Say goodbye to the brilliant pair formed by DS Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) and DI Alec Hardy (David Tennant). Broadchurch, the outstanding television crime drama, has come to an end on last Monday in an emotional finale.

During this third and last series, the plot focuses on a sexual assault perpetrated against a mid-40 years old woman, Trish Winterman (Julie Hesmondhalgh): a difficult subject. But Broadchurch has already proven many times that the most difficult subject can be treated beautifully. You just need a great writer, an awesome director, amazing actors and mainly a big dose of humanity and empathy, and that’s precisely everything Broadchurch has.

If the series 2 lack of panache, the series 3 renews with the ingredients that made the series 1 so popular. Everybody seems suspicious and we desperately try to catch some hints which could lead to the rapist. Moreover, the characters are more reliable than never. The complexity of their psychology is fully exploited and gives to the screenplay a real credibility. All the story is handled skilfully and is as much distressing as instructive. The steps of a rape investigation are carefully shown and we discover that unfortunately not much time is allowed for the victim to breath. Indeed, for this kind of case, time is precious. Then, besides the guilt caused by her rape, the guilt regarding potential future victims add up to Trish’s shoulders.

Furthermore, the Latimers are not left aside throughout this series. They are now trying to live a normal life, but it is not that easy. Mark Latimer especially has difficulties to cope with his son’s death and is still looking for revenge, which gives intense and incredibly humane scenes. Some of the secondary plots would have perhaps deserved to be a little more developed, though.

On one side, there is Tom, Miller’s son, who is supplying porn to his classmates and as a result finds himself expelled for a week. It is easy to understand how unpleasant it must be for Miller to learn her son is spreading porn through his school. However, her reaction is quite disruptive as well. Miller becomes a fury and decides to confiscate every single screen that Tom could use to satisfy his curiosity. The real issue seems to be more about him looking at porn than him making a business of it. Making your child feel guilty about sex is perhaps not the best solution. Of course, many videos on internet can give a biased picture of sexuality, but it is probably more imperative for children to learn the importance of consent than try to keep them away from sex.

On the other side, there is Daisy, Hardy’s daughter, who sees her private naked photo spreading at her high-school and finds herself harassed by dumb boys. Strangely, here, two options are left to her: leaving the town or counting on her dad to scare her harassers. Obviously, the second one is the chosen one, but still, it seems a little bit light as a punishment, especially compared to the one Tom has received, whereas, as far as we know, he has never gone against anyone consent.

In both cases, the story doesn’t know any extent, which is regrettable. However, Broadchurch has the merit to talk about subjects which are still insufficiently brought up in the media and there is no doubt it is beautifully and sincerely done.

Furthermore, fans of the duo Hardy-Miller won’t be disappointed as the relationship is still ingeniously funny and endearing. Hardy remains the grumpy detective that we all know, even if he starts to express his feelings (at least, he tries). Miller literally rocks as usual, but even more in this last series. Her punch lines are priceless and every time she talks we can’t help but think: Go Miller! As a bonus, the two of them have clearly developed a strong friendship and form a real dream team.

Lastly, the iconic pair has the privilege to close the series with a beautiful, funny and sweet scene to finally disappear forever on one of the sumptuous musics of Ólafur Arnalds.

Carine Belmont
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