As this episode of Grantchester begins, Geordie (Robson Green) interrogates Dora (Rose Allen) about the wound on her knee. When he retrieves the first aid kit, he finds Cathy’s medication. Cathy (Kacey Ainsworth) says Dr. Bennett told her to try them for a month. She asks if it’s better than before since there’s less screaming and fighting. They talk about Cathy’s mother and how Cathy was starting to sound like her. Cathy says it was the worst day of her life watching her mom get put into that van. He thinks she’ll end up the same even if it takes longer. Geordie insists he’ll never let that happen. At work, Larry Peters (Bradley Hall) tells Geordie that a woman has gone missing.

Geordie visits Alphy (Rishi Nair) and Sylvia (Tessa Peake-Jones). They talk about Alphy possibly having to leave. Geordie tells Alphy about the missing student from Girton. Alphy is shocked when he sees a picture of the girl in question. In private, Geordie learns it’s the girl Alphy was with. He reveals it’s Caroline Stansham. Her father, Hugh, is very big in plastics. Alphy was with her on the night of the break-in. Hugh says Caroline has been missing for a fortnight. Alphy could be the last person to have seen her. They go to the school together. When they check Caroline’s room, they learn that she is a writer for the student paper. The editor is named Eric Delgado. They go to the address for submissions where they are greeted by Nigel Rivers and Innes Clark.

They’re told that Delgado is a tutor. Innes claims they last saw Caroline about a month ago. Caroline wanted to do more proper stuff. They told her to bring a story and she never came back. They talk about how they use comedy to skewer the establishment. As they leave, Alphy tells Geordie they need to find out what Caroline was looking into. He suggests they trace her steps. They go to the pub where Alphy gambled and question why Caroline was there that night. Geordie argues she could be anywhere because she’s 21, she finished her studies, and she’s wealthy. Geordie goes to the Blue Ball Inn to speak to Sylvia. He tells her about Cathy using strong pills. Sylvia agrees to pop around tomorrow to see what can be done.

Alphy puts up a missing flyer for Caroline. Geordie catches up with Larry who tells him they’ve found the body of Innes Clark. Leonard (Al Weaver) is unable to accept new residents because they’re so packed. He walks in on a group meeting with Sam White (Elliot Warren) and Daniel (Oliver Dimsdale). In private, Leonard and Sam walk about the talks and how Daniel is trying to give back. Leonard is surprised to learn that Daniel is investing in their work. Geordie speaks to Mr. Delgado about Innes. They discuss the possibility that Innes had numerous enemies. Nigel reveals they accused the dean of deviancy, the bursar of bigamy, and gossiped about gonorrhea in Girton. Nigel ends up referring to Larry as an idiot. Geordie reminds him this isn’t a game. Nigel insists killing Innes would be an overreaction.

He claims he was alone studying in his room last night. When they’re alone, Alphy tells Geordie that they have to find Caroline. Alphy finds an exposed roll of film. Geordie checks it and notices there’s still some in the reel. They visit Leonard to see if Daniel is around but he isn’t. The three of them go to Daniel’s place and learn he’s putting his house on the market. Cathy finds Sylvia cleaning her house. Sylvia thinks something is amiss when a man takes notice of his wife’s health. While Daniel develops the film, he talks to Leonard about selling his house. Geordie looks at the film and says it’s Eric Delgado. There’s a very flexible young fella with him. Daniel refuses to print the photos because he doesn’t want to destroy the lives of men. Cathy tells Sylvia how she was feeling.

Sylvia says Ronnie ran off so she went through it alone. She gives Cathy alcohol and says it’s as natural as going from girl to woman. Once she’s through it, she’ll feel better than ever. Alphy and Geordie question Delgado about the film. Delgado doesn’t think the boys would do that. He blames a vile Peeping Tom. He insists he didn’t kill Innes. Delgado says he has a wife and daughter. Geordie wants to speak to his friend. Delgado says Caroline seemed to be everywhere. He saw her last month. She caught the attention of some self-help guff named Sam. Delgado confirms his name was Sam White. Alphy and Geordie find Caroline with Sam White. Geordie takes her down to the station. She says Innes and Nigel treated complaints like badges of honor. Caroline was with Sam last night. They’ve been doing up a place together on the edge of town.

They’ve been together for four weeks. Caroline admits she’s been funding Sam’s ambitions. Alphy tells Sam that he and Caroline were together briefly after meeting at a bar. Sam asks how long ago. Before Alphy can answer, Geordie and Caroline exit. Alphy is given a chance to speak to Caroline in private. She tells him she’s with Sam and loves him although she had fun with Alphy. Innes told Caroline to find a story. She went looking for one and ended up finding Sam. Caroline invites Alphy to the halfway house tomorrow night for a party Sam organized. Alphy takes the recording Innes and Nigel made so he can listen to it later that night. At one point, Nigel tells Innes that he drags him down so he should’ve got shot of him years ago.

