As Grantchester’s finale begins, Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) reads a few verses from the Old Testament that have been perfected by Christ’s new law of love and forgiveness. He continues practicing his speech in front of Sylvia Chapman (Tessa Peake-Jones) and Henry Jones (Ahmed Elhaj). Later, Henry admits it is admirable to push for change, but a shepherd has to be conscious of how fast his flock can move. He is worried Will is going to move too fast and leave people behind although Will is concerned about moving too slow. Bishop Aubrey Gray (Stuart Bowman) approaches, thanks Will for sending him his speech early, and insists Will won’t be speaking today. He says issues of sexual morality are not on the agenda this year, but Will wants to speak anyway. Bishop Gray warns Will he will be visiting his parish soon and he doesn’t want to see any half-naked girls.

Will argues it was his sister before wondering how Aubrey knew anyway. He suspects Henry. Moments later, he complains about them to Geordie Keating (Robson Green) and says he might not want to be there. Geordie says it is a job and they sometimes have rules you don’t agree with. Miss Scott (Melissa Johns) interrupts to tell them about a woman claiming she was attacked by her husband. Geordie wants to send Larry (Bradley Hall) since it is a domestic case, but the woman asked for him specifically. When they arrive, they approach the nice house and ring the doorbell. The maid opens the door setting off the alarm so she rushes to shut it off. They walk in and begin asking for Rita Daltrey (Michelle Greenidge). We see she is a musician of sorts before Gene Daltry (Tristan Gemmill) enters and tells the maid Dorie (Nneka Okoye) he has to disable the alarm before she opens it.

While Gene is on the phone with the police to stop the alarm, Will manages to convince Dorie to tell them where Rita is at. They approach her and ask what happened, but Gene interrupts and says she tripped on the stairs and hit her face. Rita removes her glasses revealing a big, black eye. She asks if she is still beautiful, and Gene immediately says she is. Geordie hopes she’ll tell the truth about the injury, but she sticks with Gene’s story. Dorie returns with Doctor Harvey (Gordon Kennedy) who complains about Rita hurting herself once again. They learn about Gene’s musical career and production expertise. Will asks Doctor Harvey if the wound is consistent with a strike from a first, but Gene leads him into saying it might’ve been a banister. The doctor gives Rita two pills and orders her to rest. As they leave, Will tells Geordie they can’t leave her in there, but Geordie says give it a second.

Dorie comes out with his hat. Geordie asks her what happened. Dorie says she saw nothing before handing him something Rita wanted him to have. When they get into the vehicle, Will learns the paper is Johnny’s business card. They meet with Johnny Richards (Shaun Dooley) at the station, and he admits this is why he told her to ask for Geordie. Johnny believes he should talk to Geordie in private so Geordie says they’ll nail him, and Will reluctantly leaves. Richards isn’t as optimistic about that as Geordie since they’ve been trying to get Gene for years. Geordie says they can’t do much unless Rita talks although Johnny believes Gene would only get a slap on the wrist if she did. Johnny explains Rita wants to get away from Gene who set up an alarm to keep her in the house. He asks Geordie to find out when the alarm turns on and goes off so he can help her escape.

He insists Gene is keeping Rita drunk and drugged until he needs another record. He goes on to say they at least had each other when they were prisoners. Geordie immediately goes to the files and discreetly shows Johnny the information about the alarm. When Will returns home, Henry and Sylvia offer him separate dishes, but he says he isn’t hungry. Instead, he lashes out at Henry who allegedly can’t help him. He tells them that Aubrey is coming in the next few days and wants him to reconsider his position. As Will walks away, Henry promises it wasn’t his intention to get anyone in trouble, but Will isn’t eager to believe him. In the morning, Geordie wakes up on the couch and says good morning to the family only for Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth) to give him the cold shoulder. When he goes to work, he finds Will in his office asking to arrest Rita so they can talk to her in private.

Geordie believes they can move on from that case, but a visit from Miss Scott says otherwise. A hysterical Dorie has called again. They rush over and hear the alarm going off. When they hurry inside, they find Gene on the floor and learn he was shot last night after someone broke into the house. Dorie says she woke up and found Gene like this so she called Doctor Harvey thinking he could be saved. Gene has been dead for a few hours, and nobody heard the gunshot. As for the alarm, it started when Harvey got there leading Larry to believe the intruder got in before the alarm was turned on last night. Dorie says she went to bed around nine and they can use the alarm’s schedule to find out when they broke in. While the others think it was a robbery and the Daltrey couple walked in on it, Will says they should explore other possibilities as well. Larry is tasked with looking for entry points while Will says they should speak to Rita down at the station.

Johnny meets them down there a few moments later. Will is surprised that Johnny will let him attend the interview this time. Geordie is hesitant to ask questions so Will does instead. He asks about the previous call, but Johnny reminds him it turned out to be an accident. Johnny asks if they’re trying to transform Rita from a witness into a suspect. They argue back and forth until Rita interrupts and admits she had some ups and downs with her husband. She wishes she’d fought back but says she was never strong enough to do so. Johnny touches her hand and tries to comfort her, but she quickly pulls back. Geordie takes notice of that. In the hallway, Will asks Geordie about the way Johnny tries to railroad him, but Geordie says so what. He asks Will to take Rita home before agreeing to talk to Johnny about it. When Johnny emerges, he apologizes while saying he was only trying to protect his client.

