TV Review – ‘Grantchester’, Series 5, Episode 6

Hello everyone. 😦

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley.

(sighs) Okay, let’s get this over with. It’s time for Series 5, Episode 6 of ‘Grantchester’. Let me tell you, I was hoping for a great climax to this season of ‘Grantchester’. After the build-up to what had been going on in the first five episodes, I was hoping for a good pay-off to all the characters I’d seen.

But…oh dear! This episode was such a huge disappointment on my part. I really wanted to like this episode, but there were things about the episode that made me question certain characters’ actions. I was going like “WHAT?!” when I saw what was happening, especially with Will’s character journey.

And this is the season finale – the episode to wrap up everything that had been going on in Series 5. Maybe things will get followed up in Series 6 should it happen. But the things I was hoping for in the Series 5 finale were dashed away once I’d seen the last episode itself. It was a huge let-down for me.

The episode has Will and Geordie investigating the death of a woman who was laid out in the shape of a crucifix on Jesus Green in Grantchester. The ring on the woman’s finger signifies that she’s married to God…specifically a nun. It leads the two men investigating at a nunnery which isn’t a nunnery at all.

Okay, look. There are surprising twists and revelations that happen in the episode when it turns out the nunnery is not as it appears. But the whole resolution of who did the murder of the dear woman was quite rushed in the telling, especially as the rest of the episode was devoted to other characters.

Speaking of which, Tracy-Ann Oberman guest stars as Sister Grace, the head of the fake nunnery in the episode. And she ends up having sex with Will in the episode. Yeah! No idea how that happened! There was no build-up to a romance between Will and Sister Grace. It felt pretty forced!

In fact, wasn’t Series 5 supposed to be about Will’s relationship with Ellie the journalist? No joke, she doesn’t even appear in this episode! Just a little cameo of Ellie in the Series 5 finale would’ve been nice. Maybe she’ll return in Series 6. But for now, it’s so disappointing she didn’t get a pay off!

The episode also features Jemma Redgrave back as Amelia Davenport, Will’s mum. Will turns up at Ameila’s engagement party (drunk, I might add) following his descent to despair at the end of the previous episode. Will’s acceptance of his mum’s engagement to a belittling man was so unsatisfying!

There were also other subplots that felt like they were unfinished. They include Leonard Finch’s father, Sean Gilder as Russell Finch, who comes to visit his son before he leaves on unhappy terms. And we don’t get to see Geordie and his wife Kacey Ainsworth as Cathy visiting her mum at the end.

The performances of Tom Brittney as Will; Robson Green as Geordie; Al Weaver as Leonard and Tessa Peake-Jones as Mrs. C are still very good throughout Series 5. But the final episode of Series 5 was such a huge disappointment. Maybe things will be resolved in Series 6, but I felt underwhelmed.

Thanks for reading.

Bye for now.

Tim.