As the episode begins, Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) preaches while we see an unknown man running from something in the street. The man’s face is bloody and he hides away from his attackers. The man is cornered so he tries to give his attacker money to leave him alone. Outside, Will speaks with Marie (Sandra Huggett) and Vic (Ross Boatman). Matthew (Jim Caesar) walks by and Will makes sure to speak with him. Matthew’s mother is there too and she isn’t hesitant to tell the others about Matthew’s bad behavior. His mother believes his time with Vic and Will has gone him some good. After that, we jump over to the police station.

Geordie (Robson Green) and Larry (Bradley Hall) interview the man from the street. He reports the robbery but will not tell them how much was taken or who took it. He is only able to tell them that he was robbed by men. Will arrives and gets Geordie. They had over to the stadium so they can watch a fight between Matthew and Lucas (Jack Donoghue). Leonard Finch (Al Weaver) joins the couple. They step inside and Vic makes sure to tell Geordie that the program has been a success. Geordie spots Ellie (Lauren Carse) and intends to call her over but Will pleads with him not to. Leonard explains that the couple’s romance has faded. Will goes into the locker room and finds Marie with both boys.

They’re nervous so Will does his best to help Matthew get ready for the bout. Before too long, Vic is in the ring giving a speech. He talks about his love for the boxing program and being able to help the boys. Will steps in the ring and gives Vic a hug before the fighters are introduced. Ellie sits with Geordie while Matthew gets the best of Lucas. The round ends and Matthew gets instructions from Will. Matthew does not fight back during the second round and finds himself losing the bout. At the bar afterward, Geordie tells Vic and Will that it looked like he threw the fight. Also, Geordie learns about Will’s failed proposal to Ellie. Will explains Vic gave him advice about marriage so he went for it.

Geordie doesn’t believe it is worth it since sex is sex. He also claims it often isn’t that good. Will and Vic leave together. When they return to the gym, they find a sign on the door. It warns them not to come in and to call the police. They bust through the door before finding Lucas and Matthew passed out in the ring. The boys are rushed to the hospital while the Will and the others try to find out what happened. Meanwhile, Leonard helps Jack (Nick Brimble) try to win back Mrs. Chapman (Tessa Peake-Jones). Sylvia doesn’t seem too eager to cooperate. After that, Will and Geordie return to the scene. Geordie finds out from Larry that the door was locked from the outside and the key hasn’t been found.

This convinces Geordie that someone else was there. Will suggests it might’ve been high jinks but Geordie doesn’t accept that. While searching through the lockers, they find a receipt for a personal ad taken out in The Cambridge Echo. They visit the newspaper headquarters and find out that the ad is for someone looking for a young male companion. Ellie points out that many of the words have been spelled wrong. Will and Ellie go back and forth about their relationship. Before they leave, Ellie asks Will if he’ll marry her. He says no and she says they’re even now. Meanwhile, Leonard mediates a conversation between Jack and Sylvia. That negotiation does not go well.

Jack explains he helped desperate families get across the border but Sylvia reminds him he made money. The conversation does not get the results Leonard hoped for. Meanwhile, Will wonders if they pushed the boys too hard. They watch as Walter Burrows (Rupert Holliday-Evans) exits a building nearby. He is the man who reported the robbery earlier in the episode so Geordie believes he is the one they’re looking for. Burrows is taken to the police station and questioned about the newspaper ad. Burrows is asked if he met with Lucas and he admits he replied to the ad. Burrows explains that Lucas’s friend, Matthew, followed them. Matthew beat him up and robbed him. Later, Geordie sees a newspaper article about a man faking his wife’s suicide.

Matthew wakes up with Will next to him but Lucas does not. Matthew admits they intended to kill themselves. Vic wonders why he didn’t come to him. Vic speaks with Geordie in the hallway while Will stays with Matthew. Matthew asks about the suicide letter but Will didn’t know there was a letter. Matthew is asked about Lucas meeting with a gentleman. Matthew begins freaking out when Will touches him. He gets worse when Vic enters. Matthew screams for Vic to get away from him. Later that night, Geordie tells Will about the fake suicide case. He says when two people try to commit suicide and one survives, they’re only able to charge them with manslaughter. The article about the fake suicide is in the same paper that Lucas’s ad was in.

