At the start of the third episode, Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) and Leonard Finch (Al Weaver) wait to talk to the police. Larry Peters (Bradley Hall) steps into the hallway and calls Leonard’s name. When Will learns he won’t be allowed to go with his friend, he tells Leonard it is going to be fine. With Geordie Keating (Robson Green) present, Larry tells Leonard he is accused of engaging in an act of gross indecency with another man. Geordie asks about Leonard’s vacation and what time he left the dance hall. Finch repeatedly says he can’t quite recall. He says he met Mr. Davenport and they shared a room with twin beds. He is shown the pictures of himself with Daniel Marlowe (Oliver Dimsdale) and Larry begins questioning him about the other man’s identity.

Leonard pretends not to know the man very well before he is asked if he is a homosexual. He refuses to answer. Larry mentions the rumor that Daniel Marlowe is the man he is in bed with while Geordie tries to calm him. Leonard says he has nothing more to say. Larry says they’ll have to do this the hard way. Geordie thanks Leonard for answering the questions and he is allowed to leave. Outside, Leonard calls himself a fool who thought he was in paradise but was paving a road to hell. Will reminds him he did what Daniel said and didn’t give them anything. Then, Leonard makes it clear he doesn’t want to meet with the Archdeacon (Gary Beadle) and he has had enough with Mrs. Chapman (Tessa Peake-Jones) and her opinions. When Will returns, he finds Reeny McArthur (Rebecca Front) and another man handing out campaign materials.

He believes she has the competition on the run. Moments later, Will steps over and listens to Maurice St Martin (Will Hislop) talk to a small crowd. He talks about morality and fighting against the evil in their own hearts. He goes on to say the council has the moral authority to help local businesses and his cousin Phillip (Orlando Wells) should have the right to build on his own land without waiting months for permission. He argues the council should cut the red tape and unleash the great British enterprising spirit. After he finishes, Maurice follows Will and hopes he can see that they’re cut from the same cloth. However, Will insists he needs to remain impartial. Then, he mentions the departure of Derek McArthur who was fished out of the water. In a flashback, we see Reeny cry as his lifeless body is pulled from the water nearby.

He wonders what else Derek would’ve been capable of since he committed suicide, but Will argues that is only idle gossip. Before the conversation ends, it is clear Will isn’t too smitten with the candidate. He returns home and finds a campaign paper for Reeny on the ground before telling Sylvia that Leonard is in town. Will says they didn’t keep him in, and he only had a prior engagement. They briefly talk about the McArthur couple and Will realizes Reeny has many liberal views. He also knows Sylvia is upset because of Leonard. She admits she likes Maurice who can get them back to family values, but Will argues his moral compass points whichever way the wind blows. She orders him to smarten himself up before the Archdeacon arrives. Meanwhile, Daniel is taken downtown for a police interview.

He is reminded of his other interviews before denying he joined Leonard in his chalet on the night in question. He denies being involved with Leonard that night and says he danced with Geordie’s wife. He was back in his chalet by 10 and slept until dawn. When Larry argues he went on vacation with Leonard, Daniel says he went with Will and the Chapmans who he has known since he photographed their wedding. He is allowed to leave after that. Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth) brings Geordie the lunch he forgot at home. She asks about Leonard and whether he’ll be okay. Geordie admits Larry wants to go after it harder and claims he has a soft touch. Cathy argues the police could be doing better things and it is barely a crime, but Geordie says it is a crime. He reveals he has sent men down for that very crime before.

The Archdeacon tells Davenport they all knew about Leonard’s peculiarities but there is a difference between knowing and letting him act upon it. Gabriel hoped Will would lead him away from such temptations, but Will wonders whether they have a duty to save people from living a lie. Gabriel goes on to say the allegations have gone too far and too public. The church won’t be able to defend him if they’re proven true. Will insists it isn’t anyone else’s business, but the Archdeacon says he will cooperate with the police if he wants to remain a part of the ministry. He orders Will to tell them the truth since the church is not above the law. Leonard finds Will taking down campaign pictures of Maurice and learns about the meeting with the Archdeacon. Will insists it’ll be okay, and everything will blow over before Reeny approaches Will and asks for a word in private.

They go into the church where Reeny shows Will a letter from a property firm approving Derek’s purchase of a holiday home. She believes the letter refutes the idea that her husband committed suicide. She insists it was murder so Will decides to take the new evidence to Geordie who believes it was an open-and-shut case of suicide. Will is shown the suicide note but he still has doubts about Derek’s suicide. Geordie believes otherwise and wonders why Will didn’t come to him about Leonard. Will admits he thought he had it under control. Geordie believes they could’ve done something about it since blackmail is a criminal offense. He warns Will that another witness could lead to a charge against Leonard and a trial. Will argues it doesn’t matter what he did in private, and Leonard was in love so they should fight for that.

