As the finale of Grantchester begins, Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) gets into a fight but refuses to defend himself. When an officer wakes him up, Will tells him he is looking for God. Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth) and Geordie (Robson Green) try to figure out where Will might be hiding. They speak to Sylvia (Tessa Peake-Jones) about where he could be. Sylvia tells Geordie to go find him and not to come back until he does. They quickly change the subject when Bonnie (Charlotte Ritchie) and Ernie (Isaac Highams) enter. Keith (Narinder Samra) tells Leonard (Al Weaver) that he spoke to his son who is a man now.

Keith admits he is afraid of loving him because it’ll hurt even more when he loses him. He thanks Leonard for making him feel like he is worth something. Daniel (Oliver Dimsdale) walks in and overhears their conversation. Leonard tells Daniel the social experiment is falling apart just like Daniel predicted. Daniel doesn’t find any joy in that. He tells Leonard he has been offered gallery space in London so he is moving there for a while. Daniel insists what Leonard has done is worth something. Moments later, Larry Peters (Bradley Hall) arrives at the door to round everyone up because there has been a robbery at Barton. Leonard admits there is no one to round up.

When Will wakes up, the officer, Sam ‘Mac’ Mackenzie, asks him if he is looking for his pills. He goes on to tell Will he will only find salvation in one place. Sam (Mark Benton) agrees he can go although Will should use some soap before going. While Will is in the bathroom, Sam goes through his book and learns more about him. Sam picks up the phone to call the Cambridgeshire police. Later, Sadie Wilson (Audrey Kattan) asks Will if he is taking sweets. Jacob Wilson (Badger Skelton) is told to empty his pockets because he has been accused of stealing from a shop. Sam admits he has to tell Uncle Rob because he lives with him. Sam agrees to pay, but he is adamant that Jacob will have to apologize with meaning this time.

Jacob tells Will he looks like crap. Geordie asks Miss Scott (Melissa Johns) if she can ask one of the boys to go to the pubs to look for Will. She tells him that Mac has located the vicar. Geordie decides to go get him and he doesn’t care what Elliott thinks. Geordie and Elliott get into an argument about Leonard and the tire theft. Geordie reminds them Leonard doesn’t own a car or drive. Elliott says he is sick of him and his den of thieves. He orders Larry to put Leonard in a cell even though Larry says he hasn’t done anything. Elliott gets rough with Leonard before storming out. Leonard tells Geordie to go and find Will. Geordie arrives and introduces himself to Mac. Jacob can’t believe Will is a vicar.

Geordie goes inside and tries to talk Will into going home, but Will isn’t eager to do that. Geordie says Bonnie, Ernie, and the baby deserve so much more than this. Bonnie can’t wrap her head around it. Cathy insists Will is going to come back with his tail between his legs. Bonnie worries that Will doesn’t want her or the baby. In private, Mac tells Geordie they just need time sometimes. He admits Will seems broken. Mac learns that Geordie loves Will as if he was his dad. He promises he’ll come around. Curtis Cooper (Eric Stroud) yells for Mac to some because something is going on with the Wilsons. Once Mac and Geordie reach the house, they find two dead bodies. Mac wonders what he is going to tell the kids.

Jacob tells Will he doesn’t think God likes them very much. Sadie tries to intervene, but Jacob says God leaves them there to suffer. Mac tells Geordie he has known the Wilson couple for most of his life. Geordie says the ink was on Rob’s index finger. He asks Curtis when he was last paid because the Wilsons are in debt. Curtis claims he saw the kids rushing like they were running from something. Geordie finds a footprint on several pieces of paper. The footprint is too small to belong to an adult. Jacob asks Will to come with them. After Will says no, Jacob pulls out a knife and demands it. Geordie and Mac make it back to the station in time to see Will driving the kids away. Mac believes they’re going to Cromer since that’s where Rob’s brother lived.

Will doubts Jacob has much of a plan. He gets his pills back before finding that they’re out of petrol. Cathy talks to Sylvia about the possibility of retiring. Sylvia admits she likes being needed. They hear Bonnie mowing the grass outside and suspect she might be in labor. Bonnie doesn’t want to leave without Will. Mac and Geordie talk about their love for the job. Geordie tells Mac about his upcoming retirement before they spot the vehicle. Will notices a bruise on Jacob’s back. Jacob learns about the accident and Will killing a man. Jacob says he killed his aunt and uncle. Will admits he is taking the pills to try to find God again. Jacob doesn’t believe that God’s love endures forever because they wouldn’t suffer. Will asks what he’s done. Sadie arrives with Mac and Geordie.

