A boat burning in the middle of the night.  That was the haunting image that Gracepoint left us with at the end of the last episode, and it is exactly where we picked up this week, and it turns out this burning boat was only the beginning to many a horrible revelation that "Episode 5" would offer all of us.  

The boat of course, despite the damage, still had hair samples that Carver fully believed belonged to Danny Solano, giving the case new life, but much of the surprises last night would not come from police work, instead, much of the clues came from the stress surrounding the town.  We learned last night that Susan Wright is basically a psycho. She has a checkered past and it looks like her current name is a lie, oh and she took the time to threaten the editor-in-chief of the newspaper with bodily harm since she spent a little time poking around in Susan's past. We also learned our resident psychic has a background filled with fraud, much to Beth's horror and we learned Carver is sick...but with what remains a mystery.  

But the shocker of the night, was Jack Reinhold. Turns out old Jack has an ugly conviction record in his past, revolving around statutory rape.  It led to some intense moments from Jack (and I might add some fine acting from Nick Nolte) as this grizzled old man who came to Gracepoint to start over is finding his past catching up to him quickly.  In fact Jack's moments stole the show this week, as he interrupted a lovely lunch at the Solano house to not only give Mark, Danny's cell phone but claim his innocence.  Oh and of course, it also turns out that a murder similar to Danny's appearance wise just so happened near the town where Jack used to live.  

If anything, this was a very different episode feel wise for Gracepoint.  There were more moments of levity, we got to see Carver smile when he went to dinner at Miller's house, and we even got perhaps the first only normal scene I've ever seen in this show with the gentle and lovely lunch at the Solano house before Jack barged in.  I'm fairly certain this was on purpose, to remind us that while people are trying to get back to some sense of normal, Danny's death will continue to hang over our heads.  

I actually liked the change of pace, simply because it made Jack's big moment at the Solano house that much more impactful and well...shocking. It quickly unsettled me to see this man flipping out the way that he did, begging the family to believe him that he never hurt Danny. It's these moments of raw emotion that make this show so special.  The only thing I didn't really care for last night was the sudden appearance of the priest as a person of interest. Making him a creepy observer/outsider seemed to come a little too easy to this show and it seems like obvious misdirection, when we have so many more ominous clues before us.  Either way, it looks like Jack is in the crosshairs of Gracepoint next week, and the hairs in the boat did indeed belong to Danny...until then...

Now things are truly getting interesting on Gracepoint. One by one secrets are being revealed and well, none of it is for the better really. This go round we learned that Danny Solano, the boy that everyone is mourning, was no angel, so without further ado, let's recap "Episode 4".

This episode picked up right where we left off last week, wasting no time nor building any suspense to reveal exactly who the the phone number Carver was looking up last week belonged to, a man named Lars Pierson who just so happens to be the backpacker that Jack saw talking to Danny a while back. As the police begin to canvas the town to see if anyone has seen the man, Carver and Miller head over to visit Chloe's drug dealing sweetheart. 

A quick chase, another health scare for Carver and they have Dean in custody and well, surprises begin.  It turns out that Dean was with Danny for his drug deal and that Danny had secrets of his own, including the fact that he enjoyed a little bit of shoplifting that day at a gas station.  As Carver goes to check out Dean's alibi, Miller gets a visit from Beth, who is extremely upset that the police have not been forthcoming with information oh and by the way...she met Pierson.  He came into her place of work asking for a hunting license and just so happened to comment on what a beautiful family she has. 

Carver's work quickly clears Dean, and the security cameras where Dean and Danny stopped off for gas show a different Danny as he lifts a crossword puzzle on camera.  Miller firmly believes that she and Carver should be more open with the Solano's and Carver thinks that's just fine, showing the family the video footage and well...the result of that goes about as well as one might expect. The episode ends in haunting fashion as another uncomfortable night settles over Gracepoint and a boat floats off the coast, shining bright from the flames burning within it. 

Well, simply put this episode was loaded with all kinds of goodies.  Starting with the fact that Danny had his own dark side. Sure it isn't much yet, but the more the detectives dig, the more they will find.  But it didn't end there. It really seems that Susan Wright and Vince know something, not to mention, Vince had a creepy and terrifying scene of his own with Miller's son, there is something awful going on with these two characters, not sure I'm looking forward to the revealing of their own secrets. I had also for the most part written off our crazy psychic phone repairman, until the end of the show when that boat showed up.  He's been rambling on about Danny being put in a boat, so what exactly does he know?  

