Grantchester (2014) s08e04

“Grantchester” toes an interesting line with religion and religiosity. It avoids it. Yes, the show’s full of religious imagery, complete with beautifully lighted sequences where Tom Brittney gives a lovely sermon and it’s never about being shitty; it’s always about how God’s actually all for the gays and so forth. Because, besides Brittney and Al Weaver, all of the characters on the show are functionally atheists. Even the extremely religious Tessa Peake-Jones. She doesn’t believe the way Brittney and Weaver believe.

It comes out this episode big time with Brittney. Turns out he lied to Charlotte Ritchie last episode, and he’s not okay; he’s not getting better—even worse, we find out God doesn’t talk to him anymore. Now, no spoilers, but we will find out some things about how God speaks to Brittney. Good tortured expression acting from Brittney; if writer Helen Black wasn’t trying to make a certain point, however… well, it’s concerning. Or is it just going to be about the de-faithing of England. Or it’s just a story arc and not a big deal.

God abandoning Brittney is a story arc because they need to get Brittney moping. “Grantchester” was infamously about a mopey vicar who got drunk, listened to jazz, and bedded many, many women while mooning over some shallow girl. Brittney isn’t that mopey vicar. He doesn’t have the mope down, not as an actor, not as a character. When Brittney mopes, it feels like he’s overstepping—“Grantchester”’s supposed to be an ensemble now, and his moping is getting in the way. Also, he’s not being self-destructive; he’s just moping.

He’s not even listening to jazz.

Good mystery this episode. One of Weaver’s halfway house residents turns up dead. Santo Tripodi plays the victim. Halfway house troublemaker Narinder Samra is a too-obvious suspect. “Grantchester” has been letting Samra simmer nicely in the background for a couple episodes, and it really pays off here–Samra’s phenomenal. See, even though the town wants the halfway house gone, when Brittney and Robson Green start investigating, they learn these men mostly just lost their way after a war. So it’s a very personal case.

And let’s not forget Peake-Jones’s husband, Nick Brimble, is paying for the halfway house, which Weaver started after deciding he didn’t want to run his cafe (which Brimble also paid for), leaving boyfriend Oliver Dimsdale to run the cafe and be a photographer. Weaver’s got a tough arc this episode. They leave it open, too, so hopefully, we’ll get some more material for Weaver and Dimsdale before the season’s done.

There are only two more episodes, so if it’s not a subplot by now, it won’t be a subplot.

It also seems like Ritchie won’t figure in prominently, which is too bad. Especially since Brittney’s just moping instead.

Anyway.

Good supporting performances from all the suspects—David Rubin as the guy with a locked room alibi, George Brockbanks as an old collar of Green’s, Jessie Bedrossian as the one female resident in the house, who might be causing love triangles. It’s a really good mystery–definitely the best of the season, with a great finale.

And Simone Lahbib’s still around. She joined last episode as Weaver’s maid, who now gets into competitions with Peake-Jones, which is hilarious. It gives Brimble a little more to do than usual. He’s still mostly an accessory, but he gets to keep pace with an amped-up Peake-Jones.

Outside the ending, which just foretells more sad Brittney… it’s a stellar episode. Director Rob Evans and writer Anita Vettesse cook up a model “Grantchester.”

Grantchester (2014) s07e06

Something’s obviously going on when this season finale’s murder mystery is about halfway through the episode. The mystery’s sequel to a previous episode this season; a copycat killing has happened, only Robson Green didn’t give out some of the details, so it can’t be a copycat. The plotting is trope-y but not the details. There’s still some real personality to it.

There’s also a Christian fundamentalist psycho killer (run, run, run away) on a show about a vicarage. It works better than the last time the show dealt with problematic godliness (a homophobic Black curate from a British colony). It’s also exceptionally terrifying because there’s one of the Grantchester flock out to off the unsuspecting vicar. I don’t think. Considering Tom Brittney’s once again a failed Grantchester vicar this episode—he gets blotto, smokes cigarettes, but doesn’t listen to jazz because he knows he can’t handle that life—it’s nice he gets to do something for the first time in the series.

While the entire second half of the episode, which includes a fast-forward epilogue, is about closing “Grantchester” down enough if it doesn’t get another season, there are also some shoehorned-in threads while the murder mystery’s still happening. Tessa Peake-Jones gets her season-long cancer plot resolved, with, unfortunately, some very middling writing for her. The show skipped important parts of her story since the last time she got a subplot, and they don’t make up for it here. It’s the season finale, and it’s outstanding business, so let’s get it resolved, however abruptly.

