As this episode of Grantchester begins, the women of Grantchester begin working in the morning. Esme (Skye Lucia Degruttola) and Mae Jenkins (Phoebe Licorish) read a pamphlet for Harrison and Sons. They barge in and visit Geordie (Robson Green) and Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth). They drop off their laundry. Mae thanks Cathy before they leave. Sylvia Chapman (Tessa Peake-Jones) and Alphy (Rishi Nair) go over his schedule for the day. Sylvia offers to sit in on the visit with the Bishop. Alphy insists it’s not necessary. Bishop Aubrey Gray (Stuart Bowman) enters moments later. Sylvia listens from the door as Alphy tells Aubrey he could save them some money by doing some of the work himself.
Aubrey says they need to find ways to consolidate since the congregation there is never more than 30. The church at Newnham is barely full beyond the first rows. Aubrey explains they’re going to merge the two and wind this church down. This congregation will be served by Newnham’s vicar, David. As for Alphy, he will care take for a few months. Aubrey isn’t sure what’ll happen after that. At work, Esme is approached by Malcolm Grant (Ned Costello). He suggests he can talk her out of her top later. Mr. Harrison (Peter Polycarpou) interrupts to make sure the girls have read his rules. Aubrey tells Alphy it’s for the best before he leaves. Sylvia tries to get answers from Alphy. Esme is tasked with telling Mae that Miss Cheadle (Serena Evans) wants her. Malcolm and Mae are busy making out.
When they’re alone, Malcolm tries to scare Esme by telling her about the ghosts in the building. Leonard (Al Weaver) calls Geordie to tell him Alphy is getting drunk because he believes he is losing his job. Everyone celebrates Mae’s 19th birthday. Cathy finds something that concerns her while looking through Esme’s laundry. Esme is sent to fetch Mae only to find her dead. Geordie says he’s never known a vicar without a wayward streak. Leonard can’t believe he’s doing that. He says they’d lie to their own mothers if it got them higher up the ladder. Geordie leaves when Miss Scott (Melissa Johns) contacts him. Sam White (Elliot Warren) asks Alphy if the church betrayed him. He claims that’s what they don’t if you don’t fit in. Leonard interrupts to tell them about the body at Harrison and Sons. Geordie and Alphy check the body.
Esme tells Geordie that Mae doesn’t have her bag and she doesn’t go anywhere without it. She says they can’t know he’s her dad. Geordie notices the birthday cake and tells Larry (Bradley Hall) to get it bagged. Sylvia approaches Leonard to find out what’s going on with the bishop and Alphy. Leonard doesn’t want to betray Alphy’s trust by telling her. Sylvia believes Alphy is a gambler. Cathy goes to the police station where she tells Miss Scott to tell Geordie his daughter is having sex and his wife is having kittens. Cathy says he should spruce up a cell because she’s about to commit murder. Miss Scott realizes she hasn’t heard. Alphy and Geordie speak to Harrison who admits this is bad for business. When they speak to Malcolm, he says Mae was a little jollier than the others.
Miss Cheadle explains that the boys play a game in which the girls are either Doris Days or Marilyns. She claims she did her best to protect her. Malcolm says Mae was a bit too jolly for him and he’s married. Miss Cheadle reveals the birthday cake was from Molly’s Café in town. Cathy doesn’t know how Miss Scott handles it. Miss Scott thinks she could say the same with the kids, the house, and the husband. Cathy admits she hasn’t been handling it well lately. She says Esme is out there in that world and there’s nothing she can do to stop it. Cathy shows Miss Scott evidence that Esme is using birth control pills. Alphy and Geordie talk about the men at Harrison and Sons. Miss Scott wants to tell Geordie, but she wants to make sure he won’t get angry. He has the prescription instructions.
Esme tells Geordie that the storeroom is haunted. Geordie asks her about the contraceptive pills. Esme says no. Geordie gets upset and leaves. In the morgue, Geordie tells Alphy that they think they understand everything. In reality, they don’t understand anything. Geordie believes Esme pretended not to know what the pills were. Larry interrupts with Mae’s medical records. Geordie learns she had a severe almond allergy. Alphy thinks Geordie should speak to Esme without being intimidating. Geordie admits he’s afraid for her. Alphy ends up speaking to Esme who admits she didn’t always like Mae. She says the prescription is not hers. Esme tells him that the pills were in Mae’s handbag. Alphy tries to get information about Mae’s boyfriend. Then, Geordie and Alphy confront Malcolm.
Malcolm says Mae isn’t the type you’d introduce to your wife. He claims he’s never seen the pills before. Geordie points out they’re only available to married women. Malcolm denies killing her. He explains he just needed to give her notice to get rid of her. Alphy approaches Aubrey to ask if he set him up to fail. Aubrey claims circumstances changed. Alphy suggests he’s always been the scapegoat. Later, Sylvia tries to get information from Alphy who says he doesn’t need her hovering. He eventually blurts out that he’s out before he has even started. Alphy says he hopes she’s happy now. Geordie asks Cathy why she’s so angry. She explains she tried to stop Esme from getting the job and he didn’t back her up. Geordie says she’s starting to jump at every shadow and sounding like her mother. Cathy throws away his breakfast and storms out.
At the station, Geordie finds out that Miss Scott is still working. Larry says the bakery confirmed a man ordered the cake. Alphy enters because he’s hiding from Sylvia. Miss Scott found out that another dead girl used to work at Harrison’s. Jane Goldman was 18 years old. She died of a botched abortion. Miss Scott urges them to send her in undercover. She’s on leave from tomorrow so she’s going to do it on her own. Miss Scott speaks to Cheadle to secure the position. She gets it. Sylvia tells Alphy that she’s on strike because he was very rude. Sylvia tries to convince Alphy that he needs her. Alphy claims he’s self-sufficient. Harrison is introduced to the new girl, Miss Scott. Miss Cheadle tells Scott that Harrison is harmless. Malcolm asks Miss Scott what her secret is.