But perhaps was surprised me the most this week, was for the first time, this show actually managed some moments of levity and laughter.  The scene between Carver and Gemma was absolutely awkward and hilarious, not to mention the moment when Miller asks Carver to have dinner with her family.  After three episodes of incredibly dark television it was a welcome change, because I have a feeling that with the discovery of the boat and the hints of Jack revealing some secrets of his own...it's only getting worse from here, oh and we still have Pierson out there as well.  Until next week...

When Gracepoint ended last week on FOX, I was left sitting on my couch with my jaw on the floor over the revelation that Mark Solano was hanging out near the area where his son was murdered, on the night that Danny died.  It was an incredible twist to the show and it led us right into last night's episode.  

Shortly after this dark discovery, Mark is brought in for questioning and well...things get worse.  Mark refuses to tell Detectives Carver and Miller where he really was the night that Danny died and his alibi is quickly proven to be a lie, leading to Mark's arrest for obstruction of justice.  In fact it begins to look grim for Mark. There is blood on his boat that he even admits belongs to Danny from a fishing accident.

But it turns out that someone knows where Mark was the night that Danny died, Gemma Fisher.  She has his whereabouts on good authority since Mark spent a better part of the night with her in bed.  It of course gets Mark out of jail, but the affair he tried to keep a secret is quickly revealed to his wife and a new clue has arrived...a phone number that made it into the lining of Danny's jacket.  

I do love the little clues that this show keeps peppering us with, and how well...we really know just as much as the Detectives.  Mark for a moment seemed like a viable suspect, and is instead becoming more of a scumbag than anything else, and we are back to square one.  But as I said before, it's the little things on this show, and there is plenty going on behind the scenes.  

For example, the person to get Gemma to reveal the affair was Chloe. She was the one to send the text message that got Gemma to head down to the station and reveal the truth. And Mark's apprentice...he clearly knows something with the small amount of blood present in the back of the van.  But Chloe is quickly becoming a bigger concern. She clearly has knowledge of a great many things, and at last it looks like she will have to face the music since Carver finally asked her about the cocaine.  But the phone number is the key, whose number did Danny have? Sadly we won't find out until next week.  

But before I wrap up this recap, I think we need to take a moment and discuss Detective Miller.  She's a character I'm quickly coming to not like.  Simply because...she's not a cop. I get the small town mentality and the desire to make this as painless as possible, but quite frankly she is delaying the progress of this case. Carver is the right man for the job simply because he isn't letting anything interfere with the facts, but with Miller...it's all about handling this like a friend and I get the feeling it will come back to bite her in the ass real quick.  Until next week...

When we last left the city of Gracepoint, it was a town left in emotional shambles.  Young Danny Solano was brutally murdered and the investigation was underway and this week as we return to this seaside community, it has become apparent that Danny's murder will in no way be easy to crack, simply because well...everyone is truly a suspect.  

This week Detectives Carver and Miller get into the nit and grit of bringing Danny's killer to light, canvassing homes and expanding their search radius to a ranger station nearby, all in the hopes of getting some idea as to who was in the area where Danny met his untimely end.  As Carver focuses on the station, Miller works to clear the family of any wrongdoing but uncovers uglier secrets along the way.  Chloe had cocaine underneath her bed and Danny was hoarding $500.  

But the mystery truly comes off the rails when two big revelations occur.  One, that Mark Solano was not working on a plumbing job as he originally claimed since Detective Carver finds footage from the ranger station's security camera showing Mark at the station late at night and second, when the police get into the station they discover blood that matches Danny's blood type and while it appears the station was scrubbed clean, there is one section of the place that yields a terrifying clue, Mark's fingerprints.  

