S03.E02: Season 3, Episode 2

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

To Ellie and Hardy, and the rest of Broadchurch CID, it becomes clear very quickly that the location of the attack and all the surrounding circumstances are going to make this an incredibly difficult investigation. Ellie and Hardy start to investigate Trish's life and talk to her ex-husband Ian, her best friend's partner Jim, and taxi driver Lucas - all of whom were in the area when the attack took place.

Edited July 6, 2017 by ElectricBoogaloo

[mledawn]

A few more sketchy additions to the suspect list.

- That taxi driver was the creeper at the end of the neighbour's driveway in the first episode - I didn't realise his vehicle was a cab during that scene, I thought he was a neighbour. His story is implausible as all get out, and he looks dodgy af. His dispatcher was great though.

- The ex-husband washing his clothes I could understand as it simplifies his situation if he's innocent, but the fact the clothes were in a closet in a duffle bag make that a bit odd. I also didn't think him turning down a DNA test was anything awful - he seemed to be a science teacher and his reasons were solid to me. Hardy was miffed about it but I'm always surprised people give up identification information so readily in shows.

- The little shit running the rope factory wasn't too suspicious to me, he just seemed like he'd watched a lot of Law and Order or something. Ellie was chapped at the pinup posters everywhere, and I can empathise, but for a small family-run business I'm not overly surprised. I worked at a factory that didn't allow that stuff 15 years ago, but it was a larger corporation.

Seeing Mark and Beth filled in some backstory for us, which I liked. Beth seems to really be doing well in her job and it was great to see her with Ellie having lunch. I totally sympathise with Mark and being just completely unable to let it go that my son's murderer is still alive and walking around. Paul is doing his best but it's an uphill battle. Speaking of poor Paul - such a nice guy and so young to feel unwanted or unable to contribute when the town isn't in a crisis state.

That smug woman at the newspaper office was brutal, but I had to laugh at the way she just wasn't biting when Maggie ramped up the crustiness. Maggie had a point - people want *their* news - but so did the other woman - physical papers are a dying medium.

I do love Hardy and Miller's relationship so much. With Trish's interview, he was the senior police and made the decision to push it. When Ellie argued, he didn't shy away from why he was making the decision. And while Ellie was seriously annoyed, she didn't hold it against him later and they trudged on.

Edited because empathy and sympathy are not the same.

Edited March 8, 2017 by mledawn

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Another week, another crop of sketchy looking people! I find it hilarious that sometimes Ellie is able to deal with people she can't stand and other times you can see the contempt all over her face. Loved Ellie telling Leo that his beer and kebab date night with his girlfriend was romantic.

Poor Trish. First she confessed to her daughter what happened and then she had to deal with the official police interview.

I don't blame her ex for refusing to hand over a DNA sample, especially when the police wouldn't tell him what the investigation was about. If someone showed up asking a bunch of questions but couldn't even tell me what crime had been committed, I wouldn't be panting to hand over my DNA either.

Mark still annoys me, but I can't blame him for wishing he had tossed Joe right off that cliff. It must be horrible for him to know that Joe Miller is just walking around alive while all that's left of his son is that 10K payment.

I love Ellie and Alec's relationship. They work well together, even when they disagree.

[Eucrid]

Jesus when she told her daughter about the rape it was heartbreaking. So far Trish has been exceptionally strong in how shes dealt with everything.

 

I agree on the DNA. With the way the big brother state is run these days it makes sense not to randomly give out your DNA. Plus he seemed completely oblivious to what had gone on. The whole duffle bag thing stank of red herring and if its not it'll be hard to work back to making any kind of sense. I mean if he'd done it wouldn't he have destroyed or cleaned the clothes much earlier?

 

Who did she have sex with that morning? Has to be an affair I think. Maybe the friends husband, the mechanic guy. He had the same pack of condoms in his car as at the scene, maybe the condom was from Trishs purse/pocket rather than the rapists?

 

Lenny Henry looks to be next weeks big suspect I reckon. I knew that girl was his daughter, they're the only black people in the whole village. lol

Edited March 8, 2017 by Eucrid

[Ravenya003]

I feel the ex-husband is being setup as the first red herring of the case: he looks incredibly suspicious, but it's too early to have a solid lead. 

But I reckon the cab driver is involved, not as a rapist but as someone who drove Trish home afterwards (she's not entirely aware of how she got home, which means he's probably covering for someone). I found the actor familiar, then laughed when I realized he was in Star Wars: TFA as the guy Kylo Ren force-grabs by the throat. 

I feel Beth has improved as a character: she was wholly sympathetic in season one, but got impossible to deal with in season two (which made ME feel bad, as naturally the grieving process is a messy, unpleasant business). Now she's actually helping someone else in need, and so far hasn't made it all about her.  

I also found myself agreeing with Mark about what they should have done with Joe. Which naturally isn't the "right" thing to think, but there are so many loathsome people crawling out of the woodwork in the real world, I wouldn't be too sorry to see a few of them chucked off a cliff. 

