Grace Season 3 Episode 1 Recap

Dead Like You – As this episode of Grace begins, security footage shows a young girl in a red dress being kidnapped by someone in a white van. In the present, Johnny Kerridge (Thomas Coombes) picks up Mimi Taylor who wants to go to the motel. Johnny tells her that her lips look like the same color as the sunset before offering her the water in the back. She turns it down before being dropped off at the motel for the party. The sign mentions there is a private function for Alison Vosper (Rakie Ayola). Roy Grace (John Simm) gets ready before hearing a knock at the door. Glenn Branson (Richie Campbell) comes in and says he needs a drink. Rollo Mercer (Luke Norris) and his friends show up at the party.

They join the party for the Alden House Alumni. Rollo says hello to Oliver Starling (Ben Wiggins) to Miles and Punt. Rollo mentions that Oliver is a success story. Oliver jokes that he better not ask him for another loan. Glenn learns that Roy is going to the party to say goodbye to Vosper. He reveals he went to the hospital to surprise Ari (Rebecca Scroggs) only to find her kissing another man. Rollo and his friends continue partying. Cassian Pewe (Sam Hoare) introduces himself to Mimi who says she has been working in Brighton for five years. Cassian is also moving from London to Brighton very soon. When Cassian is told it is time, he and Mimi agree to continue their conversation later.

As Alison makes her goodbye speech, Cassian questions where Royce Grace is since he should be there by now. Alison introduces Cassian who will be taking over for her. Rollo and his friends carry Oliver down to the water and throw him in. When Oliver gets up, Rollo pushes him down and says he never fights back. They try to get Oliver to hit Rollo who says they’re not friends. Rollo says he is bored so they should go back and have some fun. Oliver goes to the bathroom to collect himself in private while Rollo and his pals harass Mimi as she goes to her room. Rollo apologizes for his friends admitting they don’t know when to stop. Glenn tells Roy how Ari wasn’t happy with him because of his behavior.

He doesn’t know why Ari agreed to go to couples therapy if she was interested in this guy from work. Roy says he can stay there for as long as he needs. Mimi gets a text in the middle of the night asking if she is up. The next day, Roy is surprised when Glenn shows up to work. They’re interrupted by Bella Moy (Laura Elphinstone) who says Mimi was raped last night at the motel. The unknown suspect assaulted the victim with a sex toy. It is politically sensitive so they want Roy to take a look. When interviewed, Mimi says she woke up and he was already in her room. She noticed that he was covered in black rubber like an alien or monster. Mimi felt like she was watching it from the other side of the room. As they leave, Roy tells Glenn about the case of the Brighton prowler which happened about 10 years ago.

They never caught him. When the attacks stopped, Roy hoped he was dead. In July 2012, the girl in the red dress is assaulted by a man in a mask. She manages to pull the mask off and sees the man’s face. Roy remembers working on Operation Moonfall and how the suspect stole the victims’ lipstick after assaulting them. They were told to look at tradesmen since they would be driving white vans. Roy says the suspect wears a latex body suit and uses a sex toy. They haven’t found a trace of fiber or DNA on any of the victims. Roy thinks he is controlled and calculated, but DI Sid Barrow says this isn’t the work of a criminal mastermind. In the present, Roy tells DS Norman Potting (Craig Parkinson) and the others about the Brighton Prowler.

DCI Jack Skerritt (Jack Pierce) was convinced he was a local tradesman. He just stopped so he might’ve been arrested or could’ve moved abroad. Roy confirms Mimi’s lipstick was stolen as well. Nick Nicholl (Brad Morrison) is asked to get the Operation Moonfall files from storage. Roy gives them lists of the people who were in the motel at the time since the rapist could be among them. Norman agrees to interview the top brass. Once Nick gets the files, Roy says the victims’ statement files aren’t there. He is asked to look through the files to see if anything else has gone missing. Roy will have to interview the original victims again. Later, they learn that Jade committed suicide in 2015 while Leah Brooks moved to New Zealand.

