Grantchester (2014) s06e08

So, “Grantchester” has already been renewed for season seven, which might be the first time ever “Grantchester” hasn’t given the impression of being a bubble show. At the beginning, I think it was Robson Green who wasn’t sure about signing up for a new ongoing; then it would’ve been James Norton, but apparently, Green’s over it, and they got another season before this one premiered.

Because some big things go unresolved and unaddressed this episode. They make swings at moving certain story elements along, but then others they just pass ahead or just use to cliffhang. Big, ginned up cliffhanger this episode. The lackadaisical attitudes of the last few episodes all of a sudden make a lot more sense.

There is some capital-A acting from Green, who completes his arc with war “buddy” Shaun Dooley. Green drops all the truth bombs on Brittney—the unspoken things between Dooley and Green everyone has been asking about since Dooley’s first appearance—and the show finds an unexpected potential avenue amid the regular ones. Who knows if it’ll play any better, but it’s some character development, which isn’t there for pretty much anyone else.

Everything with Brittney is on hold; even when Kacey Ainsworth calls him on not actually being a good vicar to Green, it doesn’t lead to anything; it’s just Ainsworth moving some of the pieces into position for later. There’s a tiny bit with Brittney and new curate Ahmed Elhaj, but it’s mostly a retraction for Elhaj. Turns out he’s got to be more likable if they’re getting another series.

And then Al Weaver and Oliver Dimsdale can wait for then too.

The case involves a singer—Michelle Greenidge—with an abusive husband, Tristan Gemmill. It ends up being a far more compelling mystery than it seems, even if John Jackson’s script falls apart during the finish. It’s like Jackson had a good mystery but didn’t know how to write anything around it, not for the case or suspects, not for the regular cast members either. Maybe it’s a Rona episode. It’ll be too bad when things can’t get a rubber stamp for being Rona episodes.

There are good moments, particularly for Green, Brittney, Weaver, and Dooley, but it’s too rushed, even if they are getting another season. And they’re making broad strokes to cover all the unfinished threads.

Some absolutely fantastic little moments for Nick Brimble and Tessa Peake-Jones too.

It’s going to be a longer wait for next season than usual.

Grantchester (2014) s06e07

This season of “Grantchester” has been very much about helplessness and hopelessness. It’s even worse watching it from the present, knowing the U.K. didn’t “legalize” homosexuality until 1967 for consenting adults over age twenty-one. So the central conflict of this season cannot have a cheerful ending. But after this episode, a hopeful one seems possible.

After avoiding Al Weaver’s experiences in jail, this episode’s mostly about them. Even when it’s not about them—war pal Shaun Dooley proves a continued bad influence on Robson Green, including Green lying to wife Kacey Ainsworth about hanging out with him. She disapproves of the relationship, not Dooley. The jail plotline factors in. Green and Tom Brittney are investigating a case in jail, including inmates in solitary confinement, which pushes Green further into his bad memories of a Burmese prison camp.

Green working through his PTSD, specifically how he drinks to avoid working through it, has been one of the season’s other subplots. His alcoholism has again become a problem, one he won’t let anyone help with. Even with the hopeful, less helpless ending, it’s hard to imagine how they’re going to get Green to a good place in two episodes for the season finale. But “Grantchester”’s definitely doing a fine job with the character development arcs running underneath the weekly murder mysteries.

And after the last episode setting new curate Ahmed Elhaj up to be a shitty person, this episode turns him into the straight man for the jokes. Brittney’s trying to be nicer to him even though home doesn’t feel like home without Weaver. So there are some awkward, genial scenes for them. Then there’s also Emily Patrick—Brittney’s step-sister—crashing at the vicarage and doing whatever she can to make Elhaj feel awkward.

The Patrick subplot feels entirely shoehorned in and even then truncated like they cut some material from the subplot. At one point, Brittney’s saying she can’t move in. In the next, she’s already there.

The episode mystery’s particularly effective because it involves Weaver’s fellow inmates, most of whom are apparently just gay men being persecuted by the government, then tormented by guards and prison administrators. Hence why it all feels so hopeless.

There’s some excellent character development from Weaver, who’s superb. He doesn’t actually get a lot to do—the development’s presumably setup–but what he gets, he excels with. Excellent work from Green and Ainsworth too. The season’s plot threads are working out exquisitely. Save the Patrick subplot, but that one’s at least funny now and no longer cringe-inducing.

Daisy Coulam’s script and Jermain Julien’s direction are also outstanding. It’s a very strong episode.

Grantchester (2014) s06e06

This episode toggles between being a thankless bridging episode and a reminder late fifties England wasn’t just a hotbed of homophobia–there’s also a bunch of rampant, violent misogyny. Plus, old people are bigots. Plus, religious zealots are different kinds of bigots, even if they’re Black. Religion… an intersection of garbage. Though religious nonsense does often sound pretty when spoken aloud, which is what the episode ends up leveraging in the finale. But it’s mostly just a bridging episode.