Larry finds out that Nigel has written about him in The Honest Duck. Alphy arrives to tell Geordie about the recording. Jack and Sylvia worry that Cathy will get those feelings again if she stops the pills. Sylvia tells her to be angry if she wants to be angry. She tells her about menopause. They break cups together. Larry confronts Nigel when he’s brought down to the station. Miss Scott (Melissa Johns) laughs at Nigel when he says he almost called Larry Dumblock Holmes. Larry tells her he knows what she thinks of him. In an interview room, Nigel blames Innes for leaving him short. He claims he doesn’t know what Innes was working on because his work was taken. All Innes could talk about was Caroline. Geordie asks about the photos of Delgado. Nigel says he and Innes were sent stuff separately and sometimes anonymously.

Alphy plays the recording for him. They accuse Nigel of being mean enough to kill Innes. Nigel admits people liked Innes and that’s why he needed him. Once he leaves, Geordie tells Alphy that Delgado’s friend came in to confirm his alibi. Alphy wonders if Caroline can help them. Nigel stays around to talk to Miss Scott who tells him off and tells him to go. Alphy joins Leonard at the party. Leonard the party is all Sam’s group and they call themselves The Way Finders now. Sam speaks to Alphy and tells him that Caroline told him. Sam understands he can’t be possessive. Daniel finds Leonard hiding outside. He tells him he doesn’t have to stay if he doesn’t like it. Leonard reminds him it’s his house. Daniel claims he’s becoming bitter. He says he’s trying to captain his life for one and Leonard should do the same.

Leonard says he’s going to. He approaches Sam to say they’ve reached the limit of how much he can help. Sam asks when this all became about him. He believes he’s building something special here and he won’t let a little traitor threaten it. Sam threatens him not to test him again. Alphy asks Caroline if she knew about the photos or anyone who might hold a grudge. Caroline calls it a nest of vipers. Alphy notices that she has a camera in her bag. She talks about her father being strict. Caroline kisses Alphy on the cheek and thanks him for looking for her. Alphy finds that Leonard is upset. Sam interrupts and sings Leonard’s praises before Leonard steps away. Alphy finds a shoe on the ground with a letter on the bottom and suspects it came from the newspaper place.

He checks the camera in Caroline’s bag. She is taken to the station and asked if the shoes belong to her. Caroline is told the letters are from a Letraset. She suggests they’re on the feet of everyone who went to that office. Caroline admits Innes wanted a grubby story to hold over Delgado who was rattled over a few complaints. She got them but found Sam. Caroline asks why she’d kill Innes. Alphy believes Innes tacked her down and wanted her to be his girl. She eventually blurts out that she killed Innes for Sam. Innes wrote a hatchet job about Sam, Caroline, and the Way Finders. Sam is questioned next. He claims Caroline never spoke to him about Innes’s piece. Alphy and Geordie talk about the case later. Alphy tries to find out what is going on with Geordie. Geordie admits he’s worried the road he and Cathy are on won’t end well.

Geordie hears dishes breaking when he gets home. Cathy tells him it’s fine. Geordie offers to put in for a sabbatical so he can be there with her. Cathy tells him she loves him and he doesn’t have to do that. She is adamant she is not going the way of her mother. She thanks Geordie for getting Sylvia who gave her a woman’s perspective. Cathy is going to stop taking the pills because they’re not the answer. The next day, Leonard goes to the church to tell him about the altercation he had with Sam. Alphy says that sounds out of character for Sam. Leonard doesn’t trust Sam who has his hooks into Daniel and so many others. They return to the halfway house and find it empty except for a note. Sam wrote the note to tell Leonard they won’t be a hindrance to him anymore. Leonard doesn’t think this is normal. He claims Sam is a dangerous man.

 

Grantchester Review

The seventh episode of Grantchester’s ninth series had some touching moments scattered among some not-so-great moments. The writing has severely deteriorated since Will’s departure as the writers make the characters look like imbeciles at almost every turn. I am not sure I’ve ever been irked by this series, but this episode managed to do that.

On the plus side, it was neat to see Daniel skim over the film development process and the old equipment in the episode was cool. Geordie and Cathy’s relationship woes and the journey to overcome them have been great. They’re probably the highlight of the series besides Will’s departure.

On the other hand, the writing has really devalued many of the characters while doing very little to help Alphy. For starters, it’s strange that no one has once questioned Sam White or his intentions. Even after all the stuff with Caroline, he left freely and no one ever said anything about it. That’s a bit odd considering Geordie has been solving cases for nine seasons now and however many years.

One would think he’d have some suspicion at the very least. Surely, every viewer saw that coming from a mile away. The writers have gone to extremes in one direction before shifting back and hoping viewers will immediately forget what they just saw. As an example, Sylvia was a belligerent bigot in one episode. A few minutes later, she was Alphy’s biggest supporter. The same happened to Miss Scott here.

She laughed at Larry who has continually been belittled by the writers. Moments later, she was singing his praises in the most forced way imaginable. We’re also supposed to believe Geordie and an entire police force would have a trove of evidence on a reel-to-reel tape player, but Alphy would have to listen to it.

Finally, Caroline’s involvement with Alphy and Sam made both men look like sops. Thankfully, Alphy wasn’t accused of her murder and she wasn’t dead so that was at least somewhat different. Sadly, this was a pretty irritating episode mainly because of bad writing. It scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Grantchester can be found on Reel Mockery here.

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