As this episode of Grantchester begins, Geordie Keating (Robson Green) drops the kids off at Cathy’s place only to have the door shut in his face. He continues on as normal at work and ignores a letter to the Cambridge Police. When Geordie gets out of bed, he finds the vacuum cleaner on and the water in the kitchen nearly running over. After pulling burnt food out of the stove, he sees Sylvia (Tessa Peake-Jones) outside. He approaches her and finds that she is in a daze. When he asks Leonard (Al Weaver) about it later, he is told that Sylvia is an enigma. Leonard pleads with him not to mention it to Will (Tom Brittney) because he is preoccupied at the moment, but Geordie calls it moping.

Leonard argues Will just got his heart broken and he has no curate. With wedding season, he barely has a minute to himself. Leonard always enjoyed the wedding seasons because there was so much hope. Geordie reminds him that hopes can always be dashed. After reaching the Cherry Orchard, they find a dead man propped up against the door. When Larry Peters (Bradley Hall) arrives to take the body away, he reveals that is another one. He tells Geordie it wouldn’t be a bad way to go drinking and looking up at the stars, but Geordie claims he was beaten senseless in a doorway. Larry is instructed to ask around to see if anyone knows him although he doesn’t think anyone cares. Geordie remembers the other vagrants being found dead in doorways too.

Geordie believes they should revisit the files to see if there are any other similarities despite the Governor wanting those cases closed. Once Geordie sends Larry to work, he goes in to join Leonard says explains his biggest concern moments ago was whether he had enough currants for the Chelsea buns. Leonard feels responsible since he has seen the man around asking for money a few times. He was already revealed when the man didn’t approach him. Geordie shows Leonard the book he had of poetry. Inside the book, Leonard finds the name Robin Fellows with SM next to it so he suggests he was at St. Margaret’s College. He wants to rush to the college, but Geordie warns him that his new boss doesn’t like his religious advisers.

He asks about ex-cons and refuses to let Geordie go alone. Sylvia goes to the church to speak to God. She asks why he won’t answer her before hearing something behind her. She finds little Ernest Evans (Isaac Highams) among the pews and accuses him of carving his initials into the wood. Will walks by as Sylvia tells the boy what God does to wicked people. He interrupts after she calls him a wicked, wicked boy. She storms off and slams the door behind her. Leonard leads Geordie to the college where they run into Jim Baker (Tom Glenister). He says he is his next-door neighbor, but they won’t find him in. Jim just came back from an anthropology field trip. He last saw Robin at the end of term.

Jim claims Robin went out in a bit of a cloud since there was a rumor that he went a bit doolally. He was unhinged so it felt like a fall from grace. Once his parents had to come and get him, Jim heard he was recuperating by the seaside. He could possibly be back in Cambridge. When Geordie hands Jim the book, he confirms it was Robin’s. Jim asks whether he is dead, but they’re not eager to answer that question. Bonnie Evans (Charlotte Ritchie) storms into the house and complains about her son desecrating a church. Will argues it was hardly desecration though. She makes Ernie apologize although he already has. Will works swiftly to lighten the blow before sending the boy inside for cake.

Will tells Bonnie he can’t stand conflict and Ernie is still a lovely boy. She knows she should be more understanding, but she just wants to throttle him sometimes. Will learns Ernie rarely talks about his father so he offers to talk to him, but Bonnie claims it is fine. At the station, Jim admits he turned his back on Robin when he was suffering. Leonard agrees it is sometimes easier to look away. Geordie interrupts to see if Jim is ready to identify the body. They’re surprised to learn that the deceased man is not Robin. Jim theorizes why he would have Robin’s book.

Geordie rushes back to his office to check the letter addressed to Cambridge Police. He compares the writing to the writing in the book and it looks like a match. When he opens the letter, he finds a message saying, “all things must die”. They go back to the university to talk to the professor who might know where Robin is. As she shows them a picture of Robin, she admits he had a complete and utter nervous breakdown. Although academia and troubled minds go hand in hand, Robin’s decline was spectacular. The professor says Robin had been working on his thesis about the destitute or whether there were factors that predispose someone to reject society. Leonard says it might predispose society to reject them leading to her asking if he is a bleeding heart too.

He admits he is a Christian instead. Jim admits they took food and blankets to the men, but Robin was interested in rehabilitating them. Professor Larson (Rowena King) shows them a letter that was hand-delivered to her door. The envelope matches the one Geordie received. The letter inside says, “ring out wild bells, and let him die”. Geordie says it is Tennyson. Meanwhile, Ernie helps Will work on his motorcycle. Ernie tells him about his bike which has three wheels and a bell that his mom and dad bought him for Christmas. Will jokes he is going to make him jealous. Will suspects he misses his father. Ernie asks whether he is a wicked person, but Will says no and the lady in the church is wrong about a lot of things. Will says you can feel all sorts of things when you lose someone like your father.

