At the start of the episode, Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) gets drunk and heads to his mother’s ceremony. He steps inside and speaks with his mother Amelia (Jemma Redgrave) before being introduced to St. John’s son Clement (Jonny Amies). Will and Clement share a drink before asking the band to play something different. Back in the city, Geordie (Robson Green) tracks down Matthew Butler (Jim Caesar). Matthew has been turned away for work and he has been staying in a rundown motel. He wants to know if Will has asked about it but Geordie explains the vicar has been very busy. Geordie gives Matthew money for rent so he can have a roof over his head for the night.
Amelia confronts Will and tells him to stop it. He is not being himself. In the morning, Geordie and Larry (Bradley Hall) find another dead body. This time, the body belongs to a woman by the name of Nora Martin (Emma Thornett). She has a marriage certificate on her body. It is believed the woman might’ve been killed elsewhere and moved there. Since she is posed like a crucifix and she is on Jesus Green, the investigators suspect it might have something to do with religion. Dickens enters the room and licks Will in the face. This forces a hungover Will to get up and join Leonard (Al Weaver) and Sylvia (Tessa Peake-Jones) in the kitchen. Leonard reminds everyone that his father is coming and that he is not a great conversationalist.
He gives them advice for speaking with his father. Will pleads with Leonard to take the service for the day before Geordie enters and tells Will about the body. Moments later, Leonard finds himself outside of the church inviting locals inside. His father Russell (Sean Gilder) approaches. He is introduced to Sylvia and Jack (Nick Brimble). Russell refuses to go into the church with his son. He decides to stay at the nearby pub until the service has finished. Geordie tells Will that he saw Matthew and that he is homeless. Will feels guilty and can’t face him. Soon, they find themselves speaking with Robin (Harry Gilby) and Frank Martin (Adam Astill). The Martins learn about the discovery of Nora’s body before Frank explains that his wife disappeared five years ago.
Robin reminds Geordie that the police said Nora likely jumped into the water and died. Frank explains that his wife didn’t take her wedding ring. Will and Geordie go to the morgue and learn from Larry that she was stabbed repeatedly and so hard that the blade stayed in. He is told to find the missing persons report for Nora. Geordie shows Will the ring that Nora was wearing at the time of her death. Will reads the inscription and finds out that the victim was serving as a nun. They head to the Order of St. Beatrice to investigate Nora’s murder. Sister Michael or Lavinia (Andrea Valls) lets them inside. They are led to the office of Sister Grace (Tracy Ann Oberman). Grace has already figured out that Nora is dead since she is the only one who has been unaccounted for.
Will is surprised she isn’t showing any emotion. Grace doesn’t know where Nora went. They check out her room where they find a suitcase. Will wonders if there was a man. When the bell rings, the nuns leave because they have to pray. Back at the station, Will says he hates the nuns using religion to control. They go through the missing persons evidence. The find information about Lavinia Jones as well. Surprisingly, Lavinia was reported missing the same year. Meanwhile, Leonard sits down with Russell for a chat. They speak about their old landlord Gideon. Russell reveals that the man got cancer and died. Leonard says he has been doing a lot of thinking about his father and mother. He says they really didn’t talk about her much but his father says otherwise.
Russell is more interested in his beer than having a conversation with his son. Geordie speaks with Mrs. Jones (Mark Gillis) and Mrs. Jones (Sarah Thom) about Lavinia running away from home. Will returns to the nunnery and speaks with Lavinia. The Jones parents identify Sister Grace in photographs. Lavinia is surprised to find out that her parents are still looking for her. He is pulled away by another nun moments later. Leonard returns his father home before Russell says he let his wife down. Then, he begins talking about Gideon once again. Leonard sits down with Daniel (Oliver Dimsdale) to tell him about the day with his dad.
Leonard explains that his father cried most about Gideon who he spent a lot of time at the pub with. Daniel wonders if Russell was scared that Leonard was going to be like him. Will and Geordie find more missing people reports for the nuns. They head to the nunnery and confront Grace. She is out of her uniform and has a small girl named Hattie (Cecily Cleeve) on her lap. The nuns are taken to the police station and reunited with their parents. Geordie speaks with Hattie and finds out that she is Nora’s daughter. Grace is taken to an interrogation room and accused of killing Nora. She denies it but Will isn’t sure they can believe her. She says the convent is a family but Will refutes that as well. They question Grace about be excommunicated. Will believes Nora tried to leave with his daughter but Grace wouldn’t allow it.
