Season 2 Discussion

[whatsatool]

Well no way a vicar that handsome wouldn't have filled pews.

[dubbel zout]

Also, his sermons seem pretty accessible.

 

The woman who played the widow was absolutely stunning. 

[HoodlumSheep]

I feel bad for that one young detective guy at the police station. He never gets to have any fun. Got told to stay put by a vicar.

I wonder if he harbors any resentment toward Sidney, because I take it if Sidney wasn't around then he'd be the one getting to go galavanting around everywhere on police adventures...

My older brother watched this episode with my mom and me. He's already thrown in his two cents about the end of the show: the last murder mystery is going to revolve around Amanda murdering Guy and of course Sidney won't believe it to be possible. :P

My brother has quite the imagination when it comes to these shows (probably because they get to be so soap-opera-ish). He and I were both on Team "Bates goes on a murder spree in the final episode of Downton, murdering everyone..."

Sadly that last prediction didn't pan out.

I don't know. So far I'm not enjoying this season as much as last season. I wish they'd just come out with it on what's up with Geordie; I feel like his predicament is beginning to drag and it's only Episode 2. :(

Also, those were some terrible spies. "Here's the plan: Let's stand out in the open in broad daylight and watch this spy exchange go down. Nothing suspicious about that."

?? They all could have been picked off so easily. They should be fired.

Edited April 4, 2016 by HoodlumSheep

[TheFinalRose]

I love this show. Grant-ed I thought the subject matter of the first episode too sordid for our clerical hero ... and last night's episode lost me completely with the spies and the interchangeable Eddie Redmayne-lite actors playing the Cambridge students.  I was confused.  But I like when Amanda shows up because I enjoy their star-crossed love story.  I don't necessarily like the police station secretary who dined out with Sidney. She strikes me as an actress just waiting for her chance to play Jackie Bouvier Kennedy in yet another depiction of the Camelot years.  I do not want to see her end up with him.  

 

For me, I am so grateful to have something besides that insipid Downton Abbey to watch on Sunday night.  I have spent the last three or four years so pissed off at the adulation given that show. I prefer the tone and the setting and the time period in Grantchester ... I don't look for its flaws.  

[LaChavalina]

So his whole...thing that's going on is some major PTSD then? Or is there still more? 

From the way Geordie talked about the dead husband's lung cancer, it seemed like he's also concealing some health issue... I don't know if that's just a reference to his PTSD or another issue yet-to-be-revealed.

 

 

Also, those were some terrible spies. "Here's the plan: Let's stand out in the open in broad daylight and watch this spy exchange go down. Nothing suspicious about that."

I got a good laugh out of the fact that pushing a dude off a cathedral was supposed to impress the Soviets. I think they'd be far more impressed if you killed people in a way that drew a bit less public spectacle...

[7-Zark-7]

 

From the way Geordie talked about the dead husband's lung cancer, it seemed like he's also concealing some health issue... I don't know if that's just a reference to his PTSD or another issue yet-to-be-revealed.

 

And the shot of Geordie doing his push-ups with "I must stave off death" face is also a pretty big clue.

 

I realize that this is a drama set in Oxford with a vicar and a dog, but I never expected it to be cozy. I like the darkness of this and find it more similar in tone to "Endeavor" than "Miss Marple" or "Father Brown" -- both of which I enjoy but I like the gritty touch here too. Then again, I really love "Vera" and "Happy Valley" and those shows would hurl a molotov cocktail at a vicar holding an orphan kissing a dog in the first scene.

 

Amanda's hubby is horrible. Just like her dad. She saw signs of it when he immediately accused the black man of ring stealing last season, and she said it made her ill then. Did she think he'd improve once he had her signed sealed and delivered? I'm guessing the marriage was a business deal to make her father happy and secure his position financially, but she can tell her daddy to start busking because Guy is not worth it.

 

Also, No hitting Sidney in the face.... ever! 

Edited April 5, 2016 by 7-Zark-7

[attica]

Also, those were some terrible spies. "Here's the plan: Let's stand out in the open in broad daylight and watch this spy exchange go down. Nothing suspicious about that."