It’s a particular bummer for Peake-Jones and Al Weaver’s relationship, one of the season’s early focuses. During this episode’s first act, he’s oddly disconnected from her plot, which makes sense pragmatically—he’s got an entirely new subplot this episode to finish off his season and, potentially, his character—but not in terms of narrative.

Weaver’s new plot is caring for the unhoused people in town, an arc he kind of started a few episodes ago, but they never did anything with until now. Thanks to Weaver, an amusingly overwhelmed Oliver Dimsdale, and a lovely Nick Brimble, it works out okay, but it’s still a rush job.

Green’s got the truncated mystery plot, little bit of action, little bit of family comedy. It’s not a lot (though he gets some good material in the epilogue), especially if it ends up being the last episode.

Brittney’s non-murder mystery-related plot involves apologizing to Charlotte Ritchie for being a shitty suitor as she prepares to leave forever. Ritchie gets a couple adorable scenes with son Isaac Highams, who’s appropriately wiser than the adults when needed. Ritchie has a good half episode, though the resolution’s a little contrived before the epilogue.

The epilogue does bring back Brittney’s family, who went unmentioned this season even though last season had set step-sister Emily Patrick as some kind of recurring character. Maybe they just couldn’t get the whole supporting cast together because of Covid-19.

It’s a nice finish to the season, with some very sturdy acting from Green throughout. Thanks to Christian serial killers and fast-forward epilogues, Brittney gets an easier character development arc than the last episode implied. Still, he’s definitely come into his own as a new kind of Grantchester vicar.

Especially if they get another season. It’ll be too bad if they don’t, but it’s also a very nice conclusion and setup. No playing chicken here.

Oh, and besides an actual “Sidney” name-drop at one point, there’s also a lovely, old school Grantchester river montage (to help the fast forward along). It’s a very “Grantchester” finish.

Grantchester (2014) s07e05

“Grantchester” is rarely as subtle when focused on character development than in this episode. Credited to Richard Cookson, the script weaves leads Robson Green and Tom Brittney’s romantic woes underneath the mystery A-plot, which isn’t a surprise. The surprise is just what the episode will do with the result; the episode goes from being a relatively traditional outing to Brittney’s most significant episode of the season in terms of character development.

Since there’s been no mention of his family—specifically his inappropriately amorous step-sister—this season at all, and with this episode resolving Green and Kacey Ainsworth’s two seasons-long troubled marriage arc, it feels like “Grantchester” has settled all business from before this season.

After an amusing introduction to the eventual murder scene, the episode begins with Green and Brittney getting together a picnic for Green and his kids. Charlotte Ritchie brings the kids over, and she and Brittney have a little talk about their encounter last episode. He’s after friendship, she’s after romance, they’re going to go with the former.

Only then his latest ex-girlfriend, the very engaged Ellora Torchia, appears and tells him she’s left fiancé Michael D. Xavier (who’s also Green’s new boss). Does Brittney want to run away with her?

Before Brittney can process this new information—Torchia and Xavier have been missing from “Grantchester” the last couple episodes, with Green usually just missing Xavier at the office—there is, of course, a murder. And the suspects are Brittney’s pals from the old folks’ home, Bruce Alexander and Anna Calder-Marshall. They’ve done a runner, making them the (very unlikely) prime suspects.

The episode juxtaposes Alexander and Calder-Marshall’s almost entirely offscreen adventuring with Green and Ainsworth, and Brittney and Torchia. There are some comparisons so obvious even the characters remark on them, but it’s usually understated. Green and Brittney have a friendship arc—Torchia’s return makes things awkward for Green at work—but they’ve also got a class one separate from any romantic partner quibbles. Green and Ainsworth’s plot will have some of those class issues running under it as well; it’s an incredibly well-thought-out plot.

No wonder there’s no time for Tessa Peake-Jones and Al Weaver. Weaver doesn’t even appear in the episode, and Peake-Jones only gets a couple short scenes, including a fantastic one opposite Green. They rarely get enough time together, so it’s very nice when they do. There’s a quick check-in on her ongoing season plot, which at least comments on Brittney’s character development arc (if not directly affecting it). Weaver’s presumably just off at the cafe. “Grantchester” seems to have forgotten how to do six-episode seasons after getting eight last time. They’re out of room here.