Three significant issues get development.

First, “Grantchester” manages to find Tom Brittney a sexual liaison so tawdry and ill-advised, it’d make former vicar Sidney Chambers blush even though Sidney was a man-slut. It’s actually such an obvious big swing it’s shocking Robson Green didn’t respond to Brittney’s revelation with a, “wow, not even Sidney would’ve done that.” It’s a weird personality and character development bit for Brittney (seriously, they got rid of intrepid girl reporter Lauren Carse for this romance?). Though some of the illicit behavior is well-acted. Not enough but some.

Second, guest star Shaun Dooley is back to help Green realize being a shitty old white guy isn’t cool, actually. They don’t deal with any of the overarching copper versus crooked lawyer stuff, but they do introduce Dooley to Green’s wife, Kacey Ainsworth, and their oldest daughter, Skye Lucia Degruttola. Ainsworth and Degruttola love having someone around to tell them about Green’s war days because he’s still suffering too much from his untreated because it’d be unmanly PTSD. Whereas Dooley’s a sociopath and is okay talking about it. Poetic too. It’s kind of a good arc for Green, kind of not. He and Dooley don’t have any chemistry as pals, so even though the episode rushes Brittney and Green patching things up (they’re fighting about Brittney being a spoiled rich kid again), it’s welcome. Especially since Green’s pissed Ainsworth likes Dooley and is shitty to her.

Finally, the episode introduces Ahmed Elhaj as the new curate. He’s second-generation Black British, parents from Nigeria. He’s got to suffer Brittney being rude because Brittney didn’t want to hire anyone, and Elhaj was assigned. And then there’s Tessa Peake-Jones being racist. Elhaj’s super-sympathetic until we find out he’s a shifty bigot out to correct wayward, ungodly Brittney and company. The hard cliffhanger is the reveal of his villainy.

I haven’t even talked about the mystery plot, which is basically just fifties dudes being rapey, murdery, or otherwise just shitty. It’s indistinctly unpleasant and overly busy. Green also lets a murder accomplice get away, and it doesn’t even matter in the grand scheme, not with all those little schemes going on.

It’s not a terrible episode, just an inauspicious first outing from writer Tolula Dada.

The season was on a continued upswing, but this episode loses the plot. Or maybe “Grantchester” just isn’t “Grantchester” without Al Weaver.

Grantchester (2014) s06e05

Half this episode may be setting up for a regular villain—at least semi-regular villain—arc for the rest of the season. “Grantchester” doesn’t do Moriarties. Or, if they do, I’ve forgotten all of them. But the potential return nemesis isn’t important—not even to Robson Green, who has to sort of shrug it off—because it’s Al Weaver’s trial for gross indecency. The episode, written by show creator Daisy Coulam, with Jermain Julien directing, does a lovely job. It’s absolutely devastating stuff, but it’s also lovely to see how Weaver’s gotten to fully realize this character and his growth.

Especially since there are finally scenes for Tessa Peake-Jones to have the hard conversations she’s been avoiding for seasons on end. The episode starts with Kacey Ainsworth having organized several other progressive people (all women) to support Weaver. She’s trying to get Peake-Jones to come along but doesn’t have much success. Worse, Peake-Jones is against husband Nick Brimble standing up to testify for Weaver as a character witness. Brimble doesn’t get a lot of heavy lifting to do on “Grantchester” and doesn’t here either, but he does a splendid job with what he gets, and it carries through the entire episode. There are great arcs for everyone—except Green, who’s got a weird confidence in the legal system to be empathetic to gay people.

But it’s Weaver, Peake-Jones, and Tom Brittney’s episode. They’ve got to navigate through time period constraints and overcoming personal prejudices constraints and just plain shitty realities constraints. At moments it’s nearly aspirational. Weaver has some particularly accomplished scenes, though there’s the caveat the scenes witness him experiencing trauma. It’s all either heartbreaking or rending. And it’s done superbly well.

Julien goes all out on directing the mystery plot, which has Green and Brittney trying to figure out what’s up with a hinky bank robbery. The guy—Tyger Drew-Honey—seems off, so does the guy who gets robbed (Phill Langhorne). Thrown into the mix of the day is Green’s old Army chum Shaun Dooley showing up to represent someone at the station. Then shitbag copper Bradley Hall toggling from being gleeful at the idea of Weaver’s trial and desperately flirting with actual cool lady Melissa Johns. It’s not even a question of her doing better; it’s a question of her not dating pond scum. Fingers crossed it’s not a future subplot.

The mystery’s fine, but it’s busy work to distract—literally since Green has to do copper stuff and not go sit in support of Weaver—and then it’s all a setup for, presumably, a returning villain. At least it looks great, and Green’s arc is good. Brittney’s just along for the ride, though he does have the “eureka” moment to solve it all. Albeit thanks to Weaver.

It’s a great episode. Weaver’s season arc is anguishing stuff, and they handle it just right.