Want You Dead – The episode opens with Dylan (Jake Neads) dressed in a nun habit restrained to a metal railing. Sterba Locksmiths arrives. Dylan claims the boys played a trick on him. After unlocking the first lock, Lubos (Renny Krupinski) informs him of his 180-pound fee. Dylan denies having that kind of money. Lubos leaves. Elsewhere, Park Ranger Alan Whitlock (Scott Handy) warns approaching hikers of an accident on the Wooding Beacon path before notifying the police.

DS Roy Grace (John Simma) complains about Alvin Smallbone (Niall Greig Fulton) ruining his proposal. Cleo Morey (Zoe Tapper) reminds him that she accepted. He voices concern about Smallbone interfering with their wedding. She vows to not let Smallbone keep her from marrying him and suggests waiting a bit before they announce their engagement.

Ari Branson (Rebecca Scroggs) insists their son, Sammy is faking an illness to avoid a spelling test. DS Glen Branson (Richie Campbell) leaves when Grace arrives. Grace insists Smallbone broke into his house and stole one of Sandy’s bracelets. Branson argues that Smallbone would have vandalized his house. A short time later, Branson and Grace are at Wooding Beacon where a man was found deceased. Grace points out the victim’s ashen color and wet clothes, a potential drowning. Whitlock claims to have encountered a man wearing a suit in the car park. Elsewhere, Cedric drops a coat off at the dry cleaners.

At the morgue, Cleo informs Grace and Branson that the male victim hasn’t eaten in days and he has liver disease related to excess alcohol use. Nadiuska De Sancha (Carolina Valdes) suggests he drowned in milk. Branson questions if it was an agricultural accident. A short time later, Grace fills the detectives in on the case.

East Sussex Children’s Protection – Tommy Adeoye (Ray Emmett Brown) receives a call from a Kemptom Primary School teacher, Alan Little about a neglected 7-year-old Lulu Hurst. Searching the database, Tommy doesn’t find a record for Lulu. Tommy claims to have filed a previous complaint.

At the police station, Grace learns the victim drowned in sheep’s milk. A short time later, Branson and Grace visit a sheep farm within a mile of the crime scene. Susan Stocks (Wendy Albiston) shows them CCTV footage of a man wearing a suit taking a large church. Elsewhere, Tommy visits a dilapidated building where Lulu is supposed to be living. He opens a small box containing powder and becomes woozy. The box falls to the floor. A man enters the room. Early the next morning, Tommy’s body is found outside the Pavilion near Brighton Dome. Nadiuska assesses the body to find multiple stab wounds to the torso and legs. Grace and Branson believe Tommy was murdered elsewhere. Elsewhere, Bella is curious about Norman’s strange phone call. A short time later, Grace informs them of Tommy’s murder.

Starnberg Commune, Munich – Annette pries into Sandy’s past. Sandy gives her a newspaper clipping about herself.

At the morgue, Nadiuska tells Grace and Branson that there are no defense wounds on Tommy’s hands but he was alive during the attack. Cleo says the murder weapon is a rapier. At a casino, Simon recognizes the dealer, Cedric/Graham as a magician who appeared on TV. A short time later, Cedric removes poker chips that he previously hid inside his cuffs, collar, and mouth.

Ashley breaks down weeping while talking about Tommy. She shows Nick a file that Tommy opened for Lulu on the morning of his murder. In the meantime, Branson and Grace visit the dilapidated building listed as Lulu’s address. Upstairs, they locate a box similar to the one that Tommy found containing a powder. Grace stops Branson from touching it. A puddle of blood is on the floor. At the police station, Nick informs Grace and Branson that Kemptown Primary or any of the other local schools don’t have a student named Lulu Hurst or a teacher named Alan Little. They listen to an audio recording of Alan Little’s call. Bella says the victim has been identified as Clyde Graves. A short time later, Grace and Branson visit Graves’ last known address to find the stolen churn and a box similar to those found in the dilapidated building. The box is later identified as a Japanese puzzle box replica. Nick explains how the internal mechanism releases a powder. A handcuffed Harry Houdini made a daring escape from a churn filled with water. Grace suggests Graves wasn’t supposed to escape. He believes Tommy was restrained inside a box when the killer randomly stabbed him with a rapier sword.

Grace explains his plan for their new home security camera with alerts. Cleo argues that it would give them a false sense of security. He assures her that it is extra security. At the commune, Sandy tells Annette that she felt abandoned by Grace. She admits to not knowing who was the father of her baby, Bruno. She disappeared to avoid facing the truth. After seeing how happy Grace is with Cleo, she couldn’t tell him. She claims someone saw her there. At the police station, Norman says none of the CCTV cameras near the Dome picked up a man wearing a suit. He wasn’t dropped off by a taxi. Grace suggests it was a magic trick. E. Weisz Rubbish Removal posted a 10-pound reward for information leading to the killer’s arrest. A short time later, Norman and Bella visit the address for the removal company to discover it doesn’t exist.