Best scene was Trish telling her daughter what had happened to her. That's such an awful thing to have to do. 

I had to roll my eyes when it turns out the only two black people on the show are related. 

Did they really have to have the newspaper editor woman eating while she was talking to Maggie? The poor actress looked awful as she tried to talk around the food she was eating. (Sorry, I hate watching other people eat).

[kieyra]

I'm still having a hard time connecting to the case and this season in general. The performances are excellent, but I'm just ... bored. The crime scene/party house landscape seems pretty uninspired, but they sure love the lingering shots of it. I'm not sure I want to keep hearing about Joe Miller. They made a gutsy choice in allowing the character to escape justice, and I don't mind continuing to follow the lives of the season 1 victims, but I need them to have something else to discuss. Otherwise I could do entirely without Mark, if all he'll be doing is rehashing Danny's murder. 

I understand they're saying important things about sexual assault, but using Trish's unwillingness to talk as a plot-stalling device isn't working for me. (I understand that it's likely quite realistic, and I don't mean to come off as heartless, I'm just ready for them to move things forward a bit.) 

Maybe I've watched too many of these Nordic noir shows, but the introduction of a thousand potential suspects this week seemed downright perfunctory. I also blame the over-watching of such shows for the fact that I still have a faint annoyance it isn't a murder case (although I'm sure it will turn into one). 

I'm having trouble with Beth and Ellie's friendship. I know they worked hard on bringing about a reconciliation between the two in season 2 and it made for good drama, but I don't think I could bear to be around a woman whose husband had victimized and killed my child. Even if I knew intellectually she was not at fault and was a good person. It would be like having a wound ripped open constantly.

Likewise, I'm weirded out that Ellie is using the threat of "turning out like your father" on her son. That seems like a HUGE mindfuck.

I will say that the ex-husband's fairly reasonable refusal to submit to DNA testing was a thing I hadn't seen before on cop shows, and an interesting point to consider.

[staveDarsky]

I'm a little concerned that Trish might start changing stories the way Claire did in series 2. Claire's red herrings gave a lot of fans headaches. So I hope Chibnall kept the switching stories idea to a minimum this time. One recurring thing now in all the series is someone withholding info because they think it's not important to the case or the police's business. Mark's silence on is whereabouts landed him in jail for a day in series 1. Jack's silence on his marriage ultimately led to his suicide. Hardy even covered for his wife in Sandbrook and also refused to answer Ellie's questions about an affair with Claire. So now we have the cagey suspects from the party. More of the same.

The best part is the partnership between Ellie and Hardy. He's treating her as an equal in team meetings and out in the field doing interrogations. A friend noticed that David Tennant tends to slouch down to be closer to Olivia's height when Hardy's being nice. But when Hardy's angry with her, he stands to full height. Their initial scene when he brought her coffee and she asked if he'd slept was very much one of close friends. And she got indignant on his behalf when he told her he'd only been able to get 2 detectives to help out. He's also asking her advice about parenting. And there have been tons of funny bits and snarky comments from them so far. It's a real treat. So it was a shock when Hardy pulled rank and forced the issue of Trish's ABE interview and then asserted that Ellie isn't responsible for potential further attacks as he'll be.

Katie being related to Ed is a repeat of the earlier cases when Ellie was blindsided by being so close to everyone and Hardy over-identified with Ricky Gillespie, completely missing that Ricky should have been suspected. So now we have Katie potentially trying to protect her dad plus she's already thrown shade on Trish by bringing up the drinking, I suspect from previous knowledge via her dad. Let's hope Hardy's taken his pills just before he finds out Katie's involvement or he'll have a heart attack!

[mledawn]

On ‎2017‎-‎03‎-‎08 at 3:20 PM, Ravenya003 said:

Did they really have to have the newspaper editor woman eating while she was talking to Maggie? The poor actress looked awful as she tried to talk around the food she was eating. (Sorry, I hate watching other people eat).

I felt this was done deliberately to undermine Maggie (and I am totally on board with you - the sound of people eating is cringeworthy).

On ‎2017‎-‎03‎-‎08 at 9:57 AM, Eucrid said:

Who did she have sex with that morning? Has to be an affair I think. Maybe the friends husband, the mechanic guy. He had the same pack of condoms in his car as at the scene, maybe the condom was from Trishs purse/pocket rather than the rapists?

Lenny Henry looks to be next weeks big suspect I reckon. I knew that girl was his daughter, they're the only black people in the whole village. lol

Good point on the condoms - I hadn't thought of that.

Yes, the only black people thing was eye roll-y, but also wouldn't Ellie know them for that reason? I grew up in a rural town and for a long time there was literally one black family so even though not everyone KNEW them, everyone knew who they were.

I have absolutely no idea how big/small Broadchurch is supposed to be. As someone mentioned last season, they sure have a lot of police officers and a beautiful new building... But there's the "town mechanic" and the "town plumber" and the "rope factory"... I try not to think about it too much!

