At the beginning of the episode, we see a young naked man running through the streets of Grantchester. He runs into Geordie (Robson Green) and Will (Tom Brittney). Geordie considers going after the man but Will talks him out of it. As the boy continues, he yells out that the aliens are coming. Meanwhile, Leonard Finch (Al Weaver) finds out that Mrs. Chapman’s ring has gone missing. Sylvia (Tessa Peake-Jones) says it has gone to a new home. Chapman doesn’t want to talk about it while Leonard tries to convince her that it wasn’t a judgment from God. Leonard believes God wants them to be happy but Sylvia does not. She counters that he only wants them to be good Christians. At the gym, Vic Morgan (Ross Boatman) speaks with Will.
Will tells Vic that he cannot keep leaning on him before confiding in his friend that he nearly let himself down with Ellie. Vic reminds him that he is human. He suggests he should be patting himself on the back instead of punishing himself. Geordie enters and tells Will that they’ve discovered a dead body and it is necked. They go to the crime scene and find the nude runner dead in a field. Ellie (Lauren Carse) arrives seconds later hoping to get the scoop. Ellie has already tracked down the boy’s name and Geordie wants it. She promises that the vicar will have dinner with her in exchange for the boy’s name.
She tells them that the boy’s name is Chris Hartley (Jack Barton) and he is from Trinity Hall. Will and Geordie leave. They stop and notice that Ellie has already released an article about the alien abduction case. They check the boy’s room and find that it has been ransacked. Someone has been looking for something. Larry Peters (Bradley Hall) joins them moments later. He tells Geordie that there was nothing at the postmortem. Chris didn’t have alcohol in his system. Geordie finds a journal giving them details of Chris’s last movements. He has ML written in the book so Will explains he likely visited the Master’s Lodge. They speak with Douglas (Andrew Bridgmont) and his wife Judy (Stella Gonet).
Judy is disturbed to find out that Chris has passed. Judy was expected to see the boy the following day but he never showed up. Douglas explains that his wife is a Fellow in Psychology at Girton and Chris was studying psychology too. Chris often asked Judy for advice. She says his father is coming to visit and that is going to be bad. Then, their conversation turns to Adler’s trial. Martin Adler (Simon Kunz) has been carrying out a trial involving LSD and Chris was involved in that trial. Mrs. Hartley (Andrew Bridgmont) goes to the police station to identify his son. Geordie asks why he was visiting his son. Mr. Hartley says Chris was the only one he had and vice versa.
Moments later, they speak with Martin Adler. He suspects the Monroe couple badmouthed his study because he got funding for his research and they didn’t. He refutes the claim that LSD drives people mad and says it is God in a bottle. Will suggests otherwise. Remi Adeyemi (Jyuddah Jaymes) enters and interrupts. Remi has been a part of the trial and he seems to be thrilled with the LSD. He says he feels like his old self after the high but with more insight. He doesn’t know why Chris ran out of the den. Adler says he keeps the drug under lock and key so he doesn’t believe Chris could’ve gotten any more than he dished out. Will asks where he got it from.
Seconds later, Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth) finds out that Diana (Paula Wilcox) is holding a yard sale with their belongings. Diana suggests she is doing them a favor before getting angry and knocking over a glass. Will and Geordie visit the LSD lab and run into Peter Soosai (Akshay Sharan) who is a friend of Remi. He eventually admits that he made extra LSD and gave it to Remi. Remi is brought into the station for an interview. He admits to getting more LSD saying he wanted to take it with Chris. They were going to do it this weekend. After Remi heard about Chris running around naked, he looked for the vial under his bed and it was gone. Remi is relieved to find out that he hasn’t done anything illegal besides obstructing the investigation.
Leonard tries to cheer up Sylvia with scripture but she has equally mean scripture to counter with. Cathy tries to find someone to take her mother but Margie turns her down. Will tries to figure out why a timid boy would take so much LSD. He shows Geordie Chris’s book The Doors of Perception. The book is Aldous Huxley’s account of his experience with mescaline. Chris’s notes in the book sound frightful. Will suggests speaking with his girlfriend and they do moments later. She takes the blame since she talked him into doing the trial. She claims Chris was scared about doing LSD outside the trial. She doesn’t believe he was hooked and she explains that the LSD doesn’t have a taste.
Moments later, they speak with the girlfriend, Helen, and Remi. Chris, Remi, Helen, and Peter are the only ones who knew about the extra LSD. They do not believe Peter would’ve done anything to harm Chris. At one point, Peter said he had seen the devil after taking LSD. Cathy returns home to find her mother cooking and upbeat. Peter is interviewed next. Peter explains he would have no reason to steal the LSD since he can make it. He doesn’t know what was going on with Chris but he was craving a bit of oblivion. Judy speaks with Will after that. Will doesn’t understand and considers taking a drop from Adler but Judy tells him not to do that. Will admits he feels guilty since they didn’t stop Chris when they saw him.