This season started with Brittney maybe prematurely acting like a “real Grantchester vicar” (meaning jazz, booze, and man-slutting), and it turns out he might not actually know how to lead that life. But thanks to the major changes to the characters’ situations in the last season or three, his inadequacies might run even deeper.

There’s one episode to go, and the show’s operating with a mostly clean slate now, so it’ll be fascinating to see where they go. Especially since they’ll be setting up the prospective eighth season.

Some outstanding acting this episode from Green, Ainsworth, and Ritchie. Great guest spots from Alexander and Calder-Marshall. And Torchia and Xavier, who presumably won’t be in town much longer, both have their best episode here.

It’s such a good episode the omissions don’t matter. Well, as long as they don’t bungle the finale, I suppose. But they’re going into it far stronger than I’d have expected.

Grantchester (2014) s07e04

The mystery plot is particularly good in this episode. And it's all about the vicarage. Maybe the location was busy for the first two episodes of this season; they're very much back to services, with Tom Brittney giving a couple sermons. He's also potentially hiring a new curate (Tom Glenister, briefly returning from last episode). Brittney takes Glenister to visit Al Weaver, which is just set up for Tessa Peake-Jones's subplot. She still hasn't told anyone but Weaver about her cancer diagnosis.

"Grantchester"'s got alternating C plots this season: there's Peake-Jones and cancer, then Robson Green and Kacey Ainsworth's marital woes. This episode starts with Peake-Jones as the main subplot, switches over to Green and Ainsworth, then is back to Peake-Jones for the finish.

It balances out nicely—with some great acting from Peake-Jones and Nick Brimble (as her husband)—because the Green and Ainsworth subplot echoes in the main mystery plot.

The victim this episode is the husband of one of the church ladies, who Brittney thought he knew well, only to discover they've all got secrets from him. Except for Oliver Dimsdale (Weaver's beau), the lone dude in the group. Louiza Patikas plays the controlling leader of the group, with Lauren Douglin and Sophie Fletcher as her chief sidekicks; Alaïs Lawson is the youngest, a French girl who Patikas micromanages the most.

Brittney thinks he knows all of them, only for the murder to reveal he's completely unaware of what's going on with his parish. Green's even surprised at how out of touch Brittney is with the goings-on amongst his most needful "customers." Though at this point, there's no longer mention of Brittney not hanging around the station to help Green with investigations; Green's new boss doesn't put in an appearance this episode (or last), and junior officer Bradley Hall is back to hanging on Green's every potential compliment.

The mystery reveals things about the victim, the victim's wife, and the three other women in the church group; lots to unravel, lots of well-acted drama. Patikas proves a deeper character than implied initially, and she's terrific. The murder arc ends up far more haunting than it originally seems like it'll turn out.

It also ties into the Green and Ainsworth subplot. Brittney and Charlotte Ritchie are convinced all Green and Ainsworth need is a nice night out and set them up, unknowingly, on a double date. Ritchie realizes Brittney sometimes defaults to vicar behavior when things go wrong and right for certain attendees, making him less than sincere when he needs to be. Unfortunately, the episode leaves that development hanging for next time, instead toggling back over to Peake-Jones's. It's an okay move (the Peake-Jones subplot does take precedent), but they seem to be dragging out Brittney and Ritchie's flirty friendship.

Even with the frayed subplots, it's another good episode. Though it's only a six-episode season this time, so they're nearing the finish, and almost everything outstanding is very outstanding.

Grantchester (2014) s07e02

The episode begins with Tom Brittney drunk, talking to God about his engaged-to-another-man girlfriend (Ellora Torchia), and Brittney has finally become the vicar of “Grantchester.” Even if there still aren’t any scenes with him doing any services. Brittney’s also running low on consoling excuses to explain his presence at the police station to new boss copper Michael D. Xavier.

Xavier’s a stickler for the rules.

And apparently, a wet noodle with the ladies because Torchia’s his fiancée, and she’s trying to get Brittney to keep their affair going indefinitely. Brittney’s trying to get her to leave Xavier, then the episode’s murder investigation gets him reconsidering the liaison. Well, the murder investigation and their inability to keep their hands off one another even in inopportune locations.

Like I said, he’s finally a real Grantchester vicar.

The episode establishes its other big subplot—Robson Green (still living with Brittney in the vicarage and listening to the bedposts bumping in the next room) is again failing to show estranged wife, Kacey Ainsworth, he can take care of the kids. Ainsworth has gotten so busy at work she’s brought in her niece, Charlotte Ritchie, to help out. Ritchie’s a widow with an adorable tyke of her own and a far more appropriate love interest for Brittney; they become fast friends in the episode, both being fans of Green (on his better days), but it’s unclear if there’s any actual chemistry.