[jeansheridan]

I think in season one they said about 25,000 and it swells it the summer with tourism.  Ellie also mentioned their police station covers concerts and festivals so maybe Broadchurch has slightly more police because they cover a large rural area?  The idea of having enough resources to do a proper investigation has come up in all three seasons so maybe it's a thing in England, especially in the more rural areas.

What impresses me a lot and we don't have this in California is the support for victims of crimes.  Having a police liaison for Danny's family in season 1 and then Beth supporting Trisha and being her support system even during an official interview.  And giving Tricia a panic button when she went home after the rape kit.  And then that weird $11,000 compensation for Danny's murder.  That doesn't happen in the states.  

This may change into a murder case, but I'm okay with a rape case.  I think it's just as interesting and there are so many issues you can cover around it.  Blaming the victim, whether or not the DNA evidence is accurate, being forced to rely on Tricia's shaky memory  and her feelings of shame that may cause her to lie or avoid telling the police things.  Plus Beth, Hardy, and Ellie all have teens who unfortunately need some guidance in all of this, both to protect themselves and maybe avoid being caught  up in group think.  

And I'm always impressed that Hardy and Miller can argue and be blunt and then move on without grudges.  Hardy knows she can take plain speaking.  And Ellie feels comfortable enough to correct Hardy in front of other people, such as Brian.  And when Hardy gives her the chance to say I told you so, she graciously backs his decision because it probably WAS the right decision for the community.  Maybe not for Tricia, but she tried.  

[kieyra]

@jeansheridan I assume your comments about it being a rape case are due to my comments about having trouble connecting with it.

After my couple of posts on this subject, I realized that my current favorite show, Happy Valley (another Brit crime import) has rape as the driver of much of its emotional impact, threaded through two entire seasons. They have one episode dealing with a rape victim in the immediate aftermath (where the victim is treated far less kindly by police, at least in the beginning), and it definitely affected me.

I refer here to Leonie, not Ann

 So I think there's some other reason I'm not clicking with this season/case so far, and I think my speculation that it was due to the lack of a Big! Murder! Case! was off the mark. 

Which leaves me with no idea why I can't connect. :) The actress who plays Trish is, I'm pretty sure, even in Happy Valley, and God knows I usually eat these shows up. 

I find the Hardy/Miller dynamic "cute" but not compelling. 

Something's missing for me. But I'm going to continue watching. :)

I agree with you about all the care and resources directed to the rape victim being surprising. I'd love to know if that's accurate to the area.

Edited March 12, 2017 by kieyra

[jeansheridan]

Quote

 I realized that my current favorite show, Happy Valley

I love Happy Valley so much too.  Such a gut-punch show.  And hey, you only have to suffer through 8 episodes which is why I love British television.  They don't drag things out.  

 

I agree with you that the beginning of this feels much more muted and "normal".  Season 1 had the drama of a child being killed and season 2 had the drama of the trial, plus Hardy's heart, and finally getting justice for Pippa and ...yikes, the other one.  This season we're finally seeing Hardy being more or less "normal" and seeing Ellie in her new normal.  So I agree there's less momentum.  But I can see so much potential in some of the ideas laid out.  I think the writer is pretty good.  Sometimes he gets corny (the bonfires in Season 1 and the walk of shame for Joe in Season 2), but overall I think he's pretty thoughtful.  I think he's moving on to helm Dr. Who next season, so that will be interesting.  

[madmaverick]

I've just started Happy Valley.  Don't know if it'll be too depressing for me.  Somehow I thought it was a more lighthearted show based on the name, but clearly not.

The scene where Trish tells her daughter was hard to watch.  Just can't imagine.

And I can't imagine how it must feel to have been raped, and your friends basically know you were the victim and are all talking about it while you don't really want to talk to anyone about it, and you're thinking it was probably someone in your social circle who did that to you.  Horrible.

[kieyra]

1 hour ago, madmaverick said:

I've just started Happy Valley.  Don't know if it'll be too depressing for me.  Somehow I thought it was a more lighthearted show based on the name, but clearly not.

The scene where Trish tells her daughter was hard to watch.  Just can't imagine.

And I can't imagine how it must feel to have been raped, and your friends basically know you were the victim and are all talking about it while you don't really want to talk to anyone about it, and you're thinking it was probably someone in your social circle who did that to you.  Horrible.

O/T but I had the same problem with Happy Valley the first time. The title and imagery are a bit off, you go in kind of thinking it's going to be Doc Martin with cops, and the first scene *is* pretty funny. But it gets dark so fast. What dragged me back in was the richness of the characters and setting, and the primarily female-driven stories. And that dark humor runs throughout the show. I've watched the whole thing more times than I can count now.

Edited March 14, 2017 by kieyra

[Christina]

On 3/11/2017 at 10:36 PM, jeansheridan said:

What impresses me a lot and we don't have this in California is the support for victims of crimes.  Having a police liaison for Danny's family in season 1 and then Beth supporting Trisha and being her support system even during an official interview.  And giving Tricia a panic button when she went home after the rape kit.  And then that weird $11,000 compensation for Danny's murder.  That doesn't happen in the states.  

