As this episode of Grantchester begins, Alphy Kotteram (Rishi Nair) shows Leonard (Al Weaver) the second quote he’s received. Leonard suggests it’s just a member of the congregation being welcoming. Alphy asks if he’s going to be alright at this thing tonight. Sylvia Chapman (Tessa Peake-Jones) says absolutely not because Lord Marwood (Richard Goulding) and Lady Marwood (Marianne Oldham) will eat him alive. She says it’d be helpful if he could get the funds for the first though. Sylvia worries he’ll end up killing half the parish if he doesn’t get it sorted out. Leonard says the Marwoods have a history of donating to the church even though it’s slight. In private, Alphy tells Leonard that he came home and Sylvia was just there.

Sylvia tells Alphy not to sit next to the sister. Geordie (Robson Green) runs into Esme (Skye Lucia Degruttola) and Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth) arguing. They continue at it until Esme leaves. Once they’re alone, Geordie tells Cathy there’s no point in getting all worked up over this. He believes it’ll blow over. Cathy wants Geordie to tell Esme that her behavior is not acceptable. Alphy arrives at Marwood Manor. He speaks to Lady Marwood about the parish. She introduces Alphy to her husband moments later. Alphy mentions that he’s trying to raise funds for the church. Lord Marwood tells him that they don’t talk about these things before dinner. After he leaves, Lady Marwood tells Alphy he doesn’t need to concern himself with Lord Marwood. Lady Marwood informs Leah Carpenter (Cara Horgan) that she wants to sit next to Alphy.

Leah gives Alphy advice before Lord Marwood yells at her. Beatrice sits next to Alphy and introduces herself. She talks to him about her dress since she designs them. Lady Marwood suspects Alphy decided to sit next to her sister, but he says not exactly. Alphy is asked why he became a vicar. Beatrice says orphans and suggests she could make clothes for them. Lord Marwood doesn’t think orphans would want her ghastly clothes. Lord Marwood keeps pushing until he learns Alphy’s mother and father came to England just before the war. He became a vicar because it was either the church or accountancy. Alphy claims Jesus wants to bring peace. Lord Marwood doesn’t think that’s what Christianity and the Church are known for. Alphy manages to make Lady Marwood laugh so she shares a toast to his church.

After dinner, Lady Marwood agrees to fund the repairs for the church. They get ready for hide and seek. Lady Marwood tells Alphy she’s coming to find him. He struggles to find a place to hide. He ends up finding a dead body. At the scene, Geordie tells Larry (Bradley Hall) that the victim suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest. The lacerations have a unique shape. The victim is their gardener, 25-year-old Dennis Lacey. They find a note in Dennis’s pocket saying the price is 1,000 pounds. Otherwise, someone will expose his dirtiest secret. They wonder if it’s from Dennis or to him. Alphy says he saw Lord Marwood near the servants’ quarters and he was acting odd. Lord Marwood claims he last saw Dennis a few days ago.

Beatrice reveals he was sacked and had only been at the job for a few weeks. Lord Marwood claims he left on his own accord. He supposedly wanted more money and Marwood wouldn’t give it to him. When asked why he was near the servants’ quarters, Lord Marwood says he was playing hide and seek. He says Dennis wasn’t blackmailing him. Lady Marwood claims the same because she barely knew him. Beatrice worries that their cat’s spirit is going to hate this. Alphy asks Leah when she last saw Dennis. Lord Marwood doubts they encountered one another. Leah says that’s right. Alphy and Geordie agree that they’re weird. Geordie thinks the servants always know what’s going on. Alphy says they need to speak to Leah alone.

Geordie doubts he’ll ever get the money from the Marwoods. Alphy bets him a ride in the Triumph. Geordie warns him it’s dirty money, but Alphy thinks it’s good if it’s used for a good deed. Leonard and Sam White speak to a group about forgiving one’s self. Sam (Elliot Warren) asks Daniel (Oliver Dimsdale) what he’s holding onto. Sam keeps pushing until Daniel sits down and says he has family that he can’t be with. Alphy and Geordie confront Leah in private. She tells them about her history with the Marwoods. Leah reveals Dennis made her laugh a few times because he knew what the upper classes are like. Lord Marwood screamed in Dennis’s face on the day Dennis was due to leave. Alphy and Geordie speak to Lord Marwood about that.

Lord Marwood claims they’re vastly overestimating this man. He explains that Lord Marwood touched his wife and she didn’t like it. Lord Marwood insists he didn’t do anything other than scream at him. He doesn’t like being questioned by someone like Alphy. Lord Marwood says they invite Alphy into their home and his wife offered him money for his poor church. This is how Alphy repaid them. Lady Marwood admits Dennis was over-familiar. She says her husband was terribly brutish about it. Lady Marwood tells them about the other half of her husband, but she insists he’s too weak to be a killer. She stays with him because they’re more powerful as a package. Lady Marwood promises to get Alphy his check with his blows over. At home, Geordie hears Esme and Cathy arguing. He decides to leave with the dog.