Ainsworth’s work subplot—which involves an attentive male coworker (Ryan Early) who Green can’t stand—introduces the murder A-plot. Local cleaning supply maven Kirsty Besterman is telling the salesgirls at Ainsworth’s department store how to best promote the product and then has to leave suddenly. Something’s happened to her husband, Rob Pomfret.

Pomfret soon is calling the police—Green takes the call, even though it’s his day with the kids, and Brittney tags along. Turns out Pomfret got hurt while over at the local madam’s establishment, which introduces said madam, Rebecca Lacey, and one of her girls, Boadicea Ricketts, as suspects.

In addition to wife Besterman.

There’s a lot of back and forth about marriage from the female perspective, which gets both Brittney and Green thinking about their current romantic troubles. Lots of good acting from the guest stars. Besterman and Lacey in particular.

Meanwhile, the C plot involves Nick Brimble being convinced wife Tessa Peake-Jones is having an affair. He confides in Al Weaver, who takes it upon himself to investigate, discovering a far different but still profoundly consequential truth. Lots of good acting on that plot; Weaver and Peake-Jones get some fantastic scenes together.

And then Ainsworth, despite getting to start the A-plot, has a good arc of her own, including making a new friend in capable police secretary Melissa Johns.

It’s a very full episode; Daisy Coulam gets the script credit, and she packs in a whole bunch, including introducing presumably recurring Early and Ritchie. In addition, Ricketts has her own son, adorable tyke Ace Gill, who helps make her an analog to the other mothers on the show.

So very full, very affecting episode. Lots of deep feels and not just on the soapier subplot.

Grantchester (2014) s07e01

There are some significant changes in “Grantchester” at the start of this season; some are continuations of last season’s subplots, others are not. New curate Ahmed Elhaj is gone already, getting a brief mention from Tessa Peake-Jones somewhere in the first five minutes, then nothing. Actually, vicar Tom Brittney doesn’t do any Church of England work this episode, though he does come into his own as the Grantchester vicar. He’s done with flirtations with comely reporters and odd relationships with his stepsister; he’s moving into pure Sidney Chambers territory and picking up ladies at jazz clubs.

Ladies who turn out to be engaged.

It’s kind of amazing Robson Green doesn’t comment on the behavior. Maybe Peake-Jones will someday. It’s like they gave Brittney a James Norton script.

The episode starts with Green and Brittney hitting a new jazz club and Brittney dancing with mystery woman Ellora Torchia. Green goes to work instead, where overqualified secretary Melissa Johns mentions a commotion for Green to remember later on once the murder investigation kicks off. Green’s living in the vicarage with Brittney, still separated from his wife, Kacey Ainsworth.

The most entertaining character development is Al Weaver, the former curate who got outed and jailed last season; thanks to Nick Brimble (Peake-Jones’s well-enough-to-do husband), Weaver’s now got a cafe. And he’s a beat poet. After a season of Weaver suffering trauma after trauma, the episode opens with the promise of beat shenanigans and then delivers them later on, and it’s delightful.

Weaver’s subplot about the cafe opening has Peake-Jones helping him decorate; she’s not thrilled with his interior decorating, and the feeling’s mutual. It’s the nicest subplot, whereas Green and Brittney’s personal life subplots have no easy resolutions. Not an episode in any way.

Green wants to make grand gestures to win Ainsworth back, while Ainsworth just wants him to help out with the kids a little. Since their separation, it appears Brittney’s doing some heavy lifting on Green’s Saturdays with the brood, which he appreciates but doesn’t learn from. And then the inevitably complicated identity of Brittney’s mystery woman complicates things for both him and Green.

Plus, Green’s got a new boss, Michael D. Xavier, who’s convinced Green’s been holding back dipshit copper Bradley Hall and wants to give Hall more to do. Also, Xavier doesn’t want Brittney hanging around the station doing copper work.

The mystery this episode involves a dead drifter (Philip Buck) who turns up on the estate of two spinster sisters (Anna Wilson-Jones and Emma Cunniffe). Even though Brittney doesn’t do any work at the church, he uses Wilson-Jones and Cunniffe’s parishioner status to stay involved in the case.