Tommy and Graves were drugged with a barbiturate-based powder. Grace questions if it rendered the victims powerless. Bella and Norman discover Alan Little is listed as the owner of the removal website. Grace and Branson visit the address listed on the credit card to find a ventriloquist sitting in a chair. It is a hoax.

Sterba’s Emporium Workshop – Lubos designs puppets.

A cover for “Cedric and Clyde” is found in Graves’ belongings. The duo split when Cedric’s escapology trick, The Incinerator, earned him fame. The detectives watch a video of Cedric’s performance. Bella says he is working at a local casino. Branson receives a call from Ari saying Sammy got sick at school. He agrees to pick him up.

Glenn and Roy visit Cedric (Brendan Patricks) who is working the table. Cedric says he uses the name Graham these days. Roy asks him about performing as Cedric and Clyde. Graham claims he last saw Clyde Graces 20 years ago. He explains that a good magician pays attention to the details because escapology is dangerous. Graham claims Clyde put his life in jeopardy during a trip involving a milk churn. Roy reveals Clyde was drowned in a milk churn. Graham takes them somewhere private to talk. He says he hasn’t performed for a decade and only had one great escape called The Incinerator. Graham says doing the television show ended his career because people no longer had to buy theater tickets. Glenn and Roy ask him about Tommy Adeoye.

Graham insists he doesn’t know it. Roy says he spoke to Tommy who was with the East Sussex Children’s Protection Services. Graham claims the man on the phone calling himself Alan Little is someone else impersonating him. As they leave, Roy admits he doesn’t believe him but they can’t arrest him either. Alvin Smallbone tells two men he has unfinished business and they won’t see him for a while. Glenn asks Cassian Pewe (Sam Hoare) for permission to access CCTV near the station. He’s worried that Alvin Smallbone has been following Roy. Cassian believes more than one person holds a grudge against Grace. He agrees to obtain the footage. Glenn calls his auntie before Roy tells him there’s something they need to see. Glenn says he promised Ari he’d pick up Sammy from school.

Nick Nicholl (Brad Morrison) and Roy look at a ventriloquist dummy. The doll features a maker’s mark from Lubos Sterba. Graham goes to a lockup with his old equipment. Glenn drops Sammy off with his auntie so she can watch him. Nick says Lubos Sterba specializes in making magic tricks and apparatus. He also makes puppets. He recognized the dummy immediately and said it was called Alan Little. Lubos sold the dummy to Alan Whitlock. Roy asks Glenn if the park ranger was named Alan Whitlock. He goes on to say they need to find him. They visit Alan’s residence. While looking around, they find an advertisement of sorts for Lulu Hurst. Alan Whitlock approaches from outside and surrenders to police. Roy speaks to him and learns he’s dying of cancer. Roy asks why he decided to kill Clyde and Tommy.

When Roy tries to arrest him, Alan has a medical episode and is taken away by an ambulance. Bella Moy (Laura Elphinstone) tells Roy that the bedroom is full of sleeping tablets and painkillers. Roy wants them checked because he believes Alan has been mixing them with powder to subdue the victim. He begins worrying that something is not right. They try to find out where the ambulance went. Alan uncuffs himself and handcuffs one of the officers to the gurney. He flees from the ambulance. Glenn says he planned his escape carefully so they need to get ahead of his next move. Cassian isn’t happy. He tells Roy that he needs to rebuild his relationship with the press. Since Kevin is gone, Roy gets in touch with Siobhan Sheldrake (Jan Le). Glenn will be her point of contact.

They speak to Siobhan and set some ground rules. She wants everything first so she can get a head start on the nationals. At Alan’s house, Nick admits they haven’t found anything to link Alan to Tommy or Clyde. Nick says Alan inherited the house after his father’s death. Bella says Alan recorded every performance until 2004. Siobhan found an article about Alan and Clyde having to flee their house due to a night of violence. Alan and Clyde must’ve been a couple. Roy points out that their house and the trap house are on Beckensdale Road. At Sterba’s Emporium, the owner locks up. Cassian receives the CCTV. Sandy (Clare Calbraith) talks to a woman about Cassian possibly seeing her and saying something. Annette (Nicky Goldie) talks to her about Cassian. Sandy believes Cassian only reveals something when it benefits him.

Cassian deletes the video featuring Sandy. Ashley (Jessica Hayles) helps Roy and Glenn find Tommy’s case files from 2004. Clyde and Alan fostered a child named Roman. Clyde accused Alan of sexually abusing the boy. Tommy found no evidence so the case was dropped, but Roman was still removed from their case. Glenn suspects the article was about Alan potentially being a pedophile. Ashley says homophobia would’ve been a big factor back then. Clyde tried to retract his statement after the attacks. Roy and the others discuss the case back at the station. Norman and Bella try to find Graham. Alan approaches Graham outside with a small package. Bella and Norman find poker chips outside where Graham was. Graham finds himself chained up in the magic trick with the gas on.