Geordie wonders if Matthew saw it and decided to run with the idea. Will doesn’t believe Matthew staged the whole thing. The following day, Will tracks down Burrows once again. Burrows is accused o being at the gym and taking the suicide note but he denies it. He claims he was with Lucas once. Matthew beat him up the next time. They told Burrows that someone told them this was normal but it is not normal. Will goes back to the gym to have a look around. He finds Vic massaging one of the boys and tell him to relax. Will suspects Vic might have been up to something bad before Marie enters and tells them something is happening with the boys. They rush to the hospital only to find out that Lucas has passed away. Will sits down with Matthew to console him.

Meanwhile, Leonard and Jack seem to be giving up on Sylvia. Leonard tells them that they’re stubborn. He says he won’t speak with them until they get back on good terms. Since they’re not going to leave one another, they have to sort out their problems. Matthew is interviewed. Geordie asks questions about the boy faking his suicide. Matthew is asked about the suicide note too. Will steps in and defends Matthew so Geordie takes him into the hallway to tell him to stop undermining him. Will tells Geordie that Matthew isn’t going to talk with Vic there. Will pleads with Geordie to get rid of Vic so he can speak with Matthew alone. During this time, Jack tries to smooth things over with his wife. Jack admits he has a past he is not proud of but that he met a woman who made him want to be better.

He has written to Tariq offering them financial support. Their conversation ends with a kiss. Will tries his best to get Matthew to admit what happened. Matthew confesses that Vic said he was special and his favorite. Will meets with Geordie and tells him about it moments later. Matthew tells Will that Vic would buy them stuff to win them over. Lucas decided that they should make some money from it since Vic is going to be molesting them anyway. Geordie tells Will that Matthew will have to come in a make a statement. Will feels bad that he sent Matthew back when he tried to leave the gym. Larry, Geordie, and Will visit Vic at his house so they can bring him in for questioning. Vic is taken to an interrogation room for questioning. He admits he bought the kids all types of magazines.

Vic denies climbing into bed with the boys and he suggests Matthew has been lying. Will gets mad and storms out. He finds that Matthew is leaving without giving a statement. He chases him down and finds out that Matthew’s mother doesn’t believe her son. She suspects her rotten son has been telling lies. She leaves Matthew by himself before he socks Will across the face. Geordie arrives seconds later before Matthew is taken to a cell. Vic is not happy with Will. He says he knows who his real friends are now. Leonard and Daniel (Oliver Dimsdale) go for a walk. Daniel agrees to read the letter from Leonard’s father. In that letter, his father says he wants to see him. He misses his son and can’t wait to meet him. Geordie and Will share a drink before Will blames himself for falling for Vic’s scheme.

Geordie doesn’t have enough on Vic since the other boys aren’t talking. Geordie says something that convinces Will Vic’s wife would know about the molestation. He visits her the following day hoping she’ll speak out against her husband. He thinks Marie was at the gym and took the suicide note but she denies it. As Will prepares to leave on his bike, Marie comes outside and hands him the note. Will confronts Vic at the gym and demands to hear him confess to what he did. Vic continues denying everything and he swears on his. Vic reminds Will that it is going to be his word against Matthew’s. Will returns to Vic house. He tells Marie that she should read the letter but she already has. Will says Vic has to be stopped and he suspects Marie is the only one who can stop him.

Will and Marie go to the police station so she can make a statement regarding Vic’s actions. Geordie confronts Vic in an interrogation room. He says Will only fell for it because he is the best of men. He also believes this has broken him but he doesn’t think Vic cares about that. Vic is just as smug as ever so Geordie gives him a good gut punch. Later in the episode, Will gets angry and smashes a mirror. Then, he speaks to the congregation. He says people have destroyed everything God gave them. He also claims they surrounded themselves with snakes and they blame god. He is very angry. He says they deserve the snakes and misery because they sin.

 

Grantchester Review

This was an excellent episode of Grantchester. It might’ve been the best episode all season. I knew something big was going to happen with Vic but I didn’t expect it would be this bad. Grantchester gets very deep at times and it tackles subjects that many shows refuse to. When the show is this good, it is easy to ignore the departure of Sidney. I can’t wait to see what is going to happen in the finale. This episode did a great job setting things up so we can have an explosive finale.

Leonard’s father is coming to town, Vic is going to prison for being a child molester, and Will is blaming himself. What will happen in the end? I wish we didn’t have to wait so long to find out. This has been a solid season of Grantchester despite the absence of James Norton. I can easily recommend it to fans and non-fans. The episode scores an 8.5 out of 10. Previous recaps of Grantchester are available on Reel Mockery.