Outside Green being a little too obtuse about his marital problems (maybe not for 1960 or whatever, but definitely given Green’s character development over the series), it’s a rock solid opener for the season. The mystery’s good—very British—the guest cast’s good (Wilson-Jones bonds nicely with Brittney, while Cunniffe and Green are green thumbs), and it’s really nice to not see Weaver traumatized every other scene, historically accurate or not.

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) 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.

Grantchester (2014) s05e05

It’s an exceedingly unpleasant hour of “Grantchester,” full of revelations and character developments, some to the point where it’s hard to imagine what next week’s episode is going to bring. Will (Tom Brittney) ends the episode in a rather dark place, which is to be expected given how things go in the episode, but dark enough everyone’s a little taken aback. As usual the episode ends in a sermon. Not a happy one.

The episode’s mostly downbeat, teasing possibly awful reveals—the best possible option is a gang of teen criminals—but there are positive moments in it. Al Weaver’s arc this season, becoming more and more comfortable in his own skin, results in some great marriage counseling scenes with Weaver, Tessa Peake-Jones, and Nick Brimble. Old man Brimble (who’s excellent this episode) gets to try to do the work of atonement due to his martial strife with Peake-Jones, which is nice to see. And the show presents it believably. There’s no sugar-coating in “Grantchester,” which is too bad after this episode.

Without spoiling too much, this episode brings a season-long subplot to the front burner—revealing it to be a single subplot too—and throws everyone into the bowling pot; mostly Brittney and Robson Green. They’re already on awkward ground with Brittney being more pally with boxing coach Ross Boatman lately than Green, to the point Brittney hasn’t told Green about his awkward marriage proposal to Lauren Carse (who’s reduced to a very small part this episode, though maybe not inappropriately given the subject matter).

A nice scene for Oliver Dimsdale and Weaver, cementing Weaver’s character development over the season, and some strong acting from Sandra Huggett as Boatman’s wife. Jim Caesar’s back again as the troubled youth who Boatman and Brittney want to help—and who Green’s indifferent about—including an introduction to his home life and mum Sarah Stanley. Tough stuff with Caesar, a lot of it left unsaid.

From the first five or so minutes, just with everything being so relatively low stress, it seems like something bad’s coming down the pike in “Grantchester” but its immediate arrival—and the force of the bad—is jarring. Outside Weaver’s estranged father maybe showing up for a visit next episode, the show’s going into the season finale without much foreshadowing and starting from a very bad place.

Grantchester (2014) s05e03

Lots ends up happening this issue, even as the episode starts with Tom Brittney getting returned mail from his estranged mother. In fact, there’s going to be something for everyone this episode—except Leonard (Al Weaver); Leonard is background.

Will (Brittney) doesn’t just have a murder case—a very Sherlock Holmes affair involving a murdered cinema projectionist and a Brown man (Hamza Jeetooa) in fifties England, the sins of Empire being revisited and such—he’s also started regular dating reporter Lauren Carse and there’s still more with troubled youth Jim Caesar. Robson Green’s mostly just on the case, though he figures into the Caesar stuff and has his own home situation brewing as mother-in-law Paula Wilcox starts causing problems Kacey Ainsworth (Mrs. Robson Green) can’t ignore. Nice stuff for Ainsworth and Wilcox with the subplot.

But the biggest subplot, which ties in to mystery man Jeetooa, is for Tessa Peake-Jones. What starts as an adorable story arc for Peake-Jones and, to a lesser extent, husband Nick Brimble, turns very, very serious and Peake-Jones does a phenomenal job with it. There’s some other excellent acting in the episode, with mystery storyline damsel Zoë Tapper going from stereotype (at least what “Grantchester” is willing to do as a historical stereotype) to a full-fledged character as the solution unveils.

The Sherlock Holmes comparisons don’t stop with the mere presence of Imperial subject Jeetooa, but also how the murder (you’ve got to wonder if writer Jake Riddell was being intentional or if it was all subconscious) gets discovered, and in some of the plot details… like rocks through the windows as clues. Just feels very Conan Doyle. Except, obviously, everything else about it.

Like Brittney and Carse’s romantic thread, which survives the hiccup of jealous copper Bradley Hall, but goes very discomforting, very serious places. Just when you think Brittney’s going to be the stable stud vicar.

And Ross Boatman might be getting more important; he runs the gym where Brittney boxes and where Caesar is supposed to be rehabilitating through positive social and athletic structure.

“Grantchester”’s getting some big developments without having to make its likable characters, you know, unlikable. Well, some of them but certainly not like it’s done in the past. It’s definitely got solid footing this season.