Ernie blurts out that he doesn’t want to talk about him and would rather talk about dogs and bikes. Jim takes Will and Geordie to one of the homeless camps where someone might know the dead man. The men aren’t eager to speak to Geordie because they don’t like authorities. However, one man knows him. Geordie says hello to Danny Smart (Steven Blake) and asks if he has been staying out of trouble. Danny asks if Barney is dead. He goes on to say Barney was looking for a fight. He obliged because he couldn’t stand him and the world is better off without him. Geordie believes they should go down to the station for a chat. Will lets Ernie pretend to ride his bike. When Bonnie arrives, Ernie tells her he is the fastest man in the world.

They get a drink and head to the backyard where Will admits he didn’t have any luck with Ernie yet. Bonnie says her husband was wonderful with Ernie before changing the subject to Will’s affair. She is around children all day and needs gossip. He admits he’d like to see her, but he knows that would likely lead to sex. They talk about true love and whether it exists while Ernie plays with Dickens. At the station, Danny tells Geordie that they got into a fight because Barney stole his whiskey. After he learns that Barney was beaten to death, Danny insists he wasn’t responsible and Barney went to town after that to meet someone. He is shown a picture of Robin Fellows (Jeremy Ang Jones) who he remembers as a do-gooder.

He was alright and asked about his life before. Danny was married, but you have no idea how quickly it can slip away. He says Danny knew the risks and should’ve stayed with them where he was safe since they have been finding them dead in doorways. Danny suggests they might be right about a madman being out there. Geordie rushes out of the room to ask Larry about the files on the other vagrant deaths. Although he could find them, Miss Scott (Melissa Johns) drops them off seconds later. Although the governor wants it chalked up as misadventure, Geordie wants a postmortem on Barney today. When they go check the body, Geordie finds compression marks around his neck causing him to believe Barney was strangled.

Geordie suspects one man committed the murders. As Leonard returns home, he hears Will trying to convince Sylvia to go apologize to Ernie for calling him wicked. She gets upset, dumps the potatoes on the floor, and tells Will to do his own. Leonard says she is an enigma and just having one of her moods, but Will calls her a bloody nightmare. Will suggests speaking to Jack, but Leonard quickly talks him out of that. Leonard checks on Sylvia and finds her getting ready to light a cigarette. She isn’t sure it matters at this point. He tells her a man died outside his café today so he isn’t ready to listen to any maudlin nonsense. Sylvia says death is waiting around every corner like a punishment from God although Leonard reminds her she isn’t dead yet.

She gets up before telling him they’re going out. Geordie tells Will they were perfect victims because they had no relatives or anyone to remember them. When he asks what kind of man kills someone with nothing, Will responds by saying a man with no compassion. Geordie can’t understand why they’d be wrapped in blankets in doorways though. He is convinced Robin is the key to solving this. Will prepares to go back home as he complains that Sylvia weaponized the potatoes. He asks whether Geordie ever met Bonnie’s husband. Geordie remembers Eddie who he describes as nice, quiet, and good with the boy. Will wishes he could get Ernie to talk about him because he is a sweet kid. When Will goes back to the church, he notices something about the EE that Ernie allegedly carved into the wood.

Sylvia takes Leonard to an expensive restaurant that they can’t afford. She asks for the champagne while saying it wrong. Sylvia complains that everyone always looks down their nose at her and has since she was a girl. Leonard tells her she is the most formidable, brilliant, kind, and marvelous woman he has ever met. When the champagne arrives, Sylvia asks for another bottle. Will asks Ernie whether those initials are his, but he knows they were his father’s. He tells Ernie he can come there to remember his father whenever he wants. Ernie believes God let his father die because he didn’t pray hard enough. Will quickly refutes that while explaining his father was poorly.

Ernie misses his father and knows he is never coming back. Will insists his father loved him very much and would want him to be happy. While drinking with Leonard, Mrs. Chapman waves at a little girl nearby. Her mommy tells her not to do that before taking her away from the table. Sylvia asks Leonard whether he ever feels ashamed. He says he used to and still does sometimes. He hasn’t been back into the church since because it didn’t feel like for some reason. Sylvia claims shame sneaks up on you when you least expect it. Leonard finds that shame diminishes when you share it with someone. Sylvia calls for the waiter and another bottle, but he won’t give her one. She gets into an argument with him and everyone else.

She calls them snobs and tells them up their bum before leaving with the champagne bottles. Leonard tells the waiter the lamb was slightly overcooked as he followed her out. At the station, Miss Scott tells Geordie she finally got in touch with Robin’s parents. They were told to admit him to an asylum but thought they could handle him themselves. His parents haven’t seen him for a week. Miss Scott gives Geordie the meal she ordered for him. She insists it’ll get better. Geordie says when you lose one thing you begin realizing you’re on a downward spiral. They’re all a few pay packets away from being on the street. She promises he isn’t going to end up dead in a doorway on her watch. As Sylvia and Leonard make it back home, she keeps repeating up your bum.