Will tells her that he killed his father and it is complicated. She offers to arrange someone to speak with him but he speaks with God every day. Will wants to know how troubled Chris was. He learns that his mother walked out on him when he was young and he went home recently. That visit home resulted in Chris being very upset and that is why his father was visiting. Geordie returns home to find Diana entertaining the Lawsons. Diana is very outlandish during the entire event. Meanwhile, Ellie, Sylvia, Leonard, and Will discuss the case and LSD. Leonard tells everyone about one of his friends who started seeing a psychologist before he was given electric shocks and injections. The boy killed himself so Leonard has always been afraid of psychologists.
He doesn’t tell Sylvia why the boy was seeing a doctor. He tries to turn the conversation to happy things but Sylvia won’t allow it. Diana continues her rant. The party comes to an end when Diana nearly burns the house down. Will and Ellie get some alone time so they can talk about their relationship and Will’s celibacy. It doesn’t take long for them to start making out. Will stops and asks why they gave the newspaper Chris’s name. He wonders if it had something to do with humiliating him. He wants to know who tipped her off. She explains it was an anonymous voice but a well-spoken female. Diana is found smashing holes in the wall with a sledgehammer. Geordie stops her and Cathy manages to calm her down.
Next, Cathy tells Geordie that her mom has always had ups and downs. Her downs can last for many months. Cathy explains that her mother was aggressive and abusive due to her mental problems. Will goes to Helen but she doesn’t want to speak with him. She says she would never hurt kiss but Adler has forbidden them from speaking to him. Geordie suggests putting Diana in the hospital but Cathy doesn’t want that. She says she can quit her job and take care of her. Will confronts Adler and finds out that The Cambridge Echo has published a story about the nude student being drugged by the don. Adler is told about the others getting their own LSD supply. He reminds Will that everything shared between a patient and therapist is confidential.
He agrees to show Will something. He shows him a video of Will while he is high on LSD. Chris recalls his father choking his mother. He claims that his father killed her. Will tells Geordie about it seconds later. Will believes Chris’s father might be responsible since he had something to hide. They speak with Mr. Hartley and ask him about the accusation. He begins crying before saying he didn’t know Chris saw it. She claims his wife had been carrying on with a Canadian airman and she was going to leave them. He tried to stop her and it got physical but he did not kill her. He says he lied to his son about going to Canada when she really went to Bedford. He was visiting Chris so he could tell him the truth.
Outside, Geordie says he feels guilty for turning Will into a monster. Will feels bad that he wanted it to be the father. Later, Will tells Vic he is thinking about seeing a therapist. Vic encourages him to have more faith in himself. Their conversation turns to Chris and his mother walking out on him. Will admits he is pessimistic about relationships. Vic reveals he got married to a girl after a week and it turned out to be a disaster since he left and didn’t see her again for three years. He says he still wakes up the luckiest man in the world. Geordie takes control of the Diana situation and gets help for her without Cathy’s permission. Leonard speaks to Sylvia in hopes of making her happy. She reveals she is married to a man she doesn’t even know.
Leonard comforts her. Will meets with Ellie and asks her to marry him. She chuckles and can’t believe he is serious. She says that isn’t the answer and they barely know each other. Geordie explains things to Diana before taking her outside and putting her in an ambulance. Later that day, Leonard speaks with Will in private. Leonard says he is thinking about asking his father to stay. They don’t get along but he is going to do it for Mrs Chapman. Will learns about the problems with Jack and his ill-gotten gains. That gives Will a clue about Chris’s murder. He confronts Judy and Douglas moments later. Douglas continues on so Will can speak with Judy in private. Will says Judy was furious when she found out Adler had received funding but she didn’t.
He accuses Judy of putting the LSD in Chris’s tea. He also says she is feeling a hundred times more guilty than him. She admits she didn’t know it would hit him so hard. She says Will should’ve stopping him and Adler should’ve never been allowed to start that research. She is taken away by police moments later. Geordie tells Will he is going to stick with beer. They chat about playing backgammon before Will speaks in church. Diana is shown at the hospital, Diana at home, and Vic caring for a boxer’s cut. Leonard writes a letter to his father.
Grantchester Review
This was a pretty good episode of Grantchester. The season has been great. I feel it has been equally good as the seasons with James Norton. The LSD case was pretty interesting. The episode focused a lot on the main stories. For instance, Geordie was forced to take care of Diana and he learned about Cathy’s tumultuous childhood. Leonard did his best to cheer up Sylvia but it didn’t help. He is going to try one more thing by inviting his father to stay with them.
Will is still trying to come to terms with his father’s suicide while dealing with his celibacy. I enjoyed the episode and can’t wait to see what Leonard’s father is like. He seems hesitant so I am worried he won’t be great for Leonard. The episode scores a 7.5 out of 10. Previous recaps of Grantchester are available on Reel Mockery.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