Anna stayed put. Anna (Jo Herbert) isn’t happy to learn that they lost her statement. She admits she isn’t surprised because the detective only wanted to know how short her skirt was, what makeup she was wearing, and how much she had drunk. Anna was walking home from a friend’s house when she was pulled into a van. She doesn’t think she deserved that just for having a few drinks. A few days later, Anna remembered that the radio had been playing in the van. It was strange being attacked in the back of the van while the music was beautiful. As a result, she can’t stand to listen to anything classical now. Roy asks if she remembers the name of the detective who took her statement. Back at the station, Roy asks his team to get Sid Barrow (Rob Jarvis) on the phone.

That is impossible since Sid is no longer alive. The team complains about Sid’s behavior when he interviewed Anna. Norman says he was the last of the old breed. Roy thinks the classical music bit is very important. In a flashback, the young girl manages to escape from the white van. Once she does, she hit the camera above her. Then, she uses a jack to pry the door open so she can crawl underneath it. As she makes it halfway out, she sees a man with a hammer standing above her. In the present, Roxy Harris (Charlotte Christof) speaks to someone on the phone before putting on lipstick. Cleo Morey (Zoe Tapper) visits Roy who is still working. As they eat, Roy admits living with Glenn is like living with a teenager.

It is driving him crazy that he can’t get Glenn to talk to Ari because he really wants them to get through this. Cleo reminds him that he can’t save everyone. In Munich, Germany, Detective Marcel Kullen (Ernest Gromov) calls Grace to tell him that no one remembers seeing Sandy. Roy admits they might’ve been mistaken although Sandy’s grandmother had a house outside Munich. After the call, Roy tells Cleo there is nothing to report. In the morning, Roy watches surveillance footage of Mimi and learns that her text messages are back. Cassian contacted her that night because he wanted to see her, but she said no since she wasn’t in the mood. Roy tells Norman to move Cassian to the top of his list.

In a flashback, Roy approaches Barrow while looking for Skerritt. Roy tells him that they’ve had a report of a missing woman named Rachel Ryan. He is convinced Rachel was abducted by the same man, but Barrow doesn’t think so. Barrow tells Roy that he can look for Rachel Ryan in his own time and he won’t stop him. Norman approaches Cassian so he can interview him about Mimi. Cassian says he had a drink with Alison in the bar after the event ended. He returned to his room around 11. Cassian denies going to see Mimi after he texted her. Norman asks if he was in Brighton in July 2012. Cassian says he’ll check against his diary if he gives him the exact dates. Roxy talks to a friend about her date with Jack last night.

After a few drinks, he suggested they go back to a motel before staring at her. They go into the scary house ride. At one point, Roxy claims one of the performers put his hand inside her top. When she complains about it, she is told she might want to stick to the kiddies’ rides. The boss reminds Johnny what he told her about grabbing girls. He asks if she wants them scared or not. He is warned that he is going to get into real trouble one of these days, but he doesn’t take the threat seriously. Roy talks to Dominic Pope (Nicholas Tizzard) about Sandy and what the Munich detective said. Dominic was positive it was Sandy and even went back to the café to try to speak to her, but he never spotted her again.

Roy has started the process of having Sandy legally declared dead. He put ads in German newspapers so anyone who might know her has 21 days to apply to the high court, but no one has come forward. Roxy is shocked when a man in a latex suit shows up in her house. Roy tells the team about Roxy’s rape and it looks like it is the prowler. Roy thinks the suspect is evolving. Glenn wonders if the victims have something in common since it appears that he is carefully selecting them. Roy adds Rachel to the list of victims. He suspects she might be the reason the suspect disappeared for so long. Oliver reads about the prowler. Cassian asks Roy if he is doing this because he looked into Sandy’s disappearance and dug up his yard.

Roy claims he is just doing his job. Cassian gives him information about his moments in July 2012. Oliver goes to the police station to talk to someone about the rape at the motel. He tells Bella about Rollo who has been a deviant since he was 14. Oliver knew it was Rollo straight away because he likes to dominate men and women. When Bella asks what Rollo did to him, Oliver admits he couldn’t say no. He put lipstick on him. Oliver says that is in the past and the only thing that matters now is the women. Roy and Glenn go to the office for Antagonista Models to speak to Rollo. He admits to being at the motel with his friends. Rollo claims he was there last night and he gets Bo (Rai Endah) to vouch for him.