 

Aw, it is such a pretty location, at the boathouse. It'd be a shame to do that scene in darkness, however much plot-sense it would make! ;)

[dubbel zout]

The moonlight glinting off the water, the sound of the waves gently lapping at the pier, spies waiting tensely in the shadows...

 

I imagine the budget doesn't allow for much nighttime shooting.

[AnnaMayWong]

I think that without the backdrop of war, getting critically shot has made Geordie more conscious of his mortality and the ease with which life could end. Having a wife and young children just amplifies that awareness and concern for not only himself but also his family.

Once again, Amanda's ODDLY incessant 'Seeing Sidney' is annoying. However, is it based on more than infatuation and curtailing any probable Sidney romances with others(❓).

Once again, Sidney, ALSO, is to blame for 'Amanda Amour' luring. He's not some romance novice. And, he knows that Amanda is, now, a married woman. For whatever reason(s), romantic,financial,..., Amanda CHOSE Guy. Sidney is quite aware of this. So, Sidney needs to 'butt out'. Sidney often deliberately places himself within Amanda's purview-- chasing her.

I don't mind that some episodes are a tad or so gritty. But, I do mind boring irritating romance plotlines, miniscule humorous ancillary character plotlines, diminished mystery and mystery-solving plotlines, and other(hey, Geordie! ) curtailed relevant plotlines.

In addition, must Sidney always have drink in hand. Yes, he's 'coping', but some of the alcohol reliance/alcoholism could be implied.

______

Edited April 5, 2016 by BookElitist

[caligirl50]

The music at the end when Sidney was giving the private sermon to the woman in the wheelchair was gorgeous.  The music has been used before but I just love it.  James Norton is a complete babe. Amanda knows she screwed up and married the wrong man.  I don’t mind her so much, I just wish she would make a decision instead of putting Sidney in the middle.  He’s done nothing wrong. He should tell her how he feels and then get on with his life.  She won’t divorce Guy, that’s for certain (wasn’t divorce scandalous in those days).

I didn’t like Hildegard (at least, I didn’t like the actress they cast) so happy for now that she is not in picture.

[MrsE]

 

I realize that this is a drama set in Oxford with a vicar

 

 

It's set in Cambridge.

 

And to a previous poster who referred to someone being pushed off a cathedral - that was the chapel of King's College.

[zxy556575]

I just wish Sydney could have managed to not look so damned guilty when Guy came in. He and Amanda were sitting at a table in the parlor, having tea, fully clothed. Mrs. Maguire was with them and Leonard was also hanging about.

 

Did Guy specifically tell Sydney last season never to see Amanda again? I don't remember, just the fight and aftermath when Sydney was drunk and made a spectacle of himself.

 

Aaaanyway, the writers shouldn't have made Amanda so annoying and uptight if they were expecting viewers to 'ship her and Sydney as the OTP. His obvious happiness at seeing her again made me shake my head in disappointment.

Edited April 11, 2016 by lordonia

[magdalene]

I liked this episode better because I found the case less yuck! and more intriguing. However, the continued Sidney/Amanda saga and Sidney's continued involvement with the poor schmuck from the previous case is giving me serious doubts about my ultimate enjoyment of this second season. I know how things were during that time period in England. Gary is bound to hang. They hanged people back then with much less evidence than they have here. Actually, the last person executed in England turned out to be innocent and that was the reason the death penality was abolished  I believe.

 

So there is so much misery and angst coming with this story line. Also, I am not liking Geordie very much right now.  First he condones the torture of a suspect, and then he smacks  that woman around because she dared to be upset over her husband's violent death. 

[AnnaMayWong]

Y'all, I'm sorry(well, not really), Sidney deserved that punch in the face. He IS tacitly encouraging Amanda. He is complicit in the flirt-like dance in which they are both engaged.

Luv the housekeeper's biting, sarcastic, and truthful remarks about and to Amanda.

I canNOT stand that squinting scrunched facial distortion constantly expressed by Sidney.

