Grantchester
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| Grantchester Tom Brittney Photo of DVD cover taken by Kate Dorsey |
This
doesn’t mean the entire season is bad. If it was, I wouldn’t be writing about
it!
I
also wouldn’t be saying how happy I am Grantchester has moved from six
episodes to eight. No matter how sad some of the storylines were this season, I
am happy about that.
Curate
Leonard Finch (Al Weaver) is the main reason why this season is so sad and
angering. His storyline is what makes this season difficult to watch a lot of
times. All Leonard wants to do is be a curate and be with the man he loves. And
yet, because of one nasty, mean, jealous person, all that is put at risk.
It
all starts with a vacation. Reverend William Davenport (Tom Brittney); DI
Geordie Keating (Robson Green) and family; vicarage housekeeper Mrs. Chapman
(Tessa Peake-Jones) and husband, Jack (Nick Brimble); and Leonard and his love,
Daniel Marlowe (Oliver Dimsdale), all go to a resort. A resort that reminds me
of the place in Dirty Dancing. There are cabins for people to stay in. Organized
activities for guests. Everything is onsite. No one leaves the grounds.
While
there, photographer Bryan Stanford (Michael Abubakar) tries to kiss Leonard. Flustered,
Leonard runs away. After talking to Daniel about what happened, Leonard decides
to talk to Bryan and tell him he understands what Bryan is feeling, and there
aren’t any hard feelings held against him. Later that night, Bryan seeks
Leonard out to talk some more. He finds Leonard in bed with Daniel. That is
when everything turns bad.
Bryan
goes to Will with what he saw. He says how wrong it is for Leonard, a man of
God, to be part of homosexual acts.
Will
is not responsive to Bryan’s concerns. He is completely supportive of Leonard
and Daniel’s relationship. To appease Bryan, Will says he will take care of the
situation.
Those
words are not enough for Bryan. He decides to blackmail Leonard.
In
secret, Bryan takes pictures of Leonard and Daniel together. Nothing truly
scandalous, but enough to be worrying for Leonard’s career. Bryan sends a picture to Leonard, along with a demand for money. If Leonard does not pay, he
will go to the Archdeacon with what he knows.
Leonard
does not have the money. He goes to the meeting point to try and talk to Bryan.
During the meeting, Bryan denies he is gay. He claims he tried to kiss Leonard
only to blackmail him. Explains how his financial circumstances outside of peak resort
season made him do it.
Bryan is already angry when he is alone with Leonard. When Will shows up with the blackmail money, he becomes even angrier. He hates that Leonard has people who love and care for him. People who will come defend him and help him out.
Despite getting the blackmail money, Bryan turns Leonard in to Archdeacon Gabriel Atubo (Gary Beadle). Together they make a statement to the police. As this is 1958, and homosexuality is still illegal in England at this time, Leonard is breaking the law.
Geordie
is the one who takes the statement. He does not have a problem with Leonard and
Daniel’s relationship, but his job obligates him to investigate. To do this,
Geordie must question Leonard and his friends. People who are Geordie’s own
friends.
While
Geordie is reluctant to question everyone involved in this situation, his DC,
Larry Peters (Bradley Hall), is thrilled. He repeatedly makes clear his
negative views on homosexuals. His views on women aren’t too forward thinking
either.
There
are some questions Geordie has that he asks in private, away from Larry. Such
as why Will did not come to him when the blackmail note showed up. He could
have helped. Arrested Bryan for blackmail, and possibly kept Leonard out of
trouble. Instead, Leonard is in trouble, and Bryan is walking around free to
blackmail someone else.
Another
thing Geordie does is tell Will to lie in his statement. He wants Will to say
Leonard was with him that night. In the cabin they were sharing. In their own separate
beds. Mrs. Chapman (AKA Mrs. C.) asks Will to do the same. Leonard overhears
this, and goes to the police to confess. He will not let Will get into trouble
or go against his beliefs.
Leonard
also won’t get Daniel into trouble. He says he was with a stranger the night
Bryan walked in; despite Larry’s insistence it was Daniel.