Rita agrees to let Will take her home. Once they’re gone, Geordie pulls Johnny into his office. Johnny immediately apologizes, says he got through the backdoor, and Gene was there swinging on him. He confesses to taking his old service revolver with him but insists he had no choice and it just happened. After the shooting, he pulled out a few drawers and took several items to make it look like a robbery. Johnny believes Gene deserved it. When Geordie asks about Rita, Johnny says she didn’t know because she wouldn’t have been able to keep it away from him. He doesn’t deny her being more than a client but says he would’ve wanted to do it regardless. He reminds Geordie that they did this together. Will makes it home with Rita who tells Dorie she needs a stiff drink, but Doctor Harvey believes she should have something else. Will speaks with Dorie before he leaves. When he returns to the station, he has samples of drinks from the Daltrey house that he wants tested for sedatives.

Will theorizes the doctor might’ve drugged them to put Rita and Dorie to sleep earlier so he could deal with Gene. Geordie unenthusiastically thanks Will and tells Larry to test them. Miss Scott pays close attention. Will returns home, finds Henry watching television, and tries to get away from him. Henry follows to ask if he saw the notes from Sylvia about the Bishop’s visit. Henry apologizes while explaining the Bishop asked him to report back about the vicarage and he couldn’t lie about it. Henry claims he has always been held to a higher standard including by himself and he won’t apologize for that. Will wonders if his luck has run out now too and says it would be fair enough. Meanwhile, Leonard Finch (Al Weaver) preaches as the prison until he is interrupted. James Milton (John Bowler) pulls him aside and says the bible class isn’t his worry anymore because the prison board has decided to reduce his sentence as a thanks for exposing Reverend Byatt. Leonard says he is delighted.

Next, Will makes it to the station and asks Miss Scott if Geordie is in but he isn’t. When Larry arrives, Will learns Geordie changed his mind about the tests. Will asks if they think Geordie has been himself lately before Miss Scott tells them about Geordie showing Johnny the Daltrey alarm codes earlier. Jack (Nick Brimble) learns Sylvia is going to arrange a party for Henry because he has been telling lies about Will. Jack is surprised by the obscene books his wife has for Henry. Meanwhile, Henry cleans up the church before finding Geordie sleeping nearby. Will goes to Cathy who hasn’t seen her husband either. However, she is worried about Geordie being with Johnny. Will says he is just worried about Geordie making mistakes at work although Cathy thinks her husband has much bigger problems. She insists it is just a lover’s tiff and although Geordie never hit her, he wanted to. Will rushes to the church, grabs Geordie, and tells him he should’ve never raised his hand to Cathy.

Geordie tells him to go ahead and punch him because he deserves it. He tells Will he isn’t his father and Will agrees because he expected better from his friend. Then, Will admits he knows about the alarm timings. Geordie insists he didn’t know Johnny would kill him, but they should be pleased Gene is dead. Will says otherwise and argues it is the law’s decision. Geordie asks if he felt the same with Leonard since he said the laws were nonsense then. Although Will says he is the law, Geordie tells him he doesn’t know who he is. Once they sit down, Davenport knows he won’t understand what they went through in Burma, but he’d like to know what Geordie owes him. Geordie finally shows him the list of men who died during their time at the prison war camp. He explains it was the last man’s job to tell the families what happened to their boys, and Geordie was the last man.

At the end of the war, they knew they were losing so they started taking one of the prisoners out every couple of days and shooting them. By the end, they were all broken so there was no rhyme or reason. Geordie and Johnny were the last two left. Both said they wish they’d pick them that last night. However, Geordie wished otherwise when he rolled over. He prayed for his friend to die, and he was gone in the morning. He heard multiple shots because the Yanks had armed the Burmese and they liberated the camp. When he got home, he lost Johnny after demob on purpose and didn’t see him again until he turned up recently. Although both survived, Geordie says he begged for him to die and that is who he is. He says God knows it, but Will says God heard it for what it was fear and desperation. He reassures Geordie he prayed to live and not for Johnny to die and he should look at what he has built since then.

Will tries to tell Geordie he can’t throw his family away for anything. He offers to go talk to Johnny with him, but Geordie says no because whatever happens is between him and Johnny. Jack is at the prison to pick up Leonard when he is released because he said he didn’t want to be seen with Daniel (Oliver Dimsdale). Jack believes he has a solution to Leonard feeling he lacks purpose, and it has something to do with Sylvia. Jack explains Sylvia doesn’t like the new curate because he is too perfect and not Leonard so he asks him to talk to her. Leonard is shocked to find Daniel hiding in the backseat of the car. Will talks to Larry and tells him he hasn’t found Geordie before learning the drinks were spiked with Phenobarbitone. It looks like the doctor was putting the whole house to sleep. Geordie visits Johnny while Leonard returns home and sternly asks Sylvia about the shocking allegations of bullying in his absence.