Geordie calls him naïve and encourages him to come in and say he saw nothing. He warns Will that telling the truth means Leonard is done, but Will insists lying goes against everything he believes in. Then, they visit Reeny who admits the writing was her husband’s. She goes on to say he would write his constituents relentlessly. Her husband had an ability to be liked even when he wasn’t easy to get along with. Robert Waterhouse (Jonathan Aris) joins them and reveals he was using Derek as inspiration for a character in his next book although it seems inappropriate now. He has been helping with Reeny’s campaign. When Geordie asks if he thinks Derek was capable of killing himself, Robert admits he doesn’t think anything knows what is going on inside someone’s head. Will asks if they can see some of the letters he wrote to his constituents.

While looking through copies of the letters, Will finds a chain of letters about a drain issue on a property down by the camp. Derek shut down the complaint by saying there was nothing more to be done. It is the same words from his suicide note and the two match perfectly. They’re convinced the letter was cut and the bottom line was used for the suicide note. They visit the property and try to talk to the man who Derek was corresponding with. Mr. Pritchard is nowhere to be found. Will looks through the mail slot and finds that all mail is missing so someone has been picking it up. It could be the person who created the suicide note. Will is convinced it was someone from the village since they knew the property was empty. Leonard goes to the church to reflect on everything. Seconds later, Will and Geordie walk into Robert’s book club meeting. They say they’re there for other reasons before breaking into a shelf and getting the minutes from the council meetings.

After the meeting, Robert tells Will they have quite the cast of characters here so Will wonders if they’ll all end up in his books one day. Will asks if he noticed reluctancy from Reeny when she called earlier so Robert explains she wanted some discretion since a police officer is checking in on a candidate days before the election. Geordie finds out that Phillip had three applications, and all were denied. He thinks it was the one who knew Derek and the village. They go to the St Martin’s Candle Warehouse to question Phillip about Derek blocking his applications. He admits they didn’t get on very well, but he knew councilmen change every few years and he is a patient man.

He says he got a better revenge with Maurice running for office. Later that night, Sylvia is questioned down at the station and says she does not remember Leonard leaving the dance hall. She didn’t see him leave with Daniel, so she suspects he went back to his chalet alone. Larry asks if she has ever seen Leonard show affection to another man. When she says no, Larry pushes and asks what she saw. Despite that, she says she didn’t see anything at all. Leonard visits Will who has been writing a speech about views changing from generation to generation. Will admits he was thinking about speaking at the Hustings. Leonard says he may find that the church and state are kept separate for a reason, but Will says he should never underestimate public opinion. Leonard says he is thinking about going back to the police with a reasonable story about him and Daniel being together.

Will tells him lying isn’t the answer to this before inviting Leonard to the Hustings with him so he can forget about everything going on. Will finds that Sylvia is angry, and she has ruined the picture from her leg competition win. Sylvia knows about the Archdeacon’s warning and says Will let a member of his flock stray. She claims he stood by and let them wallow in his sins before he tells her not to be such a bigot. Sylvia says she won’t be spoken to like that before storming out of the room. She runs into Leonard and calls him a stupid boy. When Will goes to the police station, Geordie hopes he is there to make an exonerating statement but he says he can’t do that. Geordie says Sylvia was hardly a star witness and Will is going to damn Leonard. Will says he doesn’t know, and he feels impotent. Will is more interested in bringing in Maurice right now.

Will says he has asked around and Maurice is a hustler. They get into a brief argument before Miss Scott arrives with the St Martin and McArthur files. Geordie immediately finds that Reeny sustained some nasty injuries five years ago after an incident at her home. Although there were no charges, it sounds like a fight instead of a fall. Will wonders if Derek beat her up before Geordie remembers her saying Derek was often difficult to live with. Geordie says Reeny knocking off her husband is the most likely scenario, so they visit her immediately. She admits he could get worked up and what happened as a happy marriage didn’t always stay that way. She claims they did good work together. When asked about the domestic incident, she confesses there were violent moments. She admits she thought about killing her husband from time to time.

She says he wasn’t an evil man, but he might’ve been haunted. Will says she doesn’t have to defend an evil man. Reeny suggests otherwise and says she is being judged for her husband, his death, and everything except who she is. She says she wouldn’t have questioned his suicide if she had killed her husband. Once they leave, Will tells Geordie he thinks someone like Reeny would take up Leonard’s fight while serving on the council. Geordie says he doesn’t want it to come to that, but Will says bad laws have to be overturned at some point. Will is warned not to pin all his hopes on Reeny although he needs to pin them on something. Geordie tells Will that Leonard’s story has holes in it and he needs to give him an alibi, but Will isn’t ready to do so just yet. They go to the Hustings and listen to Reeny voice her concerns. Leonard joins them before Maurice is allowed to speak. Maurice asks what Derek was so afraid of and says Reeny may know since she was seen talking to the police.