Geordie explains to Alphy that World War III is kicking off between Cathy and Esme. They talk about the note. Geordie doesn’t think the Marwoods would be blackmailing Dennis since they’re millionaires. Alphy thinks the wounds might’ve been made by scissors and immediately thinks of Beatrice who said she had many pairs. Once they check her workshop, they find a pair of scissors with blood on the tip. Daniel tells Leonard that he can’t stop thinking about Sam and how he used the word “courage”. Leonard believes he is courageous. Daniel wonders if he should talk to Sam more. Leonard thinks it’s a wonderful idea. Beatrice is questioned at the police station. She confirms the scissors are hers, but she doesn’t know anything about the blood.

Beatrice is asked about Lord Marwood screaming at Dennis. She calls it a silly misunderstanding. Beatrice explains that Dennis seemed to believe she was having an affair with Lord Marwood. She admits it was just a little one. Beatrice shows them pictures of herself with Lord Marwood. She says Dennis stole one of them. Lord Marwood is questioned about the affair. He denies everything until he’s confronted with the pictures. Lord Marwood says she’s a very lonely woman and he occasionally provides his services. His wife isn’t terribly interested in him. Geordie claims Dennis found out and blackmailed him. Since Lord Marwood has no access to money, he killed Dennis to prevent his wife from finding out. Lord Marwood confirms that Dennis caught him and Beatrice. He also wrote Dennis the most awful letter.

Dennis wanted a thousand pounds. Lord Marwood got what he could and hoped to send him on his way. During the game of hide and seek, he was checking to see if Dennis had left. The money was there so he took it. Lord Marwood insists he didn’t kill Dennis and couldn’t even if he wanted to. He never managed it during the war. When Dennis is released, Alphy notices Leah is wearing a nice bracelet. Leonard learns that Daniel wants to speak to Sam alone. Geordie goes home and suggests he should speak to Esme on his own. They continue arguing with each other. Esme says she’s moving out. Cathy eventually gets upset, tells Esme she hates her, and urges her to pack her bags and get out. Dickens awakens Alphy in the middle of the night. He finds someone trying to come inside, but he manages to scare them away.

Geordie speaks to Cathy in the morning. He asks Esme if she’ll come back and visit. She says she will. Geordie promises Esme that Cathy didn’t mean it. Alphy tells Sylvia that he doesn’t need a housekeeper. She doesn’t think his predecessors would describe her as a housekeeper. Sylvia explains that they were friends before showing Alphy the gift Sidney gave her. She admits it isn’t worth anything, but it means the world to her. Alphy thinks about Leah who tried to hide her bracelet. He calls Sylvia a genius before storming out. Alphy visits Geordie to suggest that Lady Marwood was actually interested in Leah. Someone had to give Leah the bracelet. Alphy thinks it might be a love token.

They were together until Dennis came along. Geordie and Alphy speak to Leah about the bracelet. She admits Lady Marwood gave it to her. Alphy suggests Lady Marwood gets her comfort from Leah who says not anymore. Leah admits she’s loved Lady Marwood since they were children. Geordie questions what happened with Dennis. Leah reveals she thought he was violating her at first. She soon realized that Dennis let her. Leah claims he didn’t know her like she did. She had to do something. A flashback shows Leah retrieving the scissors and killing Dennis. Leah asks them if they’ve ever loved anyone like that. She’s taken away in a police car. Lady Marwood is surprised she clung to the worthless bracelet. She has a check for three thousand pounds for Alphy.

Lady Marwood says there might be more if he pops around for a few games. Alphy refuses and gives her the check back. He tells Geordie what just happened. Daniel speaks to Sam who tells him he can say anything he wants. Sam says they just need to be there together. Daniel shows him a picture of his mother and father. He thinks he hurt them even though he loves them. Sam tells him that is what he should hold onto. Geordie goes home and decides to leave immediately. Leonard sees Daniel and Sam talking. Geordie gets Alphy a book about maintenance and repairs for ancient buildings. They agree to share a beer. Alphy tries to convince Geordie to help him at the church. They argue about whether Alphy owes Geordie a ride. He takes him for one.

 

Grantchester Review

The fourth episode of Grantchester’s ninth season was okay with somewhat interesting side stories. At this point, not much has been done with Alphy so the character is potentially going to take some time to develop. The character needs more depth because the prejudices and over-sexualization are getting old very quickly.

The showdown between Esme and Cathy is new to the series although nothing new to any regular television viewer. It’s acted well enough, but this storyline just doesn’t do a lot for me at this stage. The Daniel storyline has potential, but it shouldn’t follow the predictable path. Truthfully, this episode wasn’t bad. It just felt like it was missing out on anything special.

The season still has a lot of episodes left so there’s time to put the pieces together. This episode was fairly forgettable though. It scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Grantchester can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here.

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