She says Will sees a prison where there isn’t one and she believes that says more about him than her. Leonard sits down with his father again. His dad apologizes for having too many last night but he is already drinking now. Leonard believes his mother knew about Russell’s relationship with Gideon. They chat about an old fishing trip and Russell pretends everything was fine. Leonard remembers it differently because his father called him a little sissy. He tells Russell that he was married and his behavior was disgusting. Russell tells his son that he better learn to watch his mouth. Hattie is returned to Nora’s husband and son. Meanwhile, Grace tells Will that he looks at her and sees a path he hopes never to take. He still believes she is responsible for Nora’s murder.
Geordie returns and Will digs in deeper. After that, Will and Geordie share a drink while Geordie says religion has a lot to answer for. Will gets angry and asks Geordie if he has visited Diana yet. He rushes out into the hallway and finds Lavinia in the lobby with a bloody face. Will and Leonard rush tot he Martin home thinking they might be abusing Hattie. They are not. She is perfectly fine. However, Geordie notices that the rug has been changed recently. When it is pulled up, blood is discovered underneath. This leads them to believe that Frank killed his wife. He is taken to the state and interviewed. During that interview, Frank doesn’t hold back. He admits he was angry about his wife leaving since he cared for her. He says he spotted Nora and took her back to the house. They argued before he grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her once.
After that, Will returns to Grace and apologizes for misjudging her. She explains she was trying to do good. Nora left because she wanted to register Hattie at the school. Will tells her about the boxing gym and how everything went horribly wrong. They go back and forth before embracing and kissing. Moments later, they end up in bed together. Will admits he feels good and he is over his sexual problems. Will catches back up with Geordie who realizes Frank is lying. After all, Nora was stabbed multiple times. They believe her son Robin might’ve killed her. He is brought in for an interview and he admits he was mad at his mother for leaving him. He sounds a lot like his father. He spotted his mom, took her home, and killed her after an argument. Robin and Frank took the body to Jesus Green to convince investigators it was related to the convent.
Sylvia returns home in time to hear Russell belittle Leonard. She tries to convince Leonard that nothing he is saying is true. Leonard confronts his father and tells him to tell his bosses after his sexuality. He wants him to hurry up and do it. He says he doesn’t care. He likes men and he is in love. He is not cowering or ashamed for the first time in his life. He is finally happy. Leonard also says he feels sorry for his father. Will goes to his mother and admits he is afraid she is going to be trapped in a marriage with St. John like she was with his father but that is her decision to make. St. John approaches before Will asks them for money. Leonard and Sylvia speak at the church. Leonard tells her that he loves her. He says Sylvia, Will, and that silly dog are the only family he has.
Will goes to Matthew and says he was ashamed about being involved. He apologizes for turning his back on Matthew. Will shows him the keys to the boxing gym. They head there and Will tells Matthew he can help people like him at the gym. Matthew is excited and asks when he can start. Geordie returns home and finds Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth) outside with the kids being loud inside. He asks her if she would like to go see Diana and he offers to go with her. After that, a birthday party is held for Will and he opens gifts. Daniel arrives as Will opens a pair of gloves. Sylvia says Daniel is a friend of Will’s so it was only polite to invite him. Will likes the gloves. Later, the group parties while Will watches from outside. Geordie asks him if he should be worried about him but Will says no.
Geordie confesses he was worried about him. Will admits he lost the wonder after the Vic situation. He says he has to realize that things cannot be perfect. Geordie realizes that Will has had sex. He believes it was Ellie but Will reveals it was Grace. Geordie finds that a bit odd since he believes she is the wife of God and Will slept with his boss’s missus. Will believes he will never hear the end of it.
Grantchester Review
Grantchester has been very good this season. I’ve always liked the show I think it is just as good now as it was in the past. Will Davenport brings new storylines to the table. The rest has remained the same. Leonard has continued struggling with his sexuality and it appears Sylvia is willing to accept it now. I guess she saw how mean Leonard’s father was to him and she doesn’t want to be like that. So, she invited Daniel to Will’s birthday party as a way to make it up to him.
That was a very satisfying ending. It is tough not to feel sympathy for poor Leonard. As for Will, he overcame his celibacy problem by sleeping with Sister Grace. I think that may open the door for a relationship between Will and Ellie in future episodes. Matthew has taken over the boxing gym with help from Will. I question whether they’ll include that storyline in future episodes. I wouldn’t mind if they did. I hope they do since it would give more value to this season.
The season was great. I hope they’re going to make another one too and I felt that the finale was pretty good as well. It scores an 8 out of 10. Previous recaps of Grantchester can be found on the Reel Mockery website.
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.