After
his confession, Leonard is put on trial to determine his sentence. Bishop
Aubrey Gray (Stuart Bowman) tells Will he cannot speak at Leonard’s trial. Even
Leonard is hesitant to have him speak for fear of Will getting into trouble. He
asks Jack to speak for him as a character witness instead. But Will insists. He
takes the stand and lets everyone know how good of a man Leonard is, and how God is all
about love and forgiveness. The judge remains unmoved.
In a very hypocritical judgement, Judge Newport (Nigel Betts) declares the matter they are dealing with has nothing to do with God, but the law. Then he says he is giving Leonard a harsher sentence than usual because of Leonard’s relationship with God. The two declarations definitely do not match. Because of this hypocrisy, Leonard is sentenced to six months in prison.
***
Along
with trying to help Leonard, Geordie is dealing with serious personal matters. A
man from his past has come back into his life. Someone Geordie is not sure he
wants to see.
Geordie
and Johnny Richards (Shaun Dooley) were Prisoners of War together during WWII. It
is a time in his life Geordie never talks about. He does his best to not think
about it either. Johnny brings those memories back.
Together,
Geordie and Johnny drink heavily. This creates problems for Geordie at home. Things
get so bad, when Geordie’s wife, Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth), confronts him about
his behavior, Geordie raises his hand to her. He does not actually hit her,
which is good, but what he did is still bad.
When
Will finds out what Geordie almost did, he is incensed. He finds Geordie and
grabs him by the collar. Will then makes it very clear Geordie is never to do
what he did to Cathy again.
Cathy
has also had enough. She packs Geordie a bag and has him move out.
***
In
the meantime, Will is battling with his calling in life. He fully believes he
is meant to be a vicar. What he struggles with is the teachings he is supposed
to follow, as well as the laws of the land. The two things Will struggles with
most are the church’s views on homosexuality and domestic violence.
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| Gateway to the Future Artwork by Kate Dorsey |
With
Leonard in prison, and no longer a curate, Will must also learn how to work
with the new curate, Henry Jones (Ahmed Elhaj).
Will
did not get a say in who the new curate would be. Something he felt he had a
right in. Bishop Gray, disliking Will’s behavior and tendency to think on his
own, put Henry in without consultation. Gray and the other higher members of
the church want Henry to keep eye on the goings-on at the vicarage. Happy to
have the new position, Henry does this without understanding what is really
happening at the vicarage beneath the surface.
To
Henry, the vicarage looks out of control. With only what Gray has told him as a
guide, Henry sees the vicarage as a place where the vicar is hardly ever there;
women run around rampant; and drunkards use the house to crash. It is Leonard,
after being released from prison, who explains to Henry what is really going
on.
One
thing Henry is completely correct about is Mrs. C. She can be extremely bigoted
and judgmental. Ironic for a woman who says she does not want to be judged.
Mrs.
C. can have her good moments. I will not deny that. But sometimes those moments
are few and far between. The scenes where Will, Leonard, or Jack tell her the
behavior she is exhibiting is unacceptable are always good ones. They need to
happen more often.
***
If
there wasn’t enough conflict this season, Will and Geordie are also having
trouble. Geordie always thought Will did his mandatory military service. When
Will tells Geordie his father got him out of it, Geordie begins to see Will
differently. Having Will’s very wealthy, spoiled step-sister, Tamara Gurney-Clifford
(Emily Patrick), around doesn’t help matters. All Geordie sees is wealthy
people who are able to pay their way out of what everyone else has to do.
Oh,
and to top it off, there are murders and crimes to solve.
***
That
is a lot to have happen in eight episodes! Just think how packed the episodes
would be if the show kept to its usual six. With so much crammed into this
season, I wonder what the writers are all going to do with the seventh. Depending
on the storylines, they may have to extend the season to ten episodes.
I
don’t know if the season extending will happen again or not. But I do hope the
writers use a new character they introduced, police secretary Miss Scott
(Melissa Johns), a lot more than they did in this season. She was really funny;
and while I don’t know if she ever went home from the police station, she
didn’t let anyone completely run over her. It would be nice to see Miss Scott
get more of a storyline next season, no matter how many episodes are decided
upon.
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| Survey image created by Kate Dorsey with Microsoft Paint 3D |
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