As the episode begins, we see Leonard Finch (Al Weaver) at the prison, and we hear a letter written by Daniel Marlow (Oliver Dimsdale) in which he tells Leonard he was prepared to miss him, but not this much. Leonard avoids a fight and seems to be bullied in his cell. Daniel wishes they could swap places since it should be him in there. Leonard’s cellmate flicks a cigarette in his direction. Daniel pleads with Leonard to write him a letter. Next, Leonard meets with the prison chaplain and admits he started thinking what he was doing wasn’t a sin. Before the meeting ends, the chaplain instructs Leonard to bring his sins into the light. Meanwhile, Johnny Richards (Shaun Dooley) meets with Geordie (Robson Green) at the pub for a drink. In the morning, he wakes up on the couch looking worse for wear with Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth) reading a book nearby.
Cathy quizzes her husband and alleges his brain cells are pickled. He denies that and denies hanging out with Johnny. Meanwhile, Elroy Hastings (James Bailey) sits with Leonard and says his mother used to say there is no greater disappointment than eating alone. He knows Leonard is the homosexual curate. As for Elroy, he was arrested in a club but not before he found his apparel. Elroy tells him not to worry because almost everyone in here is a pansy or will be before they leave. Elroy finds out that Leonard misplaced his shoes, but he really knows Joe Davies (Bobby Lockwood) stole them. Back in Grantchester, Henry Jones (Ahmed Elhaj) tells Will (Tom Brittney) he has written their letter of intent or mission and split it into six categories. Will suspects he just rewrote the Bible and encourages him to stop and read a book or watch television.
Will wants him to relax at home. Sylvia (Tessa Peake-Jones) interrupts to tell them she is back cooking eggs in the kitchen. They go over there immediately and find Tamara (Emily Patrick) smoking a cigarette and cooking eggs. Will sits with her alone and learns Amelia kicked her out so she is homeless now. She wonders if the church has an obligation to help her although Will doubts it. Daniel comes out of the building while arguing with another man. He complains it is easy to blackmail the village pansy and appears to be drunk. When Will encourages him to go home, Daniel asks why Leonard won’t write to him. Then, Will visits Leonard while Elroy and Joe get visitors as well. Leonard asks about the new curate. When Will says he isn’t Leonard, he is told to take it easy on him since it is terrifying being new. Will asks why he won’t write to Daniel, so Leonard says he needs to take this time to reflect on his failings.
Elroy gets upset and has to be removed from the visitation room. Will returns to Grantchester with flowers for Cathy on her anniversary which Geordie forgot about. Geordie takes them, gives them to his wife, and asks Will out for a pint. She argues marriage is a form of slavery and not worth celebrating before warning Will not to send her husband home rolling drunk tonight. They hit the pub and talk about Leonard who seems to have given up while in prison. Will asks Geordie how he managed to survive in Burma and wonders whether telling Leonard about it would be helpful. Geordie doesn’t want to bore him with war stories. He forces Will to buy them another drink. When Leonard returns to his cell, he finds Joe soaking wet before hearing the alarm going off in the distance. He looks in the other room and sees Elroy on the ground with water coming from his mouth while Joe says he didn’t do it.
Joe proclaims his innocence, but he is dragged from the cell anyway. The warden tells the inmates to come to him with evidence and they have their man so there will no speculation or rumors. Once he finishes talking, Leonard tries to speak to James Milton (John Bowler) to say Joe protested his innocence and he believes him. James finds it funny that the degenerate believes the murderer. After calling Leonard a pervert, he leaves. Then, Reverend Nick Byatt (Paul Ryan) tells Leonard that Elroy was found in the bath face down and fully clothed. Joe is there because he killed his mother who was found in the bath face down and fully clothed. Meanwhile, Will and Sylvia try to cheer Cathy up and offer to throw her an anniversary party since Geordie can’t forget about it if he doesn’t know about it.
Cathy gives Sylvia a book called “The Second Sex” and promises it’ll change her life. When the phone rings, Tamara answers it and fools with Leonard before Will takes the phone from her. Leonard says he needs Will’s help, so he gets Geordie and they rush to the prison to investigate Elroy’s murder. James Milton tells them everything that happened and that he heard Joe confess to killing Elroy Hastings. They also learn Elroy and Joe didn’t have any feud going on or anything like that. Although Joe is locked in confinement, they’re allowed to see him. Geordie tells Will to give Joe some space since a man will lose himself in a place like this. Geordie informs Joe that they’ll get him out of there if he tells them what happened. He immediately says he didn’t do it. Joe says he didn’t kill anyone and seems frightened when James walks close to him.
