Broadchurch

              The third season of Broadchurch is really different from the first two.  In the first two seasons, much of the concentration was on the murder of a boy and the resulting trial.  Season three is about a rape.  The characters from the first two seasons have returned, but there are many new ones as well.

                Trish Winterman (Julie Hesmondhalgh) only planned on celebrating her friend’s fiftieth birthday.  She never expected that during the party she would be knocked unconscious and raped.  Why would she?  The other guests at the party were people Trish knew and trusted.  Nothing bad is supposed to happen when you’re with people you trust.               

                When Trish goes in to report what happened to her, the two cops called to the case are Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) and her boss, Detective Inspector Alec Hardy (David Tennant).  They do their best to be gentle and considerate of Trish, but that becomes more difficult for them as the case goes on.  So many times during the case, Ellie and Alec find out that Trish has intentionally left out information.  It is information that could either help clear someone, or make them become more of a suspect.  Either way, despite their increasing frustration with a case that seems to be going in circles, Ellie and Alec do their best to remember that Trish is the victim and to handle her with care.

                The same certainly cannot be said of how the men they interview are treated, especially when dealing with Alec.  Every man in Trish’s life is looked at, questioned, and has their life dug into as Ellie and Alec investigate.  It does not sit well with Alec having these men in his presence.  He makes that clear whenever they’re in front of him for questioning.  Seeing each and every one as a possible rapist, Alec’s behavior towards these men certainly doesn’t improve as he keeps finding out that each one is either lying or withholding information, if not both.  This behavior from the men does not deter him or Ellie, though.  It wouldn’t even if Trish were the only victim, which they find out she is not.  As Ellie and Alec investigate, they find more women who were raped in similar circumstances as Trish.  With each woman that is found, Ellie and Alec become more determined to find the culprit and stop him for good.

                While Ellie and Alec investigate the rape case, Danny Latimer’s family does whatever they can to move their lives forward.  The trial looking into his death is over, and now they must figure out how to live without him.  Danny’s mother, Beth (Jodie Whittaker), has taken her grief and become a social worker.  She is assigned to Trish as a support for her while the investigation goes on, and as an aide to get her life back on track as much as possible.  Beth’s daughter, Chloe (Charlotte Beaumont), tries to live as normal a teenage life as she can.  It’s not easy, but she tries.  Chloe’s father and Beth’s husband, Mark (Andrew Buchan), though, can’t stop thinking about the past.  Wracked with guilt over what happened to his son, Mark wants revenge in any way he can get it.  Even if that means destroying the family he has remaining.

                During the investigation, Ellie and Alec have their own family problems as well.  Ellie is doing her best to raise her children on her own with only the questionable help of her father.  This is definitely easier said than done, especially when her teenage son, Tom (Adam Wilson) is caught with porn on his phone.  Dealing with the very sexual and sensitive case that she is working on at the same time, Ellie becomes especially worried about the habit her son may be developing.  To make the situation worse, no matter what Ellie does, her son’s habit does not seem to go away. 

                Alec’s situation is with his teenage daughter, Daisy (Hannah Rae).  She is living with him now, and being a full-time father is something that is very new to Alec.  Add on top of that the fact that he’s not home a lot because of his job, and it should not come as too much of a surprise that, despite his efforts, Alec does not realize something is going wrong with his daughter.  It isn’t until Chloe confronts Alec and tells him he needs to talk to Daisy that Alec finds out his daughter is dealing with a sexual harassment situation of her own.

                There are many storylines going on in this season.  While they are all distinct in their own way, they are also connected.  Everyone and everything is connected, which shows how one sexual assault can affect an entire town.  With Trish coming forward, and Ellie and Alec fully invested in the case, others feel they can talk about what happened to them as well.  That doesn’t put everyone at ease, though.  In fact, it has quite the opposite effect.  With the news of a serial rapist in their midst, a lot of fear is created in the women of the town.  This fear does not stop them from living their lives, though.  Instead, they create a united front.  Seeing these women come together in a walk Trish’s daughter, Leah (Hannah Millward), puts together is a very touching and powerful scene.

                Something else that was really great to see was how compassionate Alec has become.  He may have had his moments before, but with this case it really comes out.  As Ellie and Alec investigate, it is very clear that Alec cares about the women who have been raped, and he is going to do whatever he can to make sure it does not happen to anyone else.  Also, in order to make his daughter more comfortable with talking to him, Alec holds his temper as she explains about the harassment she has been receiving.  At least he holds it with Daisy.  When it comes to the boys doing the harassment, he makes sure they know he will make their lives miserable (on a good day) if they ever do anything to hurt his daughter again.  In my opinion, as good as the whole season and series is, Alec telling off those boys is one of the best, and most memorable, scenes of them all.

                Another thing I really liked, and found interesting, was the type of support Trish had when she came forward about her rape.  Immediately Trish had an advocate assigned to her to help her through the necessary tests and initial questioning.  Then, when Trish left the medical center, she was assigned Beth, who was to help Trish as the case went on, as well as help Trish get her life back to as normal as possible.  Watching these scenes, it seemed like a great system for women (I don’t know if the system was for men, too) who have gone through what Trish went through.  It made me wonder if this type of system is throughout England, and if there is anything like it in the U.S.

                Sadly, to my understanding, this third season is the last season of Broadchurch.  I’m hoping that I’m wrong, or that the creators change their mind.  As dark and sad as this show can be, it is a really good one, and I would hate to see it go away.

                Which brings me to one final thing.  When the mystery has been solved, Ellie sits in front of the police station crying over all that has happened.  Alec sits down with her and tells Ellie that all men are not like the one they just charged.  The one they just charged is the odd one, not the norm.  Now, in this investigation they have encountered a lot of creepy men, not just the one who is guilty of the crime.  There was something a little off with pretty much every man they spoke to.  So now that the case is over, and with Ellie so upset about what they have gone through, Alec decides to speak up.  His statement that men like the one they have just charged are the odd ones in the world needs to be remembered.  With all that is going on in the world right now, and with so many women (and some men) coming out about the bad things that have happened to them, we must remember, that not all men are like what we are seeing.  We need to remember this, because, right now, it is so easy to forget.