'Broadchurch' Recap: 'Series 3 - Episode 8'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

Well my dear friends, we have come to the end when it comes to Broadchurch. Not only in regard to the current and powerful storyline, but when it comes to the series as a whole. That’s right, last night’s episode was indeed the series finale, which made the conclusion of the Winterman case, bittersweet  to say the least. Sure, there's joy to be found in that the person that committed this heinous crime was finally brought to justice, but in reaching that point…we also say farewell to a fictional town that has meant so much to us.
 
But before we say our goodbyes to Hardy and Miller, let’s revisit the closing of this case because after discovering that Clive Lucas’ DNA was all over the sock…everything came to light. We learned that Ed was innocent after all, and that his obsession with Trish as of late was related to the fact that the heard the crime in question being committed and he wanted nothing more than to protect her to make things right. We also learned that Jim and Ian were in the clear as well…because after plenty of pressing on Clive, it turns out that Leo Humphries was the mastermind behind this whole nightmare, and he forced Clive’s step-son Michael to commit this disgusting act.
 
Leo as it turns out, worked hard to become Michael’s absolute best friend, taking the isolated and lonely teenager under his wing to mold him into Leo 2.0. That included a series of events that made it clear that Leo believes women are property/objects to be used and eventually…his tutelage led to the assault of Trish Winterman, and that was merely the beginning when it comes to the horrible things he has done. Because taped to the back of his desk, was a phone in his name with videos of four other assaults on the device, one of which included Laura Benson, and while it was supremely satisfying to know that Leo was going to go away for a long time because of this, it was equally chilling to see how unrepentant he was in the matter since he seemed to not understand in the slightest the crimes he had committed

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​Yet, with this being the series finale, it wouldn’t make sense for the story to simply solve the crime and fade to black. This is a series that has been poured over and analyzed for its intelligent storytelling and rightfully so for that matter. So, it needed to provide proper closure for its loyal audience and it did that by bringing us the best possible finale to the entire Latimer storyline that kicked off this powerful series…in realistic fashion. Because Mark and Beth both came to the realization that they were a couple in love but in different places in their lives and in order to ever be together again or find any semblance of happiness, Mark had to heal and the only way he felt he could accomplish that was to leave the town and put himself back together.
 
If anything, that decision and Mark’s departure truly gave me pause simply because, it brought the series around full circle. Sure, it’s been a powerful examination on violent crime and what it can do to people that are victims of it, but really…at its core, Broadchurch is a story about life, and loss and how we handle that loss. Some folks recover quickly, like Ellie Miller, who did everything in her power to turn her life around after Joe killed Danny and others simply cannot let go of the pain, as was evidenced with Mark’s journey this year and well…it’s wonderful for a television series in a genre where often times the bad guy is captured and the story moves on to show us that sometimes, the pain lingers, the memories remain and the void of a loved one being gone forever can haunt us.
 
However, despite that being quite the heavy message, the closing moments of the show, were also a fine reminder that despite the pain we experience…life does go on. There’s a tomorrow waiting for us regardless and what we do with it matters more and that’s why I’m supremely sad that this show has come to its end. Because any series that can remind us that how we live is just as important as how we remember those we’ve lost is a cut above the rest and I’m thankful that I was able to enjoy a tale this refreshing, filled with characters that jump off the screen. Either way, our time in Broadchurch has come to an end, and it was an experience, that I will never forget…   

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