That's interesting because I worked in the court systems of both Ohio and West Virginia and both had Advocates for the crime victims and a victim compensation fund. The fund is largely funded by a "tax" added to fines, tickets, and court costs. The Advocates must have a Masters Degree in Education, Social Work, or another one that escapes me at the moment, and are paid through the Prosecutor's Office with State funds. It's very odd that California doesn't have that and W.Va. does. Both states also have nurses that are certified rape counselors to perform the rape kits. They take extra classes on how to speak to and treat the victims, along with the proper way to take the samples of men, women and kids. Not all hospitals have them, but if an area has one hospital with the certified nurse the patients go there.

Both Ohio and W.Va have huge backlogs of rape kits, too, with them not being timely tested unless they have a suspect awaiting trial. It is an awful backlog and when some are tested, serial rapists are found. They continue to rape because they are not caught soon enough. Some of the rape kits have actually be destroyed because they were so old and hadn't been tested. Shameful.

[jeansheridan]

Sounds like Ohio and West Virginia have a better system in place except for the backlog.  There is a compensation fund but victims need to apply for it within a year of the crime.  It is meant to cover funeral expenses, crime scene cleanup, counseling.  The money comes from convicted criminals who are fined.  So yeah the funding is unreliable.  Thanks for sharing.

[staveDarsky]

On 2017-03-12 at 0:05 AM, kieyra said:

@jeansheridan

So I think there's some other reason I'm not clicking with this season/case so far, and I think my speculation that it was due to the lack of a Big! Murder! Case! was off the mark. 

Which leaves me with no idea why I can't connect. :)

I find the Hardy/Miller dynamic "cute" but not compelling. 

Something's missing for me. But I'm going to continue watching. :)

If I remember correctly, in season/series 1, the possible prime suspects were limited in number and took their turns being the focus - Mark, Jack, Susan, Nige, Tom, and Steve the psychic. Plus we had several characters who we could eliminate pretty easily - Beth, Ellie, Chloe, Maggie, Ollie, Karen White, and Hardy.

In series 2 we were flooded with various scenarios about Sandbrook thanks to Claire changing her story several times. Lots of fans complained they couldn't get into it. Add to that the nasty Sharon Bishop with a side story about her kid who had no connection to Broadchurch and the fact that Joe pleaded not guilty when everyone expected he'd do the right thing, making the court case an annoyance they thought they'd be spared.

Well, this time, Chibnall's overloaded us with a party of over 80 people, plus party staff, a lying + challenging detective constable, a shady taxi driver, and Tom who at the very least is distributing links to porn sites. Why some fans wonder if Trish is even telling the truth. We're so flooded with negative there isn't much positive to hold on to. If there's one criticism I have of Chibnall, it's that he's thrown everyone and the kitchen sink into the suspect list.

As for Hardy and Ellie, I'd have rather seen them start the case with David Tennant shaved and looking like Hardy has his act somewhat together and then let him fall back into the shabby style and poor self care.

So I can see some reason why you might not be getting into this. The hope I have is that series 2's worst episode was #3 and then it got a lot better. So for your sake, I hope that's true of this series too.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

18 hours ago, Christina said:

That's interesting because I worked in the court systems of both Ohio and West Virginia and both had Advocates for the crime victims and a victim compensation fund. The fund is largely funded by a "tax" added to fines, tickets, and court costs. The Advocates must have a Masters Degree in Education, Social Work, or another one that escapes me at the moment, and are paid through the Prosecutor's Office with State funds. It's very odd that California doesn't have that and W.Va. does. Both states also have nurses that are certified rape counselors to perform the rape kits. They take extra classes on how to speak to and treat the victims, along with the proper way to take the samples of men, women and kids. Not all hospitals have them, but if an area has one hospital with the certified nurse the patients go there.

My sister (who lives in California) was an advocate several years ago. I can't remember the exact details but I think it was for children's cases. She has a Master's in counseling. I don't think she was paid though. I'll have to ask her about it.

[jeansheridan]

I really liked season 2 more.  I liked Lee and enjoyed seeing Ellie get her mojo back.  Plus it was kind of cool seeing all their procedural blunders from season 1 bite them.  

I hope Paul gets something to do.  He is the computer teacher after all.  He may find out about those links.  Again it has to be more than just porn.  

[dragonsbite]

Aired today in the USA. (finally)


I totally love Alec Hardy!!   "If you've totally got the authority to make decisions, totally make the decision to cooperate with our request. Or we'll totally come back with a warrant. And I might phone your Dad."

[voiceover]

That was Lenny Henry?? Crap!  I guess it's because I haven't seen him for ages...another reason to crab about the lack of reruns.  Well, next time, I'll know.

Was he also Trish's boss?  If not, that makes 3 black people.  Wow: a quorum ?.

My favorite bit was after  Hardy came back hard on that millennial douche at the rope store...Ellie couldn't contain her reaction & cracked what looked like half a smile.  Adorable!

