As the second episode of Grantchester’s sixth season begins, Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) prepares for a baptism at the church. Marcus (Miles Jupp) and Penny Asper (Polly Frame) participate in the ceremony while we see a young man running along the path. Just as Will begins baptizing baby James, the runner bursts through the door and says his name is not James. He claims the boy’s name is Billy Connor and he is his son. Will takes Davy Connor (Eddie-Joe Robinson) outside after calming him down. Davy claims the boy was taken by Joan Beaumont (Christina Cole) and they put it in the paper in an attempt to make it look real. Marcus steps outside and demands Will call the police. Marcus claims Davy has been harassing his family, but Davy says Marcus stole his family. Geordie (Robson Green) and Larry (Bradley Hall) arrive to take Davy away while he claims Will is going to be part of this too.

Marcus wants to press charges but Geordie and Will want to know more about Joan and everything else Davy was saying first. Once Marcus steps away, Geordie explains Davy was picked up a few days ago outside the Asper house screaming abuse. He admits they haven’t looked into Davy’s claims because he is a drunk and Marcus is a solicitor. Will pushes and pushes until Geordie agrees to speak to Joan who he describes as a bleeding heart. Once they arrive at her office, they overhear Joan trying to convince a woman to give up her child so it can be looked after properly. Geordie and Will interrupt the conversation and begin asking questions about the Asper couple. As the young girl leaves, Will tells her she can visit him at the church in Grantchester if she needs someone else to talk to.

Joan refuses to talk about individual cases but admits they take babies and give them away since she is running an adoption agency. Will asks if they ever force or coerce the families into giving their children away, but she claims they make it as painless as possible. Joan also makes it clear that the mother has the say when the couples are unmarried. Will argues she gets paid regardless. Joan confesses the families sometimes give donations when they like the work she does. She tells Will he offered that girl the same thing she did, but the difference is that she can actually help. As for Will, he can only say a prayer for her. Outside, Will complains about the way Joan was talking to the young girl and calls it emotional blackmail. Geordie says it is better for the kids to go to good families before Will calls them rich families. Will says that doesn’t guarantee love and he would know.

Inspector Keating wants to leave this one alone. Leonard Finch (Al Weaver) sits down with Sylvia (Tessa Peake-Jones) in the morning, and she immediately gets on his nerves. She says Jack has agreed they can go to Paris this Christmas. Will joins them and they talk about the Asper couple briefly. Leonard receives a card that says something about Leviticus. Leonard claims it is only homework from the Diocese before leaving in a hurry. Will follows him and finds out that it is Leviticus 18:22 which says you should not lie with a male. Will reads it and learns Leonard is being blackmailed for 50 pounds. Leonard doesn’t think it would be his father, but Will suspects Bryan Stanford (Michael Abubakar) is responsible. Will tells him about Bryan coming to him. He admits he didn’t think it was worth mentioning since it could’ve ruined the holiday.

Leonard wants to pay. Will does not and says what Bryan is doing is illegal. Later, Geordie tries to leave the office only to learn from Miss Scott (Melissa Johns) that Larry needs him. He meets with Larry and finds him with the girl who was with Joan earlier. The girl insists she just came back and found Joan like this. There was a struggle, and it looks like Joan hit her head on the step. No one else lives there. Geordie learns the girl’s name is Nicola Hart (Rebecca Stone). Larry is tasked with going door to door while Nicola and Geordie talk about Joan being a good person. Geordie believes it would be a good idea for Nicola to visit Will and have a nice hot bath. Meanwhile, Will goes to Amelia and St John so he can ask for money. St. John (Dominic Mafham) realizes Will wants to hide the fact he has been investing and losing money.

He begins writing him a check for 50 pounds with his daughter Tamara (Emily Patrick) enters. Will is introduced to his step-sister before she learns about the hardship at Will’s parish. Tamara suspects Will has a girl in trouble and wonders if Will is as innocent as he pretends. He asks her about being cynical and she claims she was just spoiled. That convinces St John to put the check away. In the morning, Will tells Leonard his evening wasn’t great since he didn’t get the money. Leonard believes he should just go talk to Bryan but Will encourages him not to do anything without him. A call from Geordie interrupts and Will learns about Joan’s murder. Once they meet up, Will asks Geordie about blackmail and what he’d have to investigate. Then, they visit Molly Lowden (Madison Clare) while looking for Davy. She is the baby’s mother, but she didn’t want another especially one with Davy.

