jimmy couldn't be happier.

But. The good times come to an end in tragic fashion. Jimmy, realizing he needs to head back home and take care of the clients that like him and need him, runs the watch scam one last time with Marco. But Marco has health problems Jimmy is unaware of...and has a fatal heart attack during the scam. At the funeral, Jimmy is given Marco's ring by his mother and as he takes a moment to breathe, Kim calls. Jimmy's dream case is getting too big for its britches and HH&M has brought in another firm to help and they want Jimmy to be a lawyer with them full time. The dream has come at last and Jimmy returns to Albuquerque to shock us all one more time. 

Mere moments away from finally fulfilling his dream of practicing law full time...he walks away from it all, taking a moment to chat with Mike about how they had $1.6 million in their hands, and why on earth didn't they take it all from the Kettleman's. Mike gives his honest answer that it was about doing a job, but Jimmy...Jimmy points out that he knows what stopped him, and that something like that will never happen again, and that was that. Jimmy left the courthouse behind and the man that was born the moment Chuck told Jimmy he wasn't a real lawyer, Saul Goodman, continued to develop and grow.  

Yet what makes this episode so worthwhile as a season finale, is how much we learned about Jimmy. Jimmy McGill was always a dark man who knew how well he could manipulate people and bend them to his will, and well...he needs that darkness. His trip back to Chicago, the scams he runs with Marco, you see the joy in his eyes and you also see that the darkness he carries with him is something that can be purged, simply because he was ready to go back and do the right thing. But the death of Marco, and Chuck's betrayal forever changed him. It not only sent him beyond his breaking point, it left him with no one left to balance him. Jimmy McGill is truly on his own now. A man without a real family, or his chosen one...and that makes for some epic storytelling...and I can't wait to see what comes next in season two.  

Sometimes when it comes to your favorite television shows, you find a little nugget of disappointment, especially when the bar is set high and the story seems to be giving you everything you ever wanted. That's how I felt last night watching Broadchurch to be perfectly honest. It wasn't the worst episode of television that I have ever seen, but "Episode 5" certainly missed an opportunity to be great, because of the fact it was merely okay.  

Especially when the episode had some seriously strong moments when it came to the courtroom scenes this week. Jocelyn was on point, hitting the defense with everything she had and embarrassing Susan Wright on the stand, essentially rendering her testimony from last week worthless, despite the missteps by Nigel on the stand as well.  Not to mention we finally got a juicy scene where Sharon and Jocelyn finally breakdown what drove these two apart and it turns out to be due to the fact that Jocelyn wouldn't defend Sharon's son in court.  

But the incredible nature of this episode more or less began and ended with those riveting scenes because it was time to return to the Sandbrook case, and well...that's where I felt a tad frustrated because last night didn't move us toward any answers at all. Sure Ricky showed up to kick the crap out of Lee and of course sit down to some impromptu questioning from Ellie...but that was really it for his character. In fact the show kind of glossed over the fact that hey, Claire called him and claimed she had no clue who it might be in a scene that established her as a pathological liar.  

For a moment it seemed like the episode would be saved with Ellie stepping in to look over the evidence from the case. Her first thought after looking everything over is that Ricky's niece may be alive and has fled the country and she also discovers that Hardy and the team may have overlooked the importance of Thorp Agriservices, prompting the two of them to check the place out. But it seems the company has been closed for a long time and the only item they find is the ominous possibility that Ricky's niece may be dead after all because of the furnace they discover...

But alas, let's call this episode out for what it is...a filler episode. Despite that dark discovery, this episode was filled to the brim with more of the same. We already know Claire cannot be trusted, so the "revelation" of her lies have no gravity this week, and that ending, while heavy, still brings us no closer to resolution on the Sandbrook case. This episode disappointed me simply because it didn't move anything forward. Even just a smidge of progression in the story would have vaulted this part of the tale to new heights, but it's understandable. After last night we have three episodes left, and I am certain we will get shocking twists and turns there, it was just a surprise to see an "okay" episode from a show that makes a habit of raising the bar.