She sits down and says she wasn’t always a prude. She used to be wild until she told God she would change. Sylvia wonders whether the cancer is a punishment from God. Leonard insists God loves her, but Sylvia isn’t sure he could love a murderer. He sits next to her and reminds her she can tell him anything because he won’t judge. She wasn’t even 15 although the boy was a bit older and said he loved her. A woman in the next village told her mother she would be able to sort it out and she’d still be able to have babies after.

Sylvia prayed to God that she’d be good if he let her live. She was ever so good for the rest of her life, but it wasn’t enough. Leonard insists God wouldn’t judge because she was a child and in a terrible predicament. Since she never had a baby of her own that he let her keep, Sylvia believes God has forsaken her. Leonard suggests the cancer is not a punishment while saying God will come back to her when she needs him the most. He believes God is leading them where they’re meant to be with these trials. If she had children, she might not be where she is with him. He wonders where the bump in the road would’ve led if he hadn’t gone to prison. They begin hugging after Leonard tells her he loves her.

Geordie wonders why a spree killer would send a note to the police. Miss Scott suggests it is a compulsion to kill. He believes the killer loves and hates killing at the same time. She tells him there is a clear shirt at the bottom of his drawer. When he opens the drawer, he sees a shirt and razor. The items make him think of something so he calls for Miss Scott. Geordie checks the bodies and realizes all of them are clean and shaven. He explains that Robin takes them in and cleans them as he visits his room and finds evidence to back up his claim. After caring for them, he kills them. A shadowy figure across the street watches as Leonard enters The Cherry Orchard.

Leonard is surprised when Robin enters his café. He brings Robin a drink before being asked whether the man who died here suffered. Leonard believes God is with someone when they die so he would’ve alleviated his pain. Robin admits he didn’t want him to suffer anymore. Leonard excuses himself to get him something to eat and uses this opportunity to call the station to tell Geordie he is here. Geordie is busy talking to Edith Larson about the victims. One was found dead on the week she failed Robin on his thesis. The other victim was found after she ejected him from a lecture and he tried to strike her. Geordie asks why he’d try to do that. Edith reveals she told him he had a savior complex despite being just as hopeless as the men he was studying.

Geordie is surprised she said that even though she knew he was struggling. She confesses she is there to challenge and provoke. He says compassion isn’t her strong suit, but she doesn’t always mean what she says. She has a duty to elicit debate although Geordie believes she has a duty to her students first. Leonard sits with Robin and offers to listen to him since he used to be a clergyman. Robin wonders if he is sick since they say he is. He feels better now. When Geordie asks if he knew the man who died, Robin begins saying, “all things must die”. Leonard recognizes it as Tennyson who studied here at Cambridge. Robin complains that the man took his book before freaking out and saying he wants to make it stop. He begins crying, hugging Leonard, and asking him to make it stop.

After Geordie and other officers enter, Robin pulls a knife. Geordie doesn’t think he wants to hurt anyone since he was kind to the men. He manages to take the knife and quickly handcuff Robin. Bonnie interrupts Will to give him a gift that Ernie wanted him to have. He finds a bike bell inside the box and admits he was jealous of Ernie’s. Bonnie tells him he was brilliant with Ernie yesterday. She didn’t think Ernie was going to be okay after everything until now. Geordie asks Robin to look at the picture of the dead man who was strangled to death. He says killing someone like that means you have enough time to have regrets, see their pain, and see their fear. When confronts with the letter, Robin confesses he wanted it to stop.

He meant to make things better by ensuring nobody else could hurt them. Now, the hurting stops. Geordie asks if he understands what he did or the severity of his actions. Robin asks if he can have his book back. Geordie says he can. He goes on to say he is going to see a doctor who will take him to a place where he can be looked after and where he can get better. Robin asks if he can go home because he’d really like that. Jim visits Leonard at The Cherry Orchard. He asks how he didn’t see what Robin was becoming, but Leonard says nobody did. Jim hopes to be a vicar one day. Leonard says he’ll have hope now although Jim doesn’t think life in an asylum is a good choice.

Jim learns that they never found Barney’s next of kin so he’ll likely be buried without much of a service. He says it is unbelievably tragic for a life to end like that. They hold a service for Barney at the church where Jim is introduced to Will. During the ceremony, Will reminds everyone that Barney had hopes and dreams like everyone else. He talks about the different ways and more painful ways people can be poor while Leonard begins serving the homeless in the area. Geordie takes supplies to Danny. Will insists they have to stop walking by these people they think of as strangers and acknowledge them as brothers and sisters because they need help.

 

Grantchester Review

This episode of Grantchester proved that the series still has a few tricks up its sleeve. Surprisingly, it felt a bit like a finale episode since it covered the vagrant murders that were talked about in previous episodes. The episode had plenty of humor and heart as well. Despite having a lot going on with Sylvia’s condition, Geordie’s relationship, and the murder investigation, the episode masterfully managed its time while ensuring the story was easy to follow and enjoyable.

The episode was the best of the season by far. I just hope the other episodes can keep up the pace. It scores an 8 out of 10. Recaps of Grantchester can be found on Reel Mockery here. Learn how to support Reel Mockery by following this link.