Gracepoint Recap: "Episode 6"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

Well last night's episode of Gracepoint needs to have a single word attached to it, and that word is wow. This was an extremely ugly episode of the show as we head into the home stretch of the series and it featured an ending that I never saw coming.  So let's get right down to recapping, "Episode 6".

This episode was the first that oddly enough was relatively light on the clues this week. In fact, we only got two, cigarettes littered around Danny's body, and the fact that the boat that burned in the harbor with Danny's DNA on it belonged to the dad of our intrepid local reporter, Owen. Because outside of the clues this was an episode about two things, picking up the pieces and what kind of a town Gracepoint can really turn into. 

The pickup up the pieces focused squarely on Mark and Beth Solano as they begin to figure out where they go next after Beth confronted Mark about his affair with Gemma.  She of course made a point to visit Gemma and do a little vandalism to the bar at her hotel to remind Gemma to stay away, but the great debate in the Solano household revolved around if they still love one another and whether or not they want to keep the baby.  

But the big shocker of the night, for two weeks running...is Jack Reinhold.  With his story broken to the press by Owen and his sleazy writer girlfriend Renee the town immediately wonders what his intentions are with the town's children. It leads to a thrilling confrontation between Mark, Vince, Jack and a mob of the people of Gracepoint as they demand answers.  Jack finally reveals his past in detail. That he fell in love with the young girl he had an affair with and after he did his time he ended up marrying that girl, and they had a son that they lost years ago.  It's enough to get Mark to back off and the police, but not the town...or the press.  

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Yes, there is vandalism to Jack's shack on the dock and when the tale of his son and wife are brought to light in the press, it's too much for Jack to bear and he steps into the ocean to well...drown himself.  It was an ending that was simply shocking and I'm still unsettled by it today.  The actions of the town clearly show how truly ugly a place Gracepoint can be, regardless of Jack's past the town made him a pariah and in a weird way...a sacrifice. 

There's little else to break down about last night, other than Jack perhaps serves as a cautionary tale to Mark.  Since Jack also revealed the death of his son drove him and his wife apart, and man, it made for some unpleasant and unbearable television.  This really was the hardest episode of this show to watch to date, and any other little hints of things to come were irrelevant, because it looks like so much is coming to a head next week.  Until then.  

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