When Jacob pulls out the knife, Will tells him he can’t run forever. They go back to the station where Will asks Jacob about the bruises. Since Jacob won’t tell them who did it, they try to get information from Sadie who says June hits him for every naughty thing he does. She says Jacob only took the chocolate because she was hungry. They were shouting. Jacob told her to close her eyes and cover her ears before he went to stop it. Then, Jacob ran out of the house saying they had to leave. Larry tells Leonard he is free to go although his boss doesn’t know. He expects it’ll get him into trouble, but it is what Geordie would do. Leonard tells him he is a true kindred spirit. Will hopes Jacob will find it in him to forgive himself. Jacob asks if Will has.

Mac suspects Jacob will go into custody and Sadie will go into a children’s home. Will tells him he did everything he could. He worries that Bonnie won’t be able to forgive him or he won’t be able to forgive himself. Geordie says goodbye to Mac. In the car, Will tells Geordie to stop because he has found something. He goes back inside so he can speak to Jacob. Will believes Jacob didn’t mind when June targeted him, but it was different when he went after Sadie or his uncle. A flashback shows June belittling Rob until he stabs her multiple times. Geordie says Rob cut his right hand and used his left hand to write a confession. Then, he turned the life on himself. Will says Jacob wanted to protect the memory of his uncle so he took the confession. Jacob came there to tell Mac but couldn’t find the words.

Jacob blames himself although Will insists it wasn’t his fault. Outside, Geordie tells Mac he could take the kids. He says you don’t have to be related to love them like your own. On the ride home, Will asks Geordie to get rid of the pills for him. Leonard looks at the pictures Daniel has taken. He runs over to Daniel’s place to tell him he is everything to him. Daniel admits he was looking for him because the thought of London wasn’t as appealing as he thought. Leonard asks if Daniel could ever love him again. Daniel says that isn’t how love works. Once Will and Geordie get back, they find puppies at the door. Will wants Geordie to wish him luck. Sylvia tells Will they’re not done with him by a long shot. When they’re alone, Will apologizes to Bonnie.

He promises to never leave her again. Bonnie begins shouting because she is in labor. They rush her to the hospital. Geordie admits he brought the puppies inside because they looked upset. He doesn’t understand why Will went into the room with Bonnie. Before long, Will walks out with his son and shows him to Geordie. Ernie thinks they should name him James. Will says James George Davenport. At the station, Geordie tells Larry he heard about Leonard. He tells Larry that his mom would be proud of him. Miss Scott admits he is attractive when he isn’t being a twerp. Elliott asks Geordie if he reported him to the commander for excessive force. He reveals he is being transferred and Geordie gets to stay.

Leonard helps Will prepare at the church. He knows there were some cross words between them. During the baptism, Cathy tells Geordie she thinks she has found a solution to their child care problem. Will talks about what they hope for James. Mac is shown caring for Jacob and Sadie. Sylvia is working with girls. Geordie tells Will it was a good sermon, but he doesn’t want James growing up thinking life is all sunshine and flowers. Will says he’ll be happy as long as James is happy. Geordie says it is all downhill from here.

 

Grantchester Review

The finale of Grantchester’s 8th series was one of the better episodes of the season with several high points although it didn’t quite hit it out of the park. Will seemed to get over his addiction a bit too easily for my liking because it made the storyline unrealistic. Jacob and Sadie’s story was more interesting than some of the earlier investigations.

The better aspects of the episode were Larry’s redemption arc, Leonard and Daniel rekindling their relationship, and Will and Geordie’s relationship. It still didn’t hit the target as well emotionally as the second episode, but it was better than the rest. It does leave a tinge of disappointment knowing Tom Brittney is out of the series and won’t be in the next.

Based on this series, I’ll be cautiously optimistic about series nine. It may just be a matter of how much of the core manages to remain whole and how much crumbles away. Even though this series wasn’t perfect, each episode was at least watchable and none of them were skippable. Overall, the finale was good so a 6.5 out of 10 is probably reasonable.

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