I agree with an earlier poster. Geordie's heavy-laden looks and almost manic manner of exercise (pushups) seemingly indicate negative news/ knowledge.

I don't find the police station secretary to be off-putting at all. Sidney needs to DATE quite a few women with varied personalities and outlooks including bold, non-faux-self-effacing SINGLE women.

_____

Edited April 6, 2016 by BookElitist

[LaChavalina]

I imagine the budget doesn't allow for much nighttime shooting.

 

And yet a substantial part of this last episode seemed to be devoted to fancy aerial shots.

 

And to a previous poster who referred to someone being pushed off a cathedral - that was the chapel of King's College.

Either way, I think the point stands. Spies don't often tend to bump one another off in such very conspicuous (and, it turns out, easily witnessed) ways.

[nara]

But I like when Amanda shows up because I enjoy their star-crossed love story.  I don't necessarily like the police station secretary who dined out with Sidney. She strikes me as an actress just waiting for her chance to play Jackie Bouvier Kennedy in yet another depiction of the Camelot years.  I do not want to see her end up with him.  

 

LOL--I was also thinking of Jackie Bouvier when I saw that actress, but I actually like her.

 

I know I'm in a VERY small minority here, but I really like Amanda and Sidney.  I think the actors have a lot of chemistry together, and although I think they're idiots for not defying convention to be together, I empathize with her sense of duty and his unwillingness to tempt her away from her duty/wealth.  It's obvious that she regrets her decision, but even breaking an engagement would have been an issue for someone of her social standing--let alone a divorce.  I disagree with the people who say she's stringing Sidney along.  I think it's more a matter of her being unable to resist meeting him.  That being said, they really need to shut it down and not be so obviously mooning over each other.  If that means they have to avoid each other for a while, they should do so.  Guy is a jerk, but I cannot blame him for being angry at their behavior. 

 

As for whether Amanda would make a good vicar's wife, I don't think we've seen anything about her other than as "Sidney's love interest" to know for sure.  She does seem equally comfortable among the country folk and the glamorous set.  She also seems to be willing to do her duty (as evidenced by her marriage), but not willing to do it wholeheartedly (as seen by her continued mooning over Sidney)-- so my best guess is fairly neutral on her duty as a vicar's wife.  However, I think she'd be happier as a vicar's wife (if her husband were Sidney) than she can ever be as a society bride.

[magdalene]

I doubt in that time period Sidney's community would accept a divorced woman as his wife. Unless her inconvenient husband would conveniently get himself killed off or something. Maybe Amanda could bump him off - then she could be both a case and a love interest for Sidney, LOL.

[Sonja]

Y'all, I'm sorry(well, not really), Sidney deserved that punch in the face. He IS tacitly encouraging Amanda. He is complicit in the flirt-like dance in which they are both engaged.

Luv the housekeeper's biting, sarcastic, and truthful remarks about and to Amanda.

 

I'm a few eps ahead, so I'm not going to comment too much, but while I agree about both of them being idiots, there were two things in my mind when this ep was aired: the look on Amanda's face when she was in the car and Guy walked off with Sidney & Guy punching Sidney without preamble along with his behaviour in a later episode makes me wonder if Sidney is the only person at the wrong end of his temper.

 

And no, I don't think he deserved that punch in the face because hitting someone never solved anything except for the urge to hit someone.

 

Also, Amanda wasn't dragged to Grantchester against her will and as someone else also commented Mrs. M and Leonard were present as well, so why resort to violence instead of stating right then and there that he doesn't appreciate them meeting up?

 

I doubt in that time period Sidney's community would accept a divorced woman as his wife. Unless her inconvenient husband would conveniently get himself killed off or something. Maybe Amanda could bump him off - then she could be both a case and a love interest for Sidney, LOL.

 

Maybe he lets his beard grow long enough to trip over it and fall down the stairs ;-) Although I doubt Amanda would love to get involved in the community as much as a vicar's wife probably would have to. BTW, what happened to her 'being allowed' (*gag*) to keep her job?

Edited April 6, 2016 by Sonja

[AnnaMayWong]

I don't condone violence-- I was very disturbed about Geordie roundly slapping that widow. I certainly hope that spurt of hitting doesn't indicate something disturbing about his personal life.

