'Broadchurch' Recap: 'Series 3 - Episode 6'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

​After weeks of giving Hardy and Miller plenty to digest when it comes to who may have committed the atrocious crime against Trish Winterman, it would seem that Broadchurch is finally done with its slow burn style of storytelling since last night’s episode kicked the story into overdrive. After all, we finally have a suspect in custody, one that seems to have evidence stacked against him and his reveal was surrounded by tense and heartbreaking moments that made this hour fly by. Which means we have plenty to discuss when it comes to this one, so let’s get right down to it. 
 
In fact, let’s start with the biggest bombshell of the night, the all-important suspect, and as it turns out, the first solid lead in the case didn’t come from an unexpected clue or a confession from someone with a guilty conscience. No instead, it came from a single angry moment, one that we witnessed last week when Ed beat the living hell out of Jim and wouldn’t you know it…Ed turned out to be the prime suspect in question. Because after being arrested for assaulting Jim, a quick search of his office and the rest of the store revealed all kinds of damning evidence against Ed.
 
The notorious blue twine was found everywhere on the produce that Ed sells, plus…the exact kind of greeting card that was left on Trish’s doorstep with a bouquet of flowers was found in his desk (with matching fingerprints) and it didn’t end there. Ed’s phone was full of thousands of pictures of Trish…and he even admitted to being completely and utterly in love with her. While all of this doesn’t necessarily mean he committed the crime, none of this looks good in the slightest, in fact it looks extremely bad for the man, and his obsession with Trish certainly could help Hardy and Miller uncover a motive for this awful, awful crime.   
 
However, in between that incredible mess, another powerful storyline took place, the one involving Mark and Joe Miller. Because years after Danny’s death, the two finally met face to face and Mark finally got the answers he’s been looking for when it comes to the fateful night he lost his son, and unfortunately for Mark…the truth about Danny’s death may be more than his soul can ever handle since it would seem his quest for answers has completely and utterly broken him. Not only did he spend a fair amount of time dreaming of Danny as a young man with his whole life ahead of him, he apparently has given up on life in general since the closing moments of the episode featured him drifting away in the ocean…
 
Hopefully, that isn’t the end for Mark Latimer. Despite his breakdown this season and flaws in general, he’s a character that quite frankly is owed better considering how his story arc over the past three seasons has gone, so I guess we will have to wait and see if Mark will ever receive some kind of redemption. But that dark ending along with everything that came before it, just goes to show how powerful this episode was and this story only intensified my desire to see justice for Trish. I’m dying to know if Ed is indeed the criminal Hardy and Miller have been searching for. I’m still curious as to Ian’s involvement in the whole mess and it should also be interesting to see if Ed’s relationship to DC Harford will have any bearing on the case as well. Either way, this is the best episode that Series 3 has offered up to date and it should be interesting to see where we go from here since the grand finale of Broadchurch is right around the corner. Until next time.

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