She explains herself so Will asks if those are Joan’s works. Molly admits to knowing Joan since she is frequently around these parts. Davy shows up with flowers and tries to talk to the kids before Molly quickly tells him to leave them alone because he isn’t their dad. Davy asks about Billy and suggests he can get back on his feet with a few gardening jobs, but Molly isn’t sure of that even with God’s help. When asked where he was last night, Molly immediately says he was there with her and she is surprised Joan is dead. Davy says he didn’t like her, but he wouldn’t wish that on anyone. He argues a lot of people would say otherwise with all the babies Joan took. Geordie and Will return to her office and search for evidence. Geordie lumps Will and Joan into the same category as interferers, but Will denies it and says he only listens and tries to help when he can.

Will notices flowers and doesn’t think they were there yesterday. Geordie confirms they will dust the vase for fingerprints although he thinks it is nothing. Will checks his watch and realizes he needs to go before they find out the files for the As are missing. Leonard looks through his money before Daniel (Oliver Dimsdale) arrives at the door. Leonard isn’t sure they should be seen together but Daniel claims he might not be there to see Leonard. He found something when developing the holiday pictures and gives Sylvania a racy picture of herself from the leg competition. She wants to put it somewhere safe and for Daniel to destroy the negatives. Daniel is surprised when Leonard turns down his offer to go for a walk. Marcus and Penny are visited by Will and Geordie. Marcus pretends not to know who Joan is while Penny struggles to stop the baby from crying.

Marcus finds out that they already know about the adoption. Geordie wonders how far Marcus would go to keep the adoption a secret. Marcus says to the fullest extent of the law before they notice Marcus is calling his law firm Asper & Sons Solicitors because it was his father’s and his granddad’s. He suspects James will want to join him, but Will suggests he might not. Then, Marcus says he was there yesterday but might’ve taken James for a walk to relieve Penny of her duties. Geordie gives them baby advice before searching the house. He finds the missing files and tells Marcus he is going to have to come down to the station with him. Will tries to excuse himself before Tamara enters and surprises him. She gives him the money and a trick for getting money from her father. When he thanks her, she admits she wants to get to know him. Will finally leaves before Larry approaches Geordie to tell him one of the neighbors called to say they saw a woman leave at the time of Joan’s murder.

The woman wasn’t pregnant so it couldn’t have been Nicola. Geordie wants to talk to Penny Asper, Molly, and Davy. Leonard meets with Bryan who asks if the collar is supposed to intimidate him. He goes on to say people like Leonard deserve to be exposed. Bryan wants his money, but Leonard doesn’t have it so he pleads with Bryan not to do this. Bryan complains about work. When Leonard asks if there is anything else he can do, Bryan tells him to admit to what he is. He calls Leonard a lying pansy who leads men on before jumping into bed with other men who come along. Leonard confesses he loves Daniel and apologizes if Bryan felt rejected. Bryan suggests otherwise and argues he was testing Leonard.

Will interrupts Bryan as he continues belittling Leonard and calls Leonard his friend. Bryan takes the money before telling Leonard he has it all including friends and lovers. Meanwhile, Marcus admits to entering Joan’s office and talking the file but claims he didn’t see Joan or her killer. He took the file because there were things that he wanted hidden including James for his future. Penny is questioned about having doubts. She admits it is true because she enjoyed working for the family business. It allowed her to sit on the board of several charities and that is how she met Joan. She says that made her feel relevant before Geordie snatches and calms the baby. Penny never saw herself as a mother so it wasn’t a problem for her when they couldn’t conceive a baby. It changed because Marcus hated the shame and he wanted an heir.

Joan encouraged her to take the baby. Penny promises she didn’t kill Joan. Next, Davy and Molly are interviewed separately. The investigators know Davy wasn’t with Molly that night, but Molly insists Davy is a good man and wouldn’t do anything like that. Davy asks if Billy’s adoption can be stopped now that Joan has died. Molly says she was home that night and never had a problem with Joan so she wouldn’t have killed her. Back at home, Leonard tells Will he didn’t need to come because it isn’t his fight. Will believes otherwise since they’re on the same side. Leonard admits he used to feel like Bryan. He was bitter and angry at the world. Leonard tells Will he owes him 50 pounds before walking away without listening to Will. Then, Will gets a visit from Nicola who asks if he thinks it is a sin to give up a child. Will says no but he thought Joan was quick to encourage her to give up the baby.