If Guy is beating Amanda then she should be protected and he should be punished. And, yes, I am cognizant of the era in regards to spousal abuse against women.

[dubbel zout]

I imagine the budget doesn't allow for much nighttime shooting.

And yet a substantial part of this last episode seemed to be devoted to fancy aerial shots.

I was thinking about that when I wrote the original comment, and I'm sure the close-up stuff on the tower was done in a studio—they're not going to risk their main actors like that.

 

I don't know if CGI is cheaper, but some of the far shots of the original climbers didn't look real.

[proserpina65]

I think that without the backdrop of war, getting critically shot has made Geordie more conscious of his mortality and the ease with which life could end. Having a wife and young children just amplifies that awareness and concern for not only himself but also his family.

 

I think that some of whatever is wrong with Geordie has to do with his wartime service in Burma.  When the widow started shouting in her native language, it seemed to me to trigger something in him which provoked the slap.  Her behavior wasn't anywhere hysterical enough to warrant a physical reaction.  (Not that I blame her for yelling - her husband's body was right there.)  And certainly his treatment of her in the scene in the victim's house was off.

[proserpina65]

I don't condone violence-- I was very disturbed about Geordie roundly slapping that widow. I certainly hope that spurt of hitting doesn't indicate something disturbing about his personal life.

If Guy is beating Amanda then she should be protected and he should be punished. And, yes, I am cognizant of the era in regards to spousal abuse against women.

I wouldn't have had a problem with Geordie slapping the widow had she really become hysterical, because sometimes physical action is the only way to stop a fit of hysterics.  And I mean just one slap and not a hard one at that.  But she wasn't hysterical, just upset, and his behavior was uncalled for, out of character and, to me, provoked by her use of her native language and not her emotional state at all..

[7-Zark-7]

 

Y'all, I'm sorry(well, not really), Sidney deserved that punch in the face.

 

If Guy thought Sidney had a punch coming, he should have done it out in the open in front of everyone. His all smiles in front of the public act before taking Sidney around a corner to sucker punch him is just creepy.

[zxy556575]

I wouldn't have had a problem with Geordie slapping the widow had she really become hysterical, because sometimes physical action is the only way to stop a fit of hysterics. And I mean just one slap and not a hard one at that.  But she wasn't hysterical, just upset, and his behavior was uncalled for, out of character and, to me, provoked by her use of her native language and not her emotional state at all..

 

And he didn't slap her -- as shown, it was a powerful backhand blow. Really disappointed me as well.

[MrsE]

 

 

Either way, I think the point stands. Spies don't often tend to bump one another off in such very conspicuous (and, it turns out, easily witnessed) ways.

I was just offering information.  More worrying was the fact that the men were supposed to be looking out over The Backs, but the fall was onto Kings Parade, at the other end of the chapel.

[Trey]

 

I wouldn't have had a problem with Geordie slapping the widow had she really become hysterical, because sometimes physical action is the only way to stop a fit of hysterics.  And I mean just one slap and not a hard one at that.  But she wasn't hysterical, just upset, and his behavior was uncalled for, out of character and, to me, provoked by her use of her native language and not her emotional state at all..

At first I thought he hit her to keep her back from seeing how dreadful her husband looked - cruel to be kind; but now I believe you are correct that it was her speaking Burmese that set him off.

 

When the season is so short already I don't know why they have to shoehorn in so much angst and PTSD; the series would be great if they just shared a friendship and solved mysteries together.  That would suit me just fine.

[elle]

I wouldn't have had a problem with Geordie slapping the widow had she really become hysterical, because sometimes physical action is the only way to stop a fit of hysterics.  And I mean just one slap and not a hard one at that.  But she wasn't hysterical, just upset, and his behavior was uncalled for, out of character and, to me, provoked by her use of her native language and not her emotional state at all..

At first I thought he hit her to keep her back from seeing how dreadful her husband looked - cruel to be kind; but now I believe you are correct that it was her speaking Burmese that set him off.