When Leonard asks if he does the beating himself, James says he’ll get someone to escort them out. Once they go outside, Will wonders if Joe was telling the truth but Geordie isn’t sure since someone could lose their mind in there. Will argues he could be innocent and suggests talking to his father. Leonard is taken to the bath and given 10 minutes. He uses that time to search for evidence. Arthur Davies (Ian Burfield) is brought into the station to talk about the day his wife was found dead. He claims he doesn’t remember much because he had a breakdown that day. Although he had electric shock therapy, the memories remain. When asked about those memories, Arthur claims he saw Joe holding his Issie underwater. He goes on to say that his son was never a violent boy. Leonard notices the broken mirror and believes Elroy’s head was slammed against it.
When Arthur is asked if he saw his son kill his wife, he says he tried so hard to forget and wishes he could forget. Leonard finds something on the ground and takes a closer look. It looks like wood shavings. He goes to the woodshop and finds a small box that belonged to Elroy. The chaplain joins him as he spots the word veritas on the top of the box. Leonard wonders what the other strange symbols are. Nick wonders if they could be phases of the moon before telling Leonard he has a visitor. Sophie Hastings (Gabrielle Glaister) tells Leonard her son talked about him fondly and she has no one else to turn to. She reveals they told her Elroy died because he was a homosexual, and it seemed a punishment he deserved. Leonard doesn’t think he deserved it. Sophie says not all of them are like Elroy and at peace.
She wants to tell him something about the prison that Elroy told her so Leonard recommends going to the vicarage in Grantchester and telling Will. Before she leaves, she tells Leonard he does not deserve to be punished. She meets with Will who asks if it is difficult for a woman of her stature to have a son in prison. She says she knew who Elroy was going to be when he was a little boy and she cherished him just the same. She wasn’t ashamed of Elroy. Instead, she was ashamed of everyone else, including the bloody country, prudes, and hypocrites. Will agrees before asking her about Joe. She doesn’t believe the story they’re telling. Then, they begin talking about the information that upset Elroy. Sophie explains a man came to her house and he was friendly at first until he made it clear he was there to blackmail her.
The man claimed he knew people in prison and would make sure Elroy suffered if he didn’t get the money he demanded. She believes she should’ve paid him. Will remembers Daniel arguing with a blackmailer, so he pays him a visit. Daniel reveals the man claimed to know someone in prison who could make Leonard suffer, but he thinks it was a lie like always. Leonard hides Elroy’s box before getting a visit from a prison guard who says he met his fella yesterday. The guard says his fella had a message for him before punching him in the stomach. He claims Daniel has washed his hands of Leonard who brought this on himself. Leonard is told to stand up but Geordie and Will rush in just in time to stop the abuse.
The prison guard is questioned in private. He says he gets money to see his family and the prison is supposed to punish the inmates. Will doesn’t agree. Geordie asks if he threatened Elroy’s family and he admits pansy families are always easy money. They ask if he killed Elroy since he needed a key to get into the bathroom, but Lynch (Cameron Jack) says he was alive when he left him. James agrees to let Joe out, but he says another murder will be on their heads. Joe is struggling to cope so Will tells Geordie to come help get him up. Geordie finally comes back to reality and helps Joe up. They move him to another cell where they tell him they have Lynch and charged him with Elroy’s murder. They try to get Joe to say something, but he refuses. Geordie goes to Leonard to tell him Lynch had no right to hurt him.
He warns Leonard not to let this place destroy him because that would mean living the sentence for the rest of his life. He says you’re only a prisoner when you give up hope. Later, Will and Geordie go through the evidence regarding Joe’s murder. Geordie asks him to stop pushing. As he tries to leave, Will reminds him about their upcoming meeting at the vicarage. Geordie meets with Johnny and tells him he thought about Burma today, but Johnny says he never thinks about it. He thought about it every waking moment during his first year home though. He talks about the darkness, the smell, and the walls closing in. He admits he got to the point when he’d rather drive his car into a tree than think about it although he swerved at the last moment. He eventually realized he needed to stop remembering.
Will finds Henry in his study and quickly receives an apology but reminds Henry it is his study too. He invites Henry to the party, but Henry says he’d rather work. Tamara insists he comes too because she wants more unmarried people there. She drags Henry outside and spikes the fruit punch. Will turns his attention to Cathy who shows him the scrapbook of pictures she created for Geordie. She explains she made the cover using her wedding dress. During this time, Geordie tells Johnny everything changed for him when he met Cathy. Johnny asks Geordie if he remembers any of the names of the people in the camp, but Geordie says no. Johnny admits he sometimes catches a glimpse of their faces before mentioning Jacky Wade who died of dysentery in the end. That night, Leonard messes with Elroy’s wooden box. Joe begins freaking out when the lights go out and asks for them to be turned back on.