[ghoulina]

What I really love about this show is how strongly they focus on characters, on human behavior. They get so raw and real. Trish isn't just a trope of a rape victim. She is genuine and believable and I feel immense sadness for her. When she told her daughter, I just wanted to die. Such a real moment.  I also feel that conflict that the police, especially Hardy, deal with in a case like that. Of COURSE they respect that victim and don't want to make the experience any more painful than it already is. But at the same time, he feels a duty to the community to get this guy. It must be a very fine line to walk, and I don't envy the guy. 

I also love that there are so many possibilities as to who the rapist could be, and just when you think it's THIS guy.....you start to lean towards THAT guy. I was (un)pleasantly surprised that I was right from the get go with season one. I considered other people, but I always kept coming back to thinking it was Joe. This time, I don't know. I don't have that gut feeling. But I'm kind of leaning towards taxi driver, and actually that thought popped into my mind before they'd even met him and heard about his radio being out. When it was first mentioned that people were taking cabs to and from the party, I thought - taxi driver! We shall see. 

[ghoulina]

On 3/8/2017 at 8:21 AM, mledawn said:

That taxi driver was the creeper at the end of the neighbour's driveway in the first episode - I didn't realise his vehicle was a cab during that scene, I thought he was a neighbour. His story is implausible as all get out, and he looks dodgy af. His dispatcher was great though.

Ooooh, good catch. I didn't notice that. I remembered the car lingering there, but didn't notice it was a cab either. I kept wondering why this was important. Did he have a fare at the time? For some reason I remember a young girl being in the car, and I think I assumed it was Hardy's daughter, and he'd missed another lunch with her. 

That makes the taxi driver even more suspect in my mind. Plus, they happened to go out once? What was up with that? That text she received at the end tells me it's someone who knows her. A taxi driver would have your number, you give it when you arrange for a ride, no? 

 

On 3/8/2017 at 2:20 PM, Ravenya003 said:

But I reckon the cab driver is involved, not as a rapist but as someone who drove Trish home afterwards (she's not entirely aware of how she got home, which means he's probably covering for someone)

She said that the next thing she remembered after the rape was walking in a field, at almost daylight. So I think she walked home. 

But I have entertained the idea of there being more than one person involved, or someone covering for someone else. 

5 hours ago, voiceover said:

Was he also Trish's boss?  If not, that makes 3 black people.  

Yea, I think he was the manager at her store. 

[BusyOctober]

Even if he turns out to be a normal guy, I can't see Cath's husband without thinking of Bob the Battering Bastard on "Home Fires".

[2727]

It's nothing Trish has done, but I'm not 100% convinced she was raped just because the show is making a big deal out of the young detective being suspicious of her story.  It seems a bit off that Hardy and Miller aren't open to at least hearing alternate theories.

[theatremouse]

I don't think they're completely closed to it, but rather, as Ellie said, their default position is to believe and consider otherwise when the evidence lends itself. It's WAY too early to not believe just because of the time gap. Especially considering how frequently it's not reported at all, I think it's logical the show had one character question (because unfortunately in real life it's way too common to jump to not believing) and I thought it was great seeing Ellie shut that down rather quickly, not because it means she isn't open to hearing alternate theories if the evidence goes there, but because that exchange was the opposite of what all-too-often happens. To me it was a reinforced Ellie=good guy moment.

[ghoulina]

I agree. If evidence is shown that causes them to doubt her story, I have no doubt Miller and Hardy will follow it. But if you start out every rape case doubting the victim, you're going to see even less reports. Ellie handled it perfect, IMO. 

[meep.meep]

I didn't think the younger detective (who probably has a name) was questioning the rape - she wanted to know if Trish was drunk.  That could affect any identifications she made, why she waited to report it, etc.  It's a logical question to ask because of the party she was attending.   Later on we learn that she had booked a taxi both ways, so she probably was planning to drink.  Even later on, we learn that she had had so much to drink that she probably was drunk.  So, not a strange question to ask.

If you combine this with Ian refusing the DNA test, and the guy running the net factory asking why he needed to cooperate, it looks like a pattern where anyone who dares to question the two of them gets snapped at.  If I was a detective, I'd want to know what state the victim was in.  If I was asked to provide a DNA sample and the police wouldn't say what the crime was, I'd balk.  Same thing with the factory.

[Tosia]

Something is very suspicious about the party. ...is anyone else thinking sex party or s/m, or something tawdry?  IDK.  What kinds of party was it with approx 50,guys and 25 women?  

Remember that Trish said that the attacker slammed her head on the "floor", not the ground. Strange. 

[AnnieBeez]

On 3/8/2017 at 6:57 AM, Eucrid said:

Jesus when she told her daughter about the rape it was heartbreaking. So far Trish has been exceptionally strong in how shes dealt with everything.

 

I agree on the DNA. With the way the big brother state is run these days it makes sense not to randomly give out your DNA. Plus he seemed completely oblivious to what had gone on. The whole duffle bag thing stank of red herring and if its not it'll be hard to work back to making any kind of sense. I mean if he'd done it wouldn't he have destroyed or cleaned the clothes much earlier?