 

I read it as both.  He was trying to keep her away, saying more than once that her husband was in no condition to be seen; she then began to scream at him and  he slapped her.  I did wonder what she had said and if he had understood that language but the show did not go into that.

 

 

When the season is so short already I don't know why they have to shoehorn in so much angst and PTSD; the series would be great if they just shared a friendship and solved mysteries together.  That would suit me just fine.

Me too.  And send Amanda on a World Cruise while they are at it!

Edited April 7, 2016 by elle

[Driad]

Is there a site that has the information on Sidney and Geordie (war experience etc.) that viewers learned in season one? I missed some of those episodes but do not want to be spoiled for the rest of season two. Thanks!

[Sonja]

Is there a site that has the information on Sidney and Geordie (war experience etc.) that viewers learned in season one? I missed some of those episodes but do not want to be spoiled for the rest of season two. Thanks!

Don't know about a page, this is what I remember. I think Geordie actually talks most about Burma in the season 2 finale and that's only a few sentences. From Sidney we know that he was in the Scots Guards and he lost a man when he gave the all clear and a German soldier was still there and shot the young guy. Sidney shot him when it was clear he wouldn't make it  but was in a lot of pain. He didn't send the boy's sweetheart the letter he had written because his blood was all over it and Sidney didn't think anyone should see that and still keeps that letter in a drawer in the vicarage. This was told partly in flashbacks, partly when Sidney told Geordie about it in the hospital at the end of season 1.

Hope that helps.

[nara]

I like Amanda, but it does seem odd that she didn't take some initiative with Sidney.  Was she unsure of his feelings, or just too much of a "lady" to be more forward with him? 

 

I get the impression that Amanda and Sidney put each other on a pedestal--which is at least partially why neither one has taken action.  She has had a crush on him for years and doesn't think of herself as very attractive (her Roman nose and all).  She knows he loves her, but the fact that he has never said anything plays on her insecurities.  By the time he says anything non-platonic, she's already engaged.  On the other hand, once they meet again after several years, he's aware of her sophistication and social class and doesn't think he's good enough for her.

 

The person I worried for after that was Amanda actually:) Seriously, if she has smoked Sidney's cigarette as I think she has & moves ahead with marrying Guy (upper class marriage in 1953), I wonder what Guy would think of her not being a virgin.       

 

I don't think they've done anything remotely close to "smoking cigarettes".  I don't believe we've seen them do anything other than kiss on the cheek (at least as of the latest episode I've seen) and even that was with her archly giving him permission to do so.

[magdalene]

I don't think this show is for me any longer. I thought this was going to be a mystery series about a vicar and detective teaming up and befriending each other and solving mysteries along the way.  Not some tedious soap opera about said foolish vicar and his "star-crossed romance" with the fickle upper-class married woman who leads him around by his dick. And after learning from one of my British friends that 

a pregnant Amanda dumps her husband and moves in with Sidney at the end of the second series I thought to myself - good riddance and good bye.

[Zahdii]

I'm also considering bowing out for the season.  If the third season is more like the first I'll probably return, but so far I've only seen the first episode of the second season and I didn't like the direction the show was taking.

[HoodlumSheep]

My mom and I re-watched The very first episode of Grantchester last night.

Simpler, happier times.

I miss it. A far less serious tone. Hildegarde. Reminded of why I can't stand Amanda--all the heavy flirting and meetings and picnics and then pow! Oh, look I'm engaged now! Yeah they were just "friends" at that point but the heavy flirting, etc. kind of cancels that out.

I also liked the better mix of his religious duties with solving crime. Nowadays I feel like we get a sermon of the week and that's about it. In the first episode you had a lot of smaller things that added to it--him trying to type a sermon, him getting ready for church, his comment about breaking the 8th commandment when he stole Hildegarde's husband's diary...just the small things that added a lot of charm.

[statsgirl]

 

I like Amanda, but it does seem odd that she didn't take some initiative with Sidney.  Was she unsure of his feelings, or just too much of a "lady" to be more forward with him?

