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I choose to see this show as one of the times he became human.
Series 1.
Just in case, I let you know, this has spoilers. Watch the show, you fuck!
The first thing I want to do is congratulate the series on the realism of the police procedure, especially the forensics uniform. It is not something that should be congratulated, but so many times it is poorly done. On top of that, it shows well how difficult it is to close a murder case, especially in a town with such ridiculously inexperienced police.
The realism spreads throughout the show. The series is filled with wonderfully written and expertly acted characters, they feel so natural that it's easy to see them as people and empathize with them on a supreme level. They don't say things that would make them look innocent for a multitude of reasons, such as shame and regret, a haunting past, or just a "it's not of your fucking business." People are like that, we keep quiet about things because they are private, because of the harm it can cause to others, no matter how much it makes sense to say them to save ourselves.
It is difficult to say that there is a protagonist, at least for me. The vast majority have the same time on camera, the detectives investigating the case are not more important than the family suffering from the death of their son, nor are they more complex or more in-depth. Maybe Broadchurch itself is the main character …
I would not say that the characters are the most extraordinary ever, you are not going to see a lot of character development (not that it is mandatory and they are mostly adults anyway) or something particularly original or outstanding, but the development of it is fantastic. They are normal people with well-defined personalities and things in their past that characterize them, now dealing with something very heavy and reacting to things as people, as only they could.
The series has a heavy, tense atmosphere, it doesn't let you relax for long. Difficult emotions keep flying all over the place. All of that is helped by the fantastic music and performances. I'd be lying if I said it didn't make me cry multiple times (even my dad cried like a bitch). And the direction is capable of making you see a place that beautiful as a bleak and melancholic place.
There are light moments when you can laugh, people will always try to stop suffering at least for a second, but the pressure of the situation is always present. As an extreme example of that idea, I really like it when Beth and Mark are looking at old photos of Danny, smiling at the good times, while for Jack, looking at old photos brings up horrible memories that push him to suicide.
The investigation is important and well done, but it is the least compared to the stories of the interrogated characters and what they are feeling. The series does not do the usual stuff of the genre, the detectives do try to do the typical, it is their job, but the series itself does not want the murderer to screw himself during his interrogation, or use what other suspects say to formulate a puzzle to create the case, no, here the interrogations serve more to know things about these people that otherwise they would never say.
The series is very successful giving you several possible suspects to choose from, all plausible, all with a more or less strong connection to Danny. Directing and seeing various things through Hardy's eyes makes perfectly normal behavior look bad and suspicious. The list of suspects is long, and in such a small town where everyone knows each other, whoever the murderer is, it will be a serious blow to the community and the family. What a horrible thing to have to distrust your friends, even your own husband.
But more important than that is looking at the different ways the family deals with grief. Beth (who I think is the best, as she has more to go through) wants to feel useful, keep busy, otherwise she would go crazy. Also, she needs a sign that his son is fine wherever he is, she feels the guilt of believing she has failed him, and has to deal with a new life growing inside of her, when her heart is "still so full of Danny."
Her mother is in support mode. Mark is able to bury stuff so he doesn't have to deal with all the horror, and perhaps that is why he is the most affected as the series progresses (I’m including the following series/seasons), since everything eats away at him. At the same time, he has to deal with his own guilt for his infidelity and for having beaten his son. Also, he thinks he failed him too.
Chloe, the sister, wants to be a teenager and have fun, she doesn't want to just be flooded with grief and be the dead boy's sister. At the same time, she wants to act in the pursuit of justice for her brother when she believes the police are not doing enough, so she clearly cares a lot.
There's not much to say about Hardy, he's solid, his personality is strong and entertaining, and David's charisma certainly helps, but he's not the most interesting either. It is great that he wanted to get away from stuff, only to find a horrible thing, and his own guilt for failing before fuels his drive to catch the killer, damn his health … wait a second, he’s awesome!
Ellie has a certain level of development, she hardens a bit as a person, and while she doesn't change that much, her reactions and everything, like I said, are natural and realistic. And that works for me for an 8-episode tv show that has to deal with so much, plus the main focus is the family.
Joe is an interesting character. It took three months for the guilt to become too much for him and he ended up giving himself up. I don't know if it would have been enough to get him arrested without his confession, so despite everything, he still has a moral fiber. (That's why I don't really like what he does in season 2, but it doesn't seem impossible either.)
It's interesting because even he doesn't know exactly what he is and why he did what he did, and the series doesn't give you a definitive answer. He may be a pedophile, as he may not be exactly. He was probably afraid that he was, or maybe he was half sure that he was and hated that, so when Danny says those things to him, the mixture of emotions, his own shame and the fear that he might leave him, make him lose his head and he ends up strangling him by accident.
In case it is not so obvious, clearly the series is not going to show him feeling guilty, because that way they spoil the end. Clearly Joe has a certain level of composure, he’s able to handle himself well in public. It may be something that does not combine so well with the fact that he surrenders himself, but you cannot tell me that it is an impossibility that when we do not see him he suffers like crazy, and by the time we see him, he is already calmer. People are complex.
If I have a problem with the series, it is the presence of the psychic, because is pure bullshit. I do not feel that the series is telling me that he is a fraud. Nor can I claim that it says otherwise, but it certainly seems inclined to that side. He knows a thing or two that he probably shouldn't know. It's not that big of a problem either, it doesn't really affect the investigation, everything would have gone the same without him, so even if Chibnall believes in those things, at least he or an editor had the good sense to minimize the effect of the psychic, otherwise, it would have made the writing lazier, there's not much need to investigate when you have someone giving you vital information.
Beyond that, although there are a few non-round tidbits, like the fact that Chloe doesn't seem to feel much guilt over Jack, she doesn't deal with it in any way, or how weird Susan Wright is sometimes, or the fact that Reverend Rory, I mean, Paul, does not have as many religious lines in his church as you would expect, they are things that do not affect the vast majority of the work and its exceptionality.
Anyway. Broadchurch is an excellent series, at least in its first season. And I think it deserves a:
8/10.
Alaoz!