The time hits zero just before an explosion. Nick and Roy try to find out where he could be. Roy and Glenn find the lockup and Graham dead. Lubos returns to his building and finds the door to the emporium open. Glenn and Roy learn that someone stole an escape trick Lubos was building. When they speak to Lubos, he tells them it was an electric chair he was building for a Saudi Prince. Roy believes Alan Whitlock is the Saudi prince. Lubos says Alan was a great magician, but his private life was a mess. Alan and Clyde fought all the time. They fostered the boy to try to mend their relationship. When Alan met Jason Peterson, he fell in love. Clyde called the police because he was bitter and angry. Alan thought the police would clear his name but they didn’t.

Lubos reveals he was building The Incinerator for Alan. When Alan’s work dried up, Lubos tries to help him sell it. Alan didn’t think the price was good enough. The buyer was Graham. Lubos learns that Graham died in The Incinerator. Roy thinks he should stay with friends or family. At the station, Nick says Roman has an impressive history of offending. He vanished six months ago. Glenn wonders if he could be helping Alan Whitlock. Bella says Jason Peterson is a curator at the Pavilion. Glenn and Roy speak to Jason (Oisin Stack) who says his relationship with Alan was brief. They might’ve been together for a couple of months. Glenn says they’re going to protect Jason until Alan is found. At the station, it’s confirmed that Alan has cancer and he’s dying.

Jason asks Bella about the tunnels and whether they’re secure. He agrees to show her around them. Roy finds out that Jason was listed as Alan’s next-of-kin six months ago. Glenn and Roy rush to save Bella who is being led into the tunnels by Jason. Roy contacts PC Croft using his radio to tell him. Norman finds out that Alan is coming after the police too. Roy tries to keep him calm. Norman is told to find out where the tunnels exit. Jason uses some type of powder to knock out Bella. Once she’s hooked to the machine, Alan tells Jason that he should leave. Bella wakes up and finds herself strapped to an electric chair. Roy and the others reach the Pavilion. Roy finds Croft who is alive. Then, Roy and Glenn find a computer with a stream of Alan preparing to kill Bella. Alan says there are multiple timers and each will deliver a shock.

The final shock is painless because a stopper heart feels nothing. If they leave or close their eyes, Alan will kill Bella. Nick arrives but manages to leave without being spotted. Roy and Glenn try to find out where Bella is being held. Norman calls and learns about the trap. Nick and Norman work together to find out where Bella is. Norman finds the yellow windows and runs over. He runs into Jason who tells for Alan. Norman takes care of Jason. Alan says he’d rather die a murderer than a pedo. He steps on the trigger before leaving. Norman unplugs the cord before Bella is killed. Alan steps outside and bows before the police officers. Roy arrives and tells him that he likely won’t make it to trial but Jason will. Alan says they were in love but surrounded by hate. He insists Jason wanted to be involved.

Glenn tells his son he’s worried about him. He asks if he’s being bullied or if he doesn’t like his teacher. Sammy asks Glenn not to go away. Sandy is worried about facing Roy and becoming the villain who put her husband through hell. She’d rather everyone think she’s dead. Annette says she chose a new life the same way her husband did. Glenn tells Roy a witness remembers someone selling the pram. That person matches Smallbone’s description. Roy tells Ari and Glenn that he asked Cleo to marry him. Glenn agrees to be his best man. Sandy gets hit by a car and her purse is stolen.

 

Grace Review

This episode of Grace had some good ideas although many of them have been done previously in other shows. The performances remain strong from almost everyone. All of the basics are good including the camerawork. Despite this, the writing leaves a lot to be desired this season.

Obviously, this is a bloated show that never needed to be an hour and a half. The same story can be told in 45 minutes or so. Characters could be removed and many scenes could be eliminated to condense this down to a more watchable length. In each episode, there has been so much information that won’t matter and won’t be remembered. Most viewers are only going to remember the core information and the basics which is really all that matters anyway.

Again, the episode had some good ideas even if they weren’t original. The bigger issue is that there was so much packed in here that nothing felt authentic or impactful. As an example, it was easy to see that Jason was involved from the moment he invited Bella into the tunnels. It was also obvious that Bella was never in any real harm. The whole Sandy situation has already been farfetched so having her get hit by a car seems even more unrealistic.

Honestly, a lot about Grace has become corny thanks to the writing. This entire episode had a roller coaster of an episode that achieved very little besides spotlighting homophobia. That could’ve been achieved in 45 minutes without leaving another 45 minutes for viewers to pick holes in the story. This episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Grace can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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