Sidney told her his feelings and she told him that she was going to accept Guy's proposal because while she had feelings for Sidney he didn't have any money and she wanted to marry a man who had money and could afford to give her nice things.  (At that moment, she became deadtome.) Probably that's why we see her talking about having an interim maid when the regular  oneis off duty, to demonstrate all the things Guy's money is buying her.

 

She really is a piece of work, refusing Sidney because he doesn't have money but not being willing to let him go either.

 

I don't think this show is for me any longer. I thought this was going to be a mystery series about a vicar and detective teaming up and befriending each other and solving mysteries along the way.  Not some tedious soap opera about said foolish vicar and his "star-crossed romance" with the fickle upper-class married woman who leads him around by his dick.

I liked the show when I first saw it.  Mysteries, bromance, dark secrets.  I loved him with Hildegard and I was so excited to learn that he marries her in the books.  I was checking to see when season 2 would start.

 

The one element I hated was Amanda and I was glad when she married for money (gold-digger!) because I thought she'd be off the show now.  No such luck.  Hildegard is now completely gone and Amanda is hanging around like a millstone around the show's neck as well as Sydney's. It doesn't matter if every other person on the show keeps saying that he needs to dump Amanda, she's still always around and the writers won't let Sidney move on to someone else, maybe because they think that Sidney in love with a selfish married woman is what I want to see. It's not.

 

I read the ending of s2 and I'm grateful for spoilers. I'll keep watching if there's nothing better on but I'm no longer invested in this show.

[ComeWhatMay]

I read what happens too. I want to see for myself & then reevaluate my judgment. I love the setting & era so I am likely to stay until the end regardless of any perceived narrative bobbles.

I cop to a more sympathetic view of Amanda. My mother was not much younger than the Amanda character. Not to get too personal, but she entered a marriage at the behest of her father. The end result was not good. That generation, never mind class, was different. It would have taken serious gumption to toss Guy & her family for Sidney with what little she had to bank on with Sidney -- no counter proposal & I don't count that picnic spiel -- & with Sidney's issues. You did what you were told. Sidney was not an option to her father. There were others like her young brothers to think of & who knows what is really afoot with her father's finances. He is dour & taciturn & her mother is dead. When he seems all you have, you will tolerate a lot. The conversation Amanda & Sidney had in church after she saw him in a towel, let me know who really wanted Guy. Amanda's attitude toward the trappings of life with Guy seem like me to be of consolation for the dearth of real feeling rather than showing off. It's all perspective, though, & I bring to it what I do.

I wonder about any man who marries a woman with clearly deep feelings for another. Guy didn't need money, was of the social set & surely could have snagged himself another daughter from among his father's pals. I can't see in the writers minds, but Guy reminds me of a college acquaintance's abusive ex-husband what with taking Sidney behind a wall to hit him. The guy only put bruises where they could be concealed & was so charming that the woman's parents did not know about the abuse until she was able to leave & file for divorce. She is free of the man today.

Amanda has the life, house, money & clothes her father wanted for her & him & she's miserable. Life with a crime solving vicar she actually loves must look pretty good to her from where she is. Sometimes you need to know what the alternative is. The single life I live was not such a thing in the 50's. I'm not mad at her.

[zxy556575]

My reading of Amanda is that she would have been just as unhappy if she had married Sydney. Too poor, cut off from her family, can't really go out and kick up her heels without doing damage to her husband, not so much interested in the mundane troubles of village parishioners, dealing with her husband's PTSD and drinking, etc.

[statsgirl]

I agree, Amanda would have been unhappy and resentful with Sidney and I can't see her caring about the parishioners problems like Hildegarde did.  (I draw my understanding of the vicar's wife from the books of D.E. Stevenson.). She wanted it all.  And while she does merit some sympathy, much of her problems are her own doing.

 

I think of my own mother. In 1945, as the borders were being shut down, she jumped on a train with just the clothes on her back to travel to a city she didn't know to attend medical school.  She came from a family that was very well-off pre-war but she scrubbed floors to get the fees she needed and starved and froze because they couldn't afford fuel or enough food but she made it through med school.  She did whatever it took to be the person she wanted to be. (Not meaning this as implying anything other than post WWII, young women did have options.)