In July 2012, Rollo was in a tight spot financially trying to sell up the agency. He managed to secure funding from an angel investor. Roy mentions the victims’ names, but Rollo says they’re not on his books. Outside, Roy tells Glenn that Rollo made his skin crawl. Back at the station, Bella says Roxy and Mimi used the same cab app and both gave Johnny Kerridge one-star reviews. His mom owns the horror ride where he plays the faceless ghoul. There have been several complaints about him there as well. Johnny applies his mother’s makeup. She asks if she is the prettiest girl he knows and if she’ll never leave him. He says he isn’t going anywhere because they’re a team. In a bathroom, a woman mentions that she has 100 red flags on a date.

She is told to go to the bar and order an angel shot so the bar staff will help her. Once she does, the bartender gets her a cab which happens to be driven by Johnny. In July 2012, a man cleans up a dead body before stepping outside for a cigarette. He notices a car parked nearby. When he approaches the car, it speeds away. In the present, Norman and Bella confront Johnny to see if he recognizes Mimi. He claims she gave him a one-star review because she is a diva. Johnny says they pay to get said on the ride so he makes sure they get their money’s worth. After the interview, Roy tells them to keep him on a short leash. Roy talks to Glenn about Dominic’s sighting of Sandy which he never told Cleo about. Later that night, Roy and Glenn watch CCTV footage in hopes of finding something important.

They spot Roxy 24 hours before the attack. It looks like she is followed by another woman. In the morning, they tell the others that she might be helping the prowler follow his victims. Nick says the victim statements were among the files when they went into storage in July 2013, but they were checked out in August. He is working on finding out who checked them out. In July 2012, Roy gives Sandy a gift. She wants him to drink with her, but Roy says they’re working on the rape cases around the clock. Sandy complains that she will always come second. If they have a baby, it will always come second too. She asks him not to take the call, but he does and learns a burned body has been found.

They later learn that the body belongs to a very old man. He was already dead before the fire and had cancer so his death could’ve been natural. Roy and Sid discuss the body and why it would be set on fire. Sid suggests it could be benefits fraud or dodgy undertakers selling the same coffin over and over. In the present, Cleo catches up with Roy to talk to him about the prowler. Roy has studied rapists ever since the first rape, but he can’t understand why the rapist steals lipstick. Cleo says lipstick can be a way for a woman to feel powerful. The rapist might be taking away their lipstick to take their power. Rollo gets Bo a gift for being his alibi for the other day. Rollo pulls a man to the side so they can talk about his portfolio.

After Rollo snorts a line, Leo tries to find an excuse to leave. Rollo asks him to massage his neck. He tells Leo that he has such a bright future and he can be a star if they work together. Nick tells Roy that the swipe card holder who took out the statements also removed the statement from an unconnected investigation. They were taken out on the same day and never returned. The statement was given by a man named Pete Cooper. The department of working pensions interviewed him when they were looking into an unidentified body. Roy remembers the body they found. When they interview Peter, he says a PC visited him to ask if they had a body go missing. They were looking for an undertaker who had been setting fire to bodies.

He remembered seeing a woman parked around back and he had a bad feeling about it. Pete can’t tell them much about the woman or the car she was driving. It had been an emotional night for him because he was preparing an old friend named Reg for burial. He confirms Reg died of cancer although he made it to 85 first. Pete closed the casket and left. They buried him the next morning which was July 29, 2012. Outside, Roy talks to Glenn about the body they found and the woman waiting outside. Glenn questions who has been buried in Reg’s grave for the last ten years. Johnny gives his next passenger makeup advice. When she asks him not to look at her, he asks why since she is screaming for people to look at her. She tries to get out only to find that the doors are locked.

Once she does get out, Johnny chases her but gets tackled by Norman. At the station, Johnny is asked what he was going to do once he got ahold of Daisy (Lizzie Back). He says he was going to make her pay and he usually uses contactless payments. Johnny tells them about the difficulty of the job and how he tries to make the experience as enjoyable as possible. He complains about the passengers puking all over the car. Johnny is released moments later. The grave is exhumed to find out who is buried in the coffin. It looks like the victim is wearing a red dress. Cleo tells Johnny that it is Rachel and she died from a single blow to the skull. She was possibly hit with a hammer. Roy and Glenn visit Rachel’s parents so they can tell them about the discovery.