 

Who did she have sex with that morning? Has to be an affair I think. Maybe the friends husband, the mechanic guy. He had the same pack of condoms in his car as at the scene, maybe the condom was from Trishs purse/pocket rather than the rapists?

 

Lenny Henry looks to be next weeks big suspect I reckon. I knew that girl was his daughter, they're the only black people in the whole village. lol

She said she had unprotected sex in the morning.

[Rickster]

7 hours ago, Tosia said:

Something is very suspicious about the party. ...is anyone else thinking sex party or s/m, or something tawdry?  IDK.  What kinds of party was it with approx 50,guys and 25 women?  

Remember that Trish said that the attacker slammed her head on the "floor", not the ground. Strange. 

I have some of the same ideas about the party and the male/female proportions, especially a party for an older person where you would think most invitees would be couples, but I also find it hard to believe that so many local people could be involved in something like a giant sex party. 

[MaggieG]

On 3/8/2017 at 3:20 PM, Ravenya003 said:

 

I feel Beth has improved as a character: she was wholly sympathetic in season one, but got impossible to deal with in season two (which made ME feel bad, as naturally the grieving process is a messy, unpleasant business). Now she's actually helping someone else in need, and so far hasn't made it all about her.  

 

This. When Beth and Trish first met at the cafe, it was the first time I wasn't annoyed by Beth

[dragonsbite]

7 hours ago, Rickster said:

I have some of the same ideas about the party and the male/female proportions, especially a party for an older person where you would think most invitees would be couples, but I also find it hard to believe that so many local people could be involved in something like a giant sex party. 

I have had the same questions about the party -- was it some kind of sex party with such a skewed male/female ratio?

But just now I realized that it was Cath's 50th birthday party. And her husband said that she was going around inviting people outside of the planned guest list. The odds are good that she's the type of person to only invite men. I got the feeling that's she's a party girl, and possibly fooling around outside the marriage bed (not unlike the feeling I have that her husband has had/is having an affair with Trish).

[ghoulina]

17 hours ago, Tosia said:

Remember that Trish said that the attacker slammed her head on the "floor", not the ground. Strange. 

This jumped out to me too, but I did some research and it appears that floor was used for "ground" many centuries ago, and in Cricket, they still call the ground where they play the "floor". So it's possible it's a UK thing to use those words more interchangeably? 

[carrps]

3 hours ago, ghoulina said:

This jumped out to me too, but I did some research and it appears that floor was used for "ground" many centuries ago, and in Cricket, they still call the ground where they play the "floor". So it's possible it's a UK thing to use those words more interchangeably? 

Yeah, it jumped out for me, too, too! But since no one else in the scene even blinked I assumed it must be a synonym for ground in the UK.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I didn't think it was super nefarious that there were more men than women at the party. Thinking about all the men and women I know socially, most are in relationships but of the remaining people, there are more single men than single women. When I invite people to social gatherings, I don't take into account who's single or the M/F ratio. We aren't ballroom dancing so it doesn't really matter to me if the guests are disproportionately male (or female). But I do agree that Cath seems like the type of person who likes to party and flirt with a lot of guys so I can see her inviting more here and there as she ran into them the week of the party. 

[theatremouse]

What twigged me was not necessarily the ratio alone, it was the way she responded to the questions about it. First she said she wasn't sure how many people total. Then she said 70-80 (ok fine, reasonable range), then asked about men vs women the answer was something more like "at least 50". Specifically she seemed much quicker to answer the latter question. She seemed hazy on how many total guests she had but did not seem hazy about how many men, which itself is a little weird.

I would think as the numbers in general grow larger, it would probably start to skew more 50-50ish in general (speaking broadly not just about this party and not specifically due to heterosexual couples in attendance or the lack thereof). So if there are potentially 80 people there, OK fine 50ish men. That's a reasonable enough ratio. But if there were only more like 70 people total, and the answer is "at least 50 men" that starts to feel way more skewed. I don't remember if she actually used the phrase "at least" but the impression I got from the way she answered was definitely that there was a possibility she was lowballing the 50, and that she had a better sense of the guys there. So it's potentially more than twice as many men at a woman's 50th birthday party. If a birthday party were to be gender-skewed, I'd think it most likely to skew in the direction of the gender of the party-holder. Certainly not a given, not saying it's unreasonable for a woman to have more men at her bash, I can think of plenty of reasons why that might occur that are entirely ordinary, but knee-jerk reactionwise, it's slightly surprising, enough to go "hm."

For the detectives I think it's more eye-buggy not because it's skewed but because they probably didn't think when they started the discussion they'd have 50 suspects (although given the venue, clearly the place is used for large parties so it's not much different than if there'd been 100 people there and half men.)

[kieyra]

Yeah, I feel confident they threw out that number to make us go "oh wow so many suspects!!" and didn't think much beyond that. 