She says he should see what Henry has done to his room. They go to Henry’s room and Leonard finds the obscene book in Henry’s bed. He also finds the collar with Sylvia’s lipstick on it and jokes he’d know that shade anywhere. She complains about Henry being a tattletale, but Leonard reminds her Sidney was a drunk, Will rides a motorbike, and he has been to prison. Sylvia is told they both need to accept that this isn’t his room anymore, but that doesn’t mean Leonard won’t love her. She says the same. When Henry enters, Leonard decides to stall him and say hello to Dickens. Henry tells him about the nice things around here but believes Sylvia doesn’t like him very much. Leonard says she is a right of passage, they have similar things in prison, and you’ll come out stronger.

Then, Leonard learns about Henry getting Will into trouble. As for Will, he is capable of getting himself into trouble because he wants to save souls, lives, and help the police. Leonard confesses Will is the type of vicar he’d like to have been. Meanwhile, Geordie talks to Johnny. He tells him he can’t let him get away with it and they’ll tell them the truth together. He says it’ll be self-defense and manslaughter instead of murder. Johnny says Geordie can’t let him go after everything they went through in the hut although he let him go back then. He confesses Geordie kept him going by saying they’d go out every night and drink when they get out of this. Then, he was gone. Geordie admits he couldn’t face him because he had prayed for him to die. Johnny says he would’ve given his life for him. Will visits Rita’s place to see the doctor. He asks Dorie if she sees much of Johnny and the doctor together because they think he drugged them. Harvey enters and denies it saying he prescribed those pills solely and legitimately for Rita.

Harvey insists she has been hurting herself and Dorie agrees saying Gene never hurt her. They say Gene loved her and protected her. He might’ve protected her too much sometimes. Dorie says the drinks were hers and Gene’s. Will asks where Rita is, but we see she is with Johnny now. He tells her Geordie knows he did it to protect her. She thanks Geordie for intervening and taking a chance to help them. They agree they only want what Geordie has including his beautiful family. Will bursts in moments later, says he knows the truth and tells Geordie he doesn’t owe Johnny anything. Will says people will do whatever they have to in order to get out of awful situations, but Rita’s story is different. Will says Gene never hurt her, but Rita drugged and killed him anyway. In a flashback, we see it happen and Rita shooting him.

Will tells Johnny she is using him like he is using Geordie. When Johnny tells her he loves her, she slaps his hand away and says they’re only words to a song. She knows what men really want. She says she made Gene that money and he was never going to let her go while pulling out a gun. Geordie tells Will to let them go, but Will says no. When she tries to shoot him, Johnny pushes the gun away, and Geordie moves in. Geordie arrests her as she tells Johnny she knew he never had it in him. Then, he arrests Johnny for conspiracy to cover up a murder. Johnny cooperates. Meanwhile, the Bishop waits for Will to arrive. When he finally does, he is scolded by the Bishop until Henry speaks up and says it is important not to mistake his naivety. He says what he mistook as a distraction for work was a fight against injustice. He goes on to say he is looking forward to learning from Will in the months and years to come.

Will says he can learn a lot from Henry too. Geordie returns home and Cathy asks if he is okay. She has his luggage packed so he tries to explain everything. She says she wants some time apart and they’ll see how long. Geordie pleads with her and promises to be better, but she doesn’t change her mind. Geordie goes to the church and tries to pray for forgiveness and that he can make him a better man. Will joins him and asks if he is okay. Geordie says no but at least he knows it now. He grabs Will’s hand and says he doesn’t want to think less of him for not serving because he is glad that he didn’t. Thanks to that, Will can see the world as it should be. Will credits men like Geordie and Johnny for making it so he didn’t have to serve. As they leave, Geordie says he is going to get Cathy back. Will offers to help, but Geordie doesn’t think he’ll be much help with his track record.

 

Grantchester Review

Grantchester’s 6th season was different and possibly too deep and dark for some viewers. However, the series has always been a bit dark considering it started as a drunk vicar solving murders with an inspector stuck in the past. I appreciate Grantchester because it often tackles difficult subjects without attempting to manipulate the viewer’s beliefs. And, it shows that the world is never black and white and that people who do awful things usually have some type of justification whether wrong or right.

The season dealt with many difficult subjects including the persecution of gay men and the consequences of war. It didn’t simply cover these topics halfheartedly. Viewers who’ve stuck with Grantchester this long undoubtedly felt them and experienced a torrent of emotions throughout the season. These topics were covered masterfully and effectively partly because they involved characters we’ve grown to love over the past six years or so.

Thanks to the gritty subject matter, superb acting, and outstanding cinematography, the season will likely be one of the most unforgettable seasons in Grantchester history. My only complaint is that it abruptly ended and left some questions, but the fact another season is coming means this isn’t a problem. The finale scores an 8 out of 10. All Grantchester recaps can be found on Reel Mockery here.