 

I'm sorry Amanda is trapped in an unhappy marriage but she's not really trapped, divorce was invented for the English monarch.  If she's not willing to give up Guy's money then at least she should give up Sidney and let one of them find happiness.

 

I'm in the one-thread-for-each-season group too.

Edited April 10, 2016 by statsgirl

[beadgirl]

 

Yes, I recall the father making it clear that she would be disowned and cut off from her young brothers if she didn't marry well. So it wasn't purely a gold-digger situation

Then she needs to grow up and accept that and find some other aspect of her life that's fulfilling (children, art, charity work, her brothers, etc.).  It's not fair to Sidney to keep him on the hook, and it's not fair to Guy -- jerk that he is, he still doesn't deserve a wife who won't honor her commitment.  I really find her quite frustrating, because despite the pressures and compromises she faces she is still far more privileged than most of the women in the world. 

[Writing Wrongs]

I really want to like this show, but I just don't. I don't find any of the characters likeable, especially Sidney. 

[whatsatool]

Film noir this episode? Actually why couldn't Amanda be a vicars wife?

[HoodlumSheep]

My family cackled when Amanda's smile got wiped off her face near the end. That's how much my family and I can't stand Amanda. I wish she would have been chucked in jail for stealing those gloves and then we could have been done with her. Also, I was hoping she was the one who killed the guy with the car.

Leonard is still an adorable cupcake. Oddly enough though, I have a feelig that him and that guy aren't going to work out somehow.

Poor Margaret. She deserves better than Sidney.

Hugs for Mrs. M!

At least Geordie didn't punch/slap some undeserving person this episode, although it looks like he and Sidney are back to arguing next week.

Getting tired of the weekly sermon of the week ending every episode. It's gettig too repetitive.

Edited April 11, 2016 by HoodlumSheep

[ComeWhatMay]

"Thieving debutante." Good one Cathy. Some choose to wallow in misery rather than take the necessary steps to improve their lives. I knew an Amanda type rather well.

Margaret is like a bandaid. It's really not how you let go of someone else. It's really unfair on Sidney's part. Admit to Margaret your head is not on straight so she knows what's up & may opt out. Tell Amanda to go back up town & stay there. Find a way to let go of Amanda & then start anew with another.

Edited April 11, 2016 by ComeWhatMay

[photo fox]

Amanda is The Worst.  I have no sympathy for her whatsoever.  Geordie was right on the nose when he told her that if she cares about Sidney, she'd stay away.  HoodlumSheep, there was much cackling in my house as well during that final scene.  Mrs. Landed Gentry, you got married.  You abdicated any right you may have had to be upset about Sidney's dating life.

 

My dad, when the widow was stripping Sidney's shirt off to clean up his shoulder, "he's going to have a whole gaggle of them!"  lol

 

I iked the case of the week, and thought it was a nice twist that the widow did it all for her stepdaughter, not any of the men.  So often it's a romantic/jealousy reason.

 

As usual, I had to shake my head when Sidney turned his back on a killer with a gun to make a phone call, rather than getting the hell out of there.  I know he was attacked by the man, who wasn't even a suspect, but still.  There's a murderer in the house, Sidney.  Put your back to the wall.

[HelenBaby]

I really want to like this show, but I just don't. I don't find any of the characters likeable, especially Sidney.

  

Yeah my SO said at the end that this show is intense. But James Norton is so nice to look at.

Film noir this episode? Actually why couldn't Amanda be a vicars wife?

Because her dad sort of forced her into a marriage for money. It looks like she got the gumption to change things a little too late.

I do think that Leonard's headed for a terrible consequence to his dalliance with this guy, whoever he is. There were terrible punishments for being gay back in the 50's. So I fear he's either going to end up in jail or that guy will try to blackmail him. He's so sweet though I'm going to hate whatever it is that trips him up. (Please excuse all the misuse of prepositions. Too tired to rewrite it at this time.)