That's a quick summary of last night's episode of Gracepoint with good reason, we need to talk about the fact that everyone is a suspect and everyone is making the death of Danny Solano look like an incredible conspiracy. Especially since Jack Reinhold suddenly remembers information regarding a mysterious backpacker talking to Danny and oh yeah, Susan Wright, the lady who helps oversee the ranger station when not in use, happens to have a skateboard hiding in her home, and it so happens Danny disappeared into the night with his skateboard, but it was nowhere to be found at the crime scene. 

Yet of course the biggest revelation and the one that put me on the edge of my seat is that Mark was in the vicinity of where his son was murdered, that his prints show up in the ranger station and that despite being called out in his lie and his alibi, he refuses to tell the truth.  It's making for compelling television and sadly there are still not enough clues to begin to lead us toward a possible suspect, but holy cow is Mark looking pretty bad right now.  

What also caught my eye last night was how the show continued to strip down Gracepoint as a whole, further destroying that quaint little image portrayed last week as we begin to see the surprising amount of shady things going on in this little berg. The cocaine deals, whatever drug Carver is using to cope, Gracepoint is just another American town that is trying hard to be perfect.  That's what makes this sense of conspiracy so disturbing.  It feels as though some folks in this town will do anything to make the ugliness of Danny's death go away.  

Either way, I'm officially hooked after tonight's revelation.  I'm dying to know what the hell Mark was up to, and as much as I want the answers now, like the rest of you, I have to wait for the mystery to continue to unfold.  Until next week...

First and foremost, allow me to begin this recap with a confession, I completely missed watching Broadchurch.  I wanted to, I love David Tennant, it just never happened.  But last night as I watched the Americanized version of that show in Gracepoint I'm starting to think that might not be a bad thing.  Because I went into this version of the show free of expectations, free of clues and well...Gracepoint absolutely blew me away. 

We are transported to the tiny bayside community of Gracepoint. Everyone in this town knows one another, knows their lives and get along just fine.  In fact the town is so peaceful that the biggest piece of news to come through this time of year is who placed first at Field Day.  But our trip to this town is on the day when everything changes. Today is the day the body of young Danny Solano will be found on the beach, and his death will be ruled a homicide and his death will rock this tiny town to its core. 

I'm going to keep the summary of this first episode quick for one simple reason, "Episode 1" is the grand setup of what looks to be one hell of a ten part mini series and in fact, it would be better to take a little time to break down what this show has already done right, because it managed to pull me in quickly and it was engrossing enough that I'm still pondering over the details.  

The first thing that surprised me about this show, is how well it painted a picture and how it is a different kind of murder mystery show.  At this point in time, there are plenty of television shows revolving around murder and mayhem but let's be honest. There's a glamour and glitz to them.  The detectives are kitschy, suave and plucky despite the fact they are surrounded by death and well, Gracepoint gives us the opposite of that.  David Tennant's Detective Carver is a grizzled and bitter man, unfazed by murder on the outside but it clearly disturbs him to the core.  He is flawed, weak and complete with a past that will clearly follow him to his new town and I love the character. Granted Tennant without his trademark Scottish accent takes some getting used to, but damn, he turns in a fine performance and the great things don't end there. 

This show is visceral and raw in the presentation of what murder does to people and how it effects them. The Solano family is devastated by the news and it is done in such sublime fashion that well...so are you.  The scene where they learn of Danny's death is utterly devastating, as is the moment when Danny's father sees the body of his son for the first time.  They are moments that leave you uncomfortable and vulnerable.

Yet I think what impressed me the most, is what the show managed to say about death and murder without ever having to say it directly to us.  In the first few minutes all of Gracepoint is presented to us, and it is about as Norman Rockwell as it gets.  Everything we see is that sense of community and Americana that we all believe the world should be, and once Danny is dead, there is a rotten feeling that infects you.  You feel the world you were just introduced to, once so pure and shielded from the horrors of the real world become a part of it, and at the same time it speaks to how shielded we all are to the horrors of the world and like the people of Gracepoint, we are now knee deep in it.  

It's a brilliant and haunting show really, and thankfully it left us with plenty more on the table since outside of the pain and suffering we had to endure, the mystery is beginning to take shape.  After all, Detective Miller's son knows plenty, seeing as to how he deleted every bit of data related to Danny.  We know now Danny wasn't kidnapped and snuck out in the final hours of his short life and like the rest of you, I want to know who killed Danny.  Until next week...