Whoever removed the statements suspected they’d find Rachel if they spoke to Pete. After Nick finds out who took the statements, Roy visits Cassian in his new office. Cassian denies removing the statements and says he never had a swipe card. Roy looks at the paper and notices S.A.R.M.S in the corner. He remembers what Pete said. Roy tells Cassian it was a mistake before leaving. Roy goes to Glenn to tell him that the prowler is someone inside the company. Another girl is attacked in her room. She punches him and pulls off his mask before calling him Jack. He tells Jesse (Molly Harris) that she shouldn’t have done that. Bella finds that Oliver Starling is in charge of the CCTV system over their storage.

They rush out to pick him up while Oliver tries to get Jesse into his white van. Roy and Glenn rush to the company’s office only to find it empty. Nick calls Roy to tell him about Jesse. They use the CCTV cameras in the office to discover where Oliver is taking his latest victim. Jesse kicks him and runs so he grabs a hammer. Oliver’s female friend arrives and stops Jesse, but has a change of heart and tries to get Oliver to let her go. He hits her. When the police arrive to look for Oliver, the woman tells Glenn that she tried to stop him. Roy finds Oliver and tries to stop him from taking Jesse. Oliver puts her down and says he can’t go to prison. He walks into the pit and kills himself. Oliver’s wife Pippa (Claudia Jolly) says she was only 17 when she met him.

She was trapped once she realized how controlling he was. When asked about Rachel, Pippa says he saw her face so he killed her. He promised to stop if she hid his body. Oliver stopped for ten years, but the school reunion started it over again. Rollo was Oliver’s abuse so that turned him into a monster. Pippa helped Oliver because he threatened to bury her like Rachel if she didn’t. He made her wear their lipstick. Cassian goes to the media to take credit for catching the prowler. Kevin Spinella (Alexander Cobb) asks Grace to make a statement so he does. Norman decides to scare Johnny to stop him from touching girls again. Grace visits Bo and learns that a handful of people want to report Rollo for sexual assault.

Later, Grace tells Cleo that work is always going to get in the way and he doesn’t want to lose what they have. He suggests getting their own place. At home, Roy tells Glenn that no one has responded to the ads about Sandy. He will attend a hearing and it’ll be over when it isn’t challenged. Glenn questions what his future holds since he has lost everything. He has bought them a gaming console. In Starnberg outside of Munich, a woman who looks like Sandy reads about the appeal in the newspaper.

 

Grace Review

The opening episode of Grace’s third season had some high points and a few low points although it was enjoyable overall. The personal dramas of Roy and Glenn could probably be better. At this point, it feels like the Sandy storyline has been played out a bit too much so it is somewhat difficult to care either way. It’d be great if Roy could move on and really invest in the relationship with Cleo. Otherwise, the Sandy stuff needs to move along quickly.

Glenn’s relationship issues weren’t much better. Despite being away from Ari throughout the course of the investigation, there was no mention of her looking for him or contacting him. On the other hand, Glenn and Roy living together could get interesting with some funny “bro moments”. The investigation into the Brighton prowler had some genuinely creepy moments thanks to Thomas Coombes’s Johnny Kerridge, solid camerawork, and the soundtrack.

Unfortunately, there were credibility issues that may prevent viewers from fully enjoying the episode. In particular, I had a tough time believing that Johnny was involved in so much stuff, including being a cabbie and working at a horror house. It didn’t make a lot of sense for Oliver to be the prowler and the ending felt rushed. Viewers should’ve been shown how Pippa switched the body and what came of the victims.

The hour and a half runtime means there is tons of evidence and perhaps too many twists and red herrings. It can get a bit confusing at times and dull at other points. If Grace was condensed down to an hour, I do think it’d be more impactful. Nevertheless, the episode was mostly enjoyable thanks to its general creepiness. It scores a 6.5 out of 10. Recaps of Grace can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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