Then, he brings up the allegations against Leonard Finch, and that angers Will. Reeny denies knowing anything about the allegations. He says it is deviancy at their doorstep as Leonard gets up and rushes out of the room. Maurice continues until Will slams his hand down and accuses Maurice of throwing allegations out there for cheap points. Will nearly attacks him before declaring he should be disqualified. Geordie calms them down before Will goes home and tells Leonard about his outburst. Leonard isn’t sure how he can stand in front of the congregation again since he ran out and didn’t defend himself. Leonard says he doesn’t want his mistakes to cost Will his vocation. Will tells Leonard he wouldn’t be able to look himself in the mirror if he didn’t say something. Leonard says he is a wonderful idiot sometimes.

In the morning, Reeny visits Will who says he was a little disappointed that she didn’t defend Leonard. She warns him he can’t rock the boat if they push him out of it. She shows him the new surprise delivery she received before he does down to the station where Geordie jokes about the night before. Geordie says he is going to find out who leaked the information about Leonard. Will shows him the journal detailing the comings and goings from the St Martin warehouse. There is a cover letter from a private detective Derek hired but no address or phone number. The last line says observation was suspended to avoid suspicion. They wonder why Derek would be spying on the candle warehouse. They visit the warehouse and find it empty. Geordie says the private detective had to be watching from somewhere. They look across the street and find a house there. They check it out and find the detective’s binoculars.

Geordie finds it odd that there are cigarette butts in the tray but no ash anywhere. Maurice enters, finds them, and makes a run for it. Will eventually tackles him to the ground, and he is taken down to the station. Maurice claims Will is going after him because he is going to win the election and Will should be arrested for sheltering a homosexual. Geordie tries to find out who told him about Leonard, but Maurice never says. They question him about running when he found them. Maurice tells Will it must anger him that people prefer his vision. They ask about Derek shutting down Phillip’s plans and Maurice sabotaging land sales and buying the land cheaper. Maurice denies murdering Derek. He reveals he knows how to get a good deal and that is why he has been helping Derek buy a house down in Hove. He wouldn’t kill a man he was going to make a commission from. Geordie argues there is something wrong with the surveillance operation.

Geordie believes someone put the butts there to make it look like someone had been there. Will says the butts and private detective are like the components of an elaborate story. Geordie believes that means Robert was involved since he likes to tell elaborate stories. After checking with Robert’s publisher, they visit the voting center and find him there with Reeny. Geordie says the publisher claimed Robert had military accuracy due to his experiences. He is soon taken down to the station and interviewed. They accuse Robert of pointing the finger at Maurice. Robert says they’re starting with a false premise since he wouldn’t have a motive for killing his friend. Will reads a portion of his book and it sounds a bit like a confession. He accuses Robert of being in love with Reeny McArthur for 20 years. He admits to it and says he could never find the words to tell her how he felt.

She married while he was away and her fire had dimmed by the time he had returned. He gets angry while saying Derek beat and broke her. He believes he did the right thing, but Geordie reminds him he murdered her husband in cold blood. Will tells Reeny later and admits he thinks Robert thought he was doing the right thing. She is upset that Robert made it his job to save her before saying she lost her husband and best friend. When Will returns home, he runs into Sylvia who asks about his day which he says was fine. He admits he had better before apologizing for calling her a bigot. She pleads with Will to lie to the police because she can’t lose her boy. Leonard hears this. She leaves in a hurry before Will goes down to the police station and learns Leonard is already there.

 

Leonard admits Bryan’s allegation was true, but he denies it being Daniel. Geordie realizes he has no choice but to charge him with gross indecency. Leonard pleads guilty before being booked into the jail. Will returns home and breaks the bad news to Sylvia who begins crying immediately. The episode ends with Leonard being locked in his cell.

 

Grantchester Review

In many ways, I’ve always felt Leonard was the most important and sympathetic character in Grantchester even from the beginning. The episode was grueling and frustrating as Will struggled with his faith and his hesitancy to save his friend. In the end, Leonard decided to stop lying about who he is although it’ll cost him dearly. On the flipside, there is a good chance this will force Will’s hand and encourage him to do something to help his friend.

Grantchester is indeed political in many ways, but not overly. It is effective because it is creative and subtly. They’ve skillfully woven the tale to force viewers to care deeply about Leonard regardless of his sexuality or their religious beliefs making it difficult not to want the best for the character. Other shows could learn a lot from Grantchester and how it masterfully handles its political ideologies. The episode was great, so it scores an 8 out of 10. Future and past recaps of Grantchester can be found here.