[smorbie]

On 7/6/2017 at 10:41 PM, Tosia said:

Something is very suspicious about the party. ...is anyone else thinking sex party or s/m, or something tawdry?  IDK.  What kinds of party was it with approx 50,guys and 25 women?  

Remember that Trish said that the attacker slammed her head on the "floor", not the ground. Strange. 

I caught that and I'm usually oblivious to things like that in shows.  Not in life, though, just in shows.

[Auntie Anxiety]

On 7/6/2017 at 9:33 AM, BusyOctober said:

Even if he turns out to be a normal guy, I can't see Cath's husband without thinking of Bob the Battering Bastard on "Home Fires".

Funny you should mention that because I feel the same way. I love most British shows but I usually have a problem being distracted, first with trying to identify where I'd seen a certain actor before, and then when I do recall, I can't shake the actor away from his/her former role in that particular show. Sometimes it seems like England has such a limited number of good actors; it's like the casting directors just round up the usual suspects.

[Mabinogia]

The actress playing Trish is breaking my heart. She is brilliant, absolutely brilliant. She has this amazing mix of vulnerability and quiet strength. I was gutted when she told her daughter what happened to her. I did think her daughters reaction was slightly off but that could just be shock and I can't really put my finger on what I found odd, I just remember thinking her reaction was suspicious. This show makes me think everything is suspicious.

What I don't find suspicious is the ex-husband. I don't think he had anything to do with it mostly because they were trying so hard to make him look guilty.

I don't think Trish is lying about being raped (and I love that Ellie pointed out to the little upstart that it is wrong to start out with that kind of doubt in a case like this) but I am really curious about why she waited to report it. And when she did report it, her feet were dirty, she was still all dirty and bloody like it had just happened. So could she perhaps have the timeline wrong somehow? Or did it take her that long to get home?

I am impressed by Beth. She seems to be surprisingly good at her job so far. lol And while I understand Mark not being able to just move on, god I can't imagine not only having to deal with the fact that someone you know and trusted killed your son but that that person got away with it, holy fuck that is terrible, I just can't stand Mark.

So far this is more season 1 quality than season 2 and I am very happy about it.

[ghoulina]

25 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

I don't think Trish is lying about being raped (and I love that Ellie pointed out to the little upstart that it is wrong to start out with that kind of doubt in a case like this) but I am really curious about why she waited to report it. And when she did report it, her feet were dirty, she was still all dirty and bloody like it had just happened. So could she perhaps have the timeline wrong somehow? Or did it take her that long to get home?

I think a combination of her drinking, the emotional and physical trauma of the rape, and the physical exertion to get home just plain wiped her out. She may have arrived home sometime the next day. And then, with her daughter being gone, just laid on her bed and slept/existed in a state of shock. It's very common for rape victims to totally shut down like that. Maybe her daughter's impending arrival made her realize she needed to get up and get herself together, and that included reporting the rape. 

[Chyromaniac]

On 7/8/2017 at 9:37 AM, Auntie Anxiety said:

I love most British shows but I usually have a problem being distracted, first with trying to identify where I'd seen a certain actor before, and then when I do recall, I can't shake the actor away from his/her former role in that particular show.

For me it was the newspaper lady's supervisor - I had to look her up, and finally realized that she was the "wood girl" from the creepy house episode of Doctor Who this season.

[tennisgurl]

You know, I haven't actually been to any small towns in England, but, thanks to Broadchurch, I'm convinced that its populated by the creepiest, sketchiest people on the entire planet! Everyone Miller and Hardy meets is either creepy or a jerk, and they all LOVE to stand around looking ominous. The few people they meet who aren't sketchy or jerky are clearly hiding something, usually something even worse than the secrets the creepy jerks are certainly hiding as well. I cant even decide who the rapist is, because everyone seems like they're constantly about to run off-screen to hide the bodies of their last victims.

For real though, I do like this season so far, its really gripping, and I'm thrilled that they're doing a new case, and focusing more on how people are trying to move on from Danny's murder. Last year I suspected Joe from about halfway through the season (he was basically the only person who hadn't been accused or seen acting sketchy), but I have no clue who the rapist could be this time. I don't think the ex husband did it, because if he did, I would think he would have tried to downplay his negative feelings towards his ex wife, and the fight they had before the rape. I also don't think it was the mechanic husband, just because he already seems too shady to be the actual bad guy. I'm thinking maybe we haven't even met the actual rapist yet.

I don't think Trish is lying about being raped, or about not knowing who did it, but I do think she was lying about having sex with a "stranger" on the day of the attack, and maybe about a few other details surrounding the attack. Or at least she isn't sharing everything she knows. I think she slept with her friends mechanic husband, and that's why he's acting so weird, and why she freaked out when asked who she slept with.

I feel for Hardy trying to find the rapist as quickly as possible, while also being sympathetic towards Trish. He is really trying to be understanding and sensitive, but he also knows he needs to get this guy off the streets as quickly as possible, so he cant hurt anyone else. Honestly, Hardy is being WAY nicer than he would have been in, say, season one.