Leonard tries to calm him by offering to stay awake until he goes to sleep. He gets louder and says Lynch didn’t kill Elroy. Leonard asks to speak to the chaplain. Geordie is already drunk by the time he shows up to the anniversary party. He tells Cathy she is just as beautiful as the day he met her before saying she saved him although she doesn’t know it. Leonard meets with the chaplain to talk to him about a possible innocent man being in the prison and setting him free. Nick says Joe wants him to believe he is innocent, and Leonard does too because he can’t face up to sin and those who can’t face up to sin can’t be saved. Leonard says it is about liberty and not sin. He is sent back to his cell when Nick says he was raising his voice. Later, Leonard believes the symbols on the box might be a safe code so he works to find out what numbers they would be.
Will tries to convince Geordie to stop drinking and have water instead but Geordie isn’t having it and tells him he thinks he knows everything. He encourages Geordie to show some appreciation for Cathy who did all this for him. Instead, he dances with Tamara, falls into the table, and makes a big mess. The album is destroyed. Cathy tells Geordie to never do that again before throwing the photo album at him. In the morning, Henry finds Geordie sleeping on the couch with the album under his arm. Will runs into him and admits things have been a little off kilter since Leonard left. He apologizes and admits he misses Leonard, so Henry says he misses his family too. Will tells him they can be his family although Henry isn’t eager to have Tamara as a sister. Will sits with Geordie who wonders if Cathy will ever forgive him.
Will believes she will if Geordie is lucky. Then, he reminds Geordie that people confide in him, and he does it for a living. Geordie pretends he is fine despite Will knowing otherwise. He confesses Esme (Skye Lucia Degruttola) is the one who got him because she was so responsible. Although she comforted the kids and her mom, she shouldn’t have to do that and shouldn’t have to feel responsible. Will says children always do when it comes to their parents. When Leonard goes to the chaplain’s room, he tries the combination on the safe hidden behind the picture. He finds a book with information about the inmates, their loved ones, and whether they could provide for them. Nick enters and finds him reading the book. Leonard says Lynch was the muscle and it was the chaplain’s idea. Elroy must’ve figured it out, so they dealt with him.
Nick knocks over a chair, pretends Leonard struck him, and gets Leonard taken away to solitary. Will talks to Arthur about his wife’s wedding ring and the fact she wasn’t wearing it when she died. They ask if she took it off because she was leaving him and whether he pushed her into the water. He begins sobbing and admits that he did it. Will and Geordie visit the prison and confront the chaplain. They accuse him of being involved since Joe would’ve confessed to him and he would’ve known all the details of his mom’s murder. Elroy was going to tell everyone what was going on, so Nick killed him and blamed Joe for his murder. Leonard is released from solitary before Geordie goes home and offers to buy Cathy a new album. Then, he offers a new camera, but Cathy isn’t having it. She knows he was with Johnny, and she doesn’t like who Johnny turns Geordie into. She wants to know what he talks about with Johnny. Geordie asks if she wants him to go on about the prison camp.
He asks if she wants him to dig up that crap and wade through it to make her feel good, but she can’t remember the last time she felt good. Cathy complains that he always expects her to forgive him when he messes up. She mentions the affair and gets ready to walk away but Geordie grabs her arm, stops her, and nearly backhands her. The conversation ends and Cathy walks away. At the prison, Leonard gives a sermon about all of them being flawed. He says others may forgive us but forgiving ourselves is so much harder. He wonders what type of life that leaves them and whether it’ll include pain and self-loathing. Geordie sits at the table and looks at the tag inside his cap. He pulls out a hidden paper and slowly unfolds it before we see a list of the guys from the prison camp and the ways they died. He cries as the paper continues unfolding and the list grows longer.
Grantchester Review
This was another fantastic episode of Grantchester with many emotionally deep moments, a thrilling investigation, and a look at Geordie’s time in Burma. Leonard is struggling to cope with life behind bars, but the investigation and outcome could be helpful in this regard. Henry is trying to adapt to the vicarage in Grantchester, the people, and their problems.
The return of Johnny Richards has taken a bite out of Geordie by reopening old wounds, and it is spilling over into his personal life. I appreciate the fact the episode let Cathy spread her wings a bit since the character is often overlooked. Will is right about Geordie needing to open up and talk to someone about his issues, but men from that time and men, in general, are taught not to do so.
His spat with Cathy might be the push he needs to overcome his fear of confiding in someone, but it might take more. The episode was excellent and felt like peak Grantchester from several seasons ago, so it scores an 8.5 out of 10. Grantchester recaps past and present can be found on Reel Mockery here.
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.