[sinycalone]

I have zero sympathy for Amanda.  Geordie gave her the right advice....leave Sidney alone.  Instead, she headed right for his house....again.

 

I loved Margaret's answer to Mrs. M...."I'm just in it for the sex!"

 

I think Margaret could handle it if Sidney told her he was still confused, but was trying to work his way out of the muddle.  She doesn't strike me as the fragile type.  (I hope I'm right.)

[magdalene]

I really like Margaret and she is sure to be the next victim on the altar of the toxic Amanda. Bleh.

[statsgirl]

Last season, Grantchester was a mystery show.  This season it's a soap opera with a weekly mystery.

 

I liked that the wife was trying to help the stepdaughter. That was one toxic man.

 

I think we are supposed to feel sorry for poor Amanda, so sad that she shoplifts gloves even though she has more pairs at home than she can use.  The problem is that she's not a sympathetic character.  "I don't know why I took them here in Grantchester instead of at home in London."  Let me tell you why , sweetie, it's because in London Sidney wouldn't know.

 

Sadly, Sidney doesn't seem to be much better.  As he was getting caught in the toils of the widow, I thought "Please don't reproduce with Amanda."

 

Film noir this episode? Actually why couldn't Amanda be a vicars wife?

A vicar's wife has a role too. She needs to be able to organize church functions like fetes, she 's a substitute social worker she holds things together.  Last season, when Sidney wanted to go up to London to solve a case, Hildegarde told him to go on, she would handle things in Grantchester.

 

Amanda is exceptionally ill-suited for that role. Nor would she be okay to have him leave a date to solve a case like Margaret was.

[buttersister]

I almost laughed when murdering stepmom started stripping Sidney. Is it in his contract to take his shirt off in X number of episodes? Not complaining, except that it seems to take the soap opera angle to make it happen.

 

I'm mighty fond of Geordie and his wife. But far less fond of the sermon of the week---like a coda to the episode. No thanks.

[nara]

I did feel sad for Amanda at the end, but I also think she needs to move on from Sidney and let him move on. I do think there was some element of wanting to be rescued that led her to steal in Cambridge, not London. She's being manipulative, and that I don't like. Her positive reaction to Georgie and his wife did seem genuine though. I like the bonding between Geordie and Amanda. He's only ever seen her as the woman Sidney is stuck on for some reason, and now I think he has a better understanding of her inability to stay away. I still hope that Amanda and Sidney are the eventual endgame, after some serious growing up on both parts, and addition romances on his side, but I recognize that I am in a small minority there!

Did anyone think the victim looked like an older, less handsome Sidney. I thought something would happen related to their similar build and coloring, but that went nowhere...

I liked that the widow was a Femme Fatale under the guise of a meek wife. I was actually a little afraid that Sidney would succumb. He is a bit of the sly dog that Georgie calls him--he seems to fall for women quite easily, but in a shallow way. I rolled my eyes when she asked him to take off his shirt, but I liked that he modestly took it off partially only. Interesting that Sidney found the mother more appealing than the "poor little me" daughter that might have been more attractive to other men. I as glad to see that he was manipulating her and not genuinely succumbing. However, she did get to him when she forced him to admit his feelings for Amanda. It appears that finally sharing his feelings for Amanda out loud is what enabled Sidney to move on...

I like Margaret, but I think she's even less suited than Amanda to be a vicar's wife in a small town. I understand wanting to mouth off to Mrs. Maguire, but she needs to filter her thoughts. I am really afraid that Sidney is using her. It's after the sexy convo with the widow that he shares a passionate kiss with Margaret and that felt less about any interest in her and more about his needs. However, it does seem that they will continue dating for a white, which would be good for him. She's fun and direct and goes after what she wants. He could learn something from her.

I'm really worried for Leonard, but I look forward to more storyline for him.

Edited April 11, 2016 by nara

[attica]

Is it in his contract to take his shirt off in X number of episodes?

God, I hope so. Especially if X=All.

 

My ipod shuffled up to Robson & Jerome's cover of "Little Latin Lupe Lu" during my commute this morning, which got me imagining Geordie watusi-ing with Cathy.