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

I do think she was lying about having sex with a "stranger" on the day of the attack, and maybe about a few other details surrounding the attack. Or at least she isn't sharing everything she knows. I think she slept with her friends mechanic husband, and that's why he's acting so weird, and why she freaked out when asked who she slept with.

My first thought was the husband/ex (are they properly divorced? I can't remember) since he didn't want to give his DNA. Like he knew it might be on her. I mean, the reason he gave was perfectly valid. Why would you want your DNA on record for something when they won't even tell you what it is about, but I watch a lot of L&O and know that on TV it's never that simple. lol

[tennisgurl]

6 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

My first thought was the husband/ex (are they properly divorced? I can't remember) since he didn't want to give his DNA.

I'm pretty sure the husband/ex said they were separated, but he didn't get into it much. I hadn't thought of that, but that's a really good idea, it would especially explain why the husband didn't want to give his DNA to Miller and Hardy. I mean, his explanation totally made sense in a real world sense (they wouldn't even tell him why they wanted his DNA, but I would think he might be able to guess), but on TV, people who don't give their information to the police are ALWAYS hiding something. Of course, the people who are super eager to give their info away have just as a high a chance of being the bad guy, so who knows? I do wonder, though, why she would care so much about the police finding out she slept with her ex. I can see him wanting to keep it a secret, because he has a new girlfriend, but why would she care? It doesn't seem like she and her ex are getting along very well, would she care that much about messing up his new romance? Maybe shes worried he would get blamed for the rape, and she doesn't want him to go to jail?

Edited July 11, 2017 by tennisgurl

[Milburn Stone]

On 3/8/2017 at 8:39 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Mark still annoys me...

No one annoys me more than Ellie. She's been super-patronizing to Trish ("you're doing really really well now, you really are," when no, she's not doing really really well); and every time she jumps down Katie's throat, I'm on Katie's side. "We don't call them victims, she has a name!" Well, when someone is the victim of a crime, yes, victim is the name we give them. Katie's being professional.

Just as she is when she asks if Trish had been drinking. What was Ellie's response: "I'm going to pretend you didn't ask that question!," or something like that? Trish's state of inebriation is relevant! (Hardy and Ellie admit as much with their glances when Trish begins to list for them everything she consumed. Her being drunk doesn't mean a rape wasn't committed, but it is information useful to the investigation! Katie was right to ask about it.) I'm not convinced that Katie being the daughter of Ed means anything yet as to her professionalism. (Unless she has reason to believe he is a suspect, in which case she should have disclosed the relationship to her superiors.) As far as I'm concerned, from what I've seen so far, she'd be the better partner for Hardy. 

(Except then, with two actual professionals on the case, there wouldn't be the dramatic "conflict" we have now.)

Edited July 11, 2017 by Milburn Stone

[smorbie]

On 7/11/2017 at 1:20 PM, tennisgurl said:

You know, I haven't actually been to any small towns in England, but, thanks to Broadchurch, I'm convinced that its populated by the creepiest, sketchiest people on the entire planet! Everyone Miller and Hardy meets is either creepy or a jerk, and they all LOVE to stand around looking ominous. The few people they meet who aren't sketchy or jerky are clearly hiding something, usually something even worse than the secrets the creepy jerks are certainly hiding as well. I cant even decide who the rapist is, because everyone seems like they're constantly about to run off-screen to hide the bodies of their last victims.

For real though, I do like this season so far, its really gripping, and I'm thrilled that they're doing a new case, and focusing more on how people are trying to move on from Danny's murder. Last year I suspected Joe from about halfway through the season (he was basically the only person who hadn't been accused or seen acting sketchy), but I have no clue who the rapist could be this time. I don't think the ex husband did it, because if he did, I would think he would have tried to downplay his negative feelings towards his ex wife, and the fight they had before the rape. I also don't think it was the mechanic husband, just because he already seems too shady to be the actual bad guy. I'm thinking maybe we haven't even met the actual rapist yet.

I don't think Trish is lying about being raped, or about not knowing who did it, but I do think she was lying about having sex with a "stranger" on the day of the attack, and maybe about a few other details surrounding the attack. Or at least she isn't sharing everything she knows. I think she slept with her friends mechanic husband, and that's why he's acting so weird, and why she freaked out when asked who she slept with.

I feel for Hardy trying to find the rapist as quickly as possible, while also being sympathetic towards Trish. He is really trying to be understanding and sensitive, but he also knows he needs to get this guy off the streets as quickly as possible, so he cant hurt anyone else. Honestly, Hardy is being WAY nicer than he would have been in, say, season one.

There are a few reasons for that.  He's not new to Broadchurch anymore and he's accustomed to the way of life there.  It's helped him learn how to handle people.  He's also not sick. It's really hard to be patient and understanding with others when you feel so bad.  And finally, Ellie has tempered him.  As they've adapted to each other, they've learned to take the best qualities from their partner and incorporate those qualities into themselves.