Esme is asked to show Miss Scott the ropes. Miss Scott motions for her to stay silent. Geordie asks Larry about the Jane Goldman file. Larry says no one knows where anything is and it’s chaos out there. Alphy arrives moments later. Geordie tells him that Jane paid a Harley Street doctor for the abortion. They wonder how she could afford a hundred pounds. Miss Scott finds information about Mae and the accounts. Esme tells her that the accounts are in the storeroom. Malcolm warns her about the ghost named Iris. Miss Scott goes to the storeroom and wonders why Mae kept circling the cleaning fees. Malcolm interrupts. He tries to get her to drink until Miss Cheadle enters and stops them. Malcolm leaves them alone. Miss Scott goes to the police station to say the men drink themselves into comas while the women do all the work.
Harrison is a penny pincher. Larry says the test came back on the birthday cake and it did not contain almonds. Miss Scott tells them about the cleaning fees. They use Bateman’s to clean the offices so the cleaning payments don’t refer to actual cleaning. They confirm there’s a cleaning payment for 100 pounds during the week of Jane’s death. It seems like Mr. Harrison is cleaning up after any girl the boys get into trouble. Miss Scott just happens to stay late at Harrison and Sons to look through the paperwork. She eventually finds something about Iris Buchanan who was found dead in the storeroom. When Harrison is asked about the accounts, he says he barely reads them because he doesn’t bother himself with trivial matters.
Malcolm is more on top of these things now. Harrison claims the young girls are worldly and do anything to entrap a man. Miss Scott calls Geordie to tell him to ask Harrison about Iris. Harrison claims it was carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty chimney. Alphy points out there was a cleaning payment. Harrison says it was a gift to her family. He points out that there isn’t much of a motive before asking for a taxi. Alphy apologizes to Sylvia. She tells him that no one wants him to leave. Sylvia explains why the women always clean up and keep the parish going. It makes them feel seen when they’re usually not seen at all. Miss Scott sees something in a picture at Harrison’s. Alphy approaches Geordie to ask why they used the word cleaning. Miss Scott notices Cheadle in the picture.
She goes to the storeroom and finds a bottle of almond essence just before Cheadle comes in. Miss Scott accuses her of putting almond drops in the contraceptives that she helped her get. Cheadle claims Harrison would thank her if he knew and everything would fall apart without her. Miss Scott says Cheadle will be gone soon, there will be another girl at her desk, and Harrison won’t even remember her name. They briefly fight until Geordie and the others arrive to stop them. Miss Cheadle is arrested. Cathy speaks to Dr. Bennett (Andrew McLay) because she isn’t feeling like herself. He asks about feeling suicidal. Cathy admits she feels weepy. She barely has the time to do anything and there’s no mother around to help out. Dr. Bennett prescribes her mood stabilizers and tells her to take them once a day.
He asks her to return in four weeks. Esme seems to go into the storeroom. She looks around before leaving. Sylvia visits Cathy who admits she was the last person she expected to see. Cathy questions what she should do about Esme. She wants to be with Esme every step of the way, but she realizes she can’t. Sylvia says she’s not mad. She’s just a woman. Alphy makes Sylvia something to eat. Sylvia thinks they’re trying to make their way in a world that’s not made for them. She explains that Cathy had to let Esme go. Later, Cathy takes one of the pills. Miss Scott speaks to Esme when she leaves work. They go out for a drink.
Grantchester Review
The fifth episode of Grantchester’s ninth series was a bit unbalanced. The writers are trying to do many things simultaneously and the ideas remain strong. At the very least, viewers can see that the intentions are good. However, this was probably one of the most illogically written episodes of Grantchester in forever.
On one hand, it was great that Miss Scott got another chance to shine and that Alphy is being allowed to settle in. However, both of these were done poorly. The acceptance of Alphy has been rushed to the point that it doesn’t make a lot of sense. As an example, Geordie was unable to speak to his own daughter so Alphy did. Geordie isn’t weak and he’s also not a highly religious individual so that didn’t sit right.
Miss Scott’s story was written much, much worse unfortunately. For starters, she went against the advice of Geordie and everyone else to implant herself into the investigation. Would such evidence even be admissible? Times were certainly different back then so that wasn’t the worst offense. Everyone at Harrison and Sons probably would’ve been skeptical of Miss Scott since she was the newest member of the team, yet she’s staying late looking for incriminating evidence.
Another silly thing was the final shot in which Miss Scott and Miss Cheadle got into a fight. Within seconds, Geordie and the others were barging through the door. Yet, Miss Scott still complained that it took them a while to get there. That might’ve been an attempt to be humorous, but it certainly didn’t come off like that.
Truthfully, this episode felt stronger in the beginning and the writer quickly deteriorated as it got closer to the end. At this point, it feels like the bigger stories are being rehashed from past seasons and elsewhere. There’s no risk that the church will be closed so that’s obviously a nothing burger. Cathy is likely going to start abusing drugs just like Will did previously.
I’ve also noticed that the show is starting to pull the same trick as other British detective dramas. Each episode seems to have set up the obvious bad guys who could easily be the culprit only for the killer to be someone else in the end. As a result, those bad guys are not punished at all. This may amount to more in the long run, but it is starting to feel formulaic right now.
Some believability issues were always there although I am not sure they were this abundant previously. This episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Grantchester can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying 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.