He believes it had something to do with her charity and likely thought it would be the best thing for the child. Nicola wonders how she knew that since she never spoke to any of the children she gave away. She doesn’t think Will knows how she feels either. Next, Geordie and Larry learn that the Asper baby has been taken before they go down to the station. Marcus pleads with everyone to find Davy and the baby before Molly walks in and insists she doesn’t know where he is. Marcus gets upset and says Molly never cared about the baby because she gave him up. He turns on his wife as well. Penny admits she went through with it to make Marcus happy because he acted like their marriage wasn’t enough even though it was for her. Penny apologizes to Molly after Marcus is taken away.

Will believes Molly still cares for the baby. She recalls Joan telling her you have to let go for good once you’ve given up the baby. She admits she doesn’t have money so the baby would be better off with Penny. Miss Scott interrupts to tell Will he has a call from Sylvia. Geordie tells Marcus he is better off with a dog if he wants someone to follow in his footsteps since his daughters only follow him to the shops on payday. He goes on to say they got through it because both of them wanted the kids more than anything. Geordie argues James is better off with whoever loves him the most. Will finds Davy with the baby at the church. He says he came because he needs help and Will is supposed to listen. Will sits down and listens as Davy says he knows taking the baby was wrong. He denies killing Joan but admits he would’ve if it meant getting the baby back.

Will says he wishes his dad cared as much about him as Davy does about Bill. He convinces Davy to return to the station with the baby. Molly grabs the baby and calls him a handsome little thing. She apologizes to the Asper couple and says they are probably doing a great job. Marcus says she could do the same with the right help. He tells them about Penny’s work and the fact that Joan’s charity likely needs new leadership. In private, Geordie tells Will they’ll have to prove that none of them were involved in Joan’s death before any of that can happen. He confirms there was another set of unknown prints on the vase. Then, they reveal what they told them to change their minds and Will admits his dad issue has cast a bigger shadow than he initially thought. Geordie says that is the past for you and that immediately triggers something so Will asks about Nicola’s surname. He tells Geordie how the pink carnations were a symbol of a mother’s undying love.

He looks through the files and finds what appears to be Nicola’s when she was adopted. They go to her flat and break in when Will spots her upstairs. They find out she has been faking her pregnancy because it was the only way to get Joan to see her. Joan was her mother but gave her up as well. That convinced her to begin helping other women. They ask why she killed Joan. She says she was grateful and her parents told her the truth. She only wanted to meet Joan. We see a flashback and Joan refuses to believe Nicola is her daughter. As she goes backward, she falls and hits her head on the stair. Nicola says she didn’t want to hurt her but felt responsible so she came back to call the police. At home, Leonard gives Will the first installment of his debt, but Will doesn’t want it. He says it was his stepfather’s and he’d rather a blackmailer have it before hanging the envelope back to Leonard.

Leonard confirms he hasn’t heard anything from Bryan before Sylvia enters and gives them jam. She also gives Leonard one for Daniel. Will preaches in the church with Davy and Molly in front of him with the baby. He baptizes William James Connor in front of both as well as Marcus and Penny. Meanwhile, Geordie gets a visit from Bryan and Archdeacon Gabriel Atubo (Gary Beadle). He takes them into his office before the episode ends.

 

Grantchester Review

The second episode was much better than the first in every regard. In fact, it is safe to say that the episode was great in most aspects. Joan’s murder investigation was interesting and the outcome was different than what we normally get from Grantchester. It was nice to see that the writers can still switch things up every now and again.

Then, we have Leonard’s drama going on and that really helps. Leonard seems to be taking the forefront this season as he tries to stop Bryan from ruining his career and life. I’ll stick around for that alone. If the murder cases can maintain this level of quality, the sixth season of Grantchester could be a smash hit. The episode was good so it scores a 7.5 out of 10. All recaps from Grantchester’s 6th season will be available on Reel Mockery here.