Broadchurch – Season 2, Episode 5

Confusion: the state of being uncertain. That is what the fifth episode of Broadchurch left viewers full of. With lies flying everywhere it’s hard to tell what the truth is. Reeling from last week’s discovery that Ricky wasn’t where Hardy had believed him to be during the murder of his daughter, Hardy pushed himself hard on the trail tracking down anyone who might be able to help him expose the truth. This truth just so happened to leave Ricky without an alibi and reveal the keen little fact that he apparently travels around with a hip flask.  It’s awfully suspicious that Ricky just happens to show up at Hardy’s house in Broadchurch after he and Miller begin digging into Ricky’s whereabouts. However, even as Miller questions him Lee creepily looked on, watching from afar. Seriously, this has to be some sort of misdirection with the way Chris Chibnall is making Lee’s behavior so bizarre. And boy does James D’Arcy play that part to a key. Too bad his face got beat up when Ricky located Lee’s whereabouts only for Hardy to come to the rescue. I don’t know about you, but it sure takes a taxi a lot longer to show up for me than in Broadchurch.

At least Hardy finally lets his anger fuel him this episode. Tired of being led astray by the lies, he confronts Claire over what really happened the night Pippa died. Given the fact that Claire wasn’t too pleased with Miller telling Hardy her late night confession, she claims that the random phone number on her cell was a wrong number and then acknowledges she had Lee by while they were gone. Seems like classic misdirection to me. Her eyes are hiding something and with the way Chibnall writes it’s going to be big.

The only thing Claire does have going for her is that Hardy still hasn’t dismissed the claim that they slept together. His anger at Lee being in the house with Claire and the sexual encounter she shared with her husband certainly doesn’t help prove his innocence either. Although the softer side to Alec Hardy is a nice touch. Despite his gruff appearance and closed attitude last season there are definitely signs that his broken heart is healing enough to let some people in. The way he wants to keep Miller away from the Sandbrook case, worried about her being sucked in, and trying to be supportive after she finds out Tom is testifying for the defense is sweet. Having been through a slightly similar betrayal, he may be the only one in Broadchurch who honestly has a clue what Miller is going through.

Too bad he might not make it to the end of the season. Hardy is going to have to start using his brain and give a crap about his health if he’s going to survive. No more of these post traumatic flashbacks finding Pippa’s body and passing out on the ground while Miller is otherwise preoccupied just to pop a few pills and go for a walk. What is he thinking? And how the hell he managed to stay out all night after having Jocelyn write a will and then running up a hill to save Lee from Ricky without a heart attack is beyond me. The man collapsed walking from Miller’s house to the hotel when he was a lot healthier!

Even with that it could be worse, he could have been the one pulling an all-nighter going all conspiracy theorist in his flat like Miller was. Plastering the Sandbrook case around Hardy’s house, looking over every single clue while her son plays on in the corner, and not even noticing that Hardy was gone or for how long, just goes to show Miller’s true mental state in the midst of this trial. At least she had the wherewithal to eat Hardy out of toast and drink him out of tea. Surprisingly, Miller might be the key Hardy needed to solve the Sandbrook case all along. She’s the only one to finally ask what all the viewers were wondering: if Lisa was the one to kill Pippa and run.

Who do you think is the guilty party? Are you excited to see what will happen as Tom takes the stage testifying for his father? Or worried about the potential secrets that can be revealed? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to turn in to the sixth episode of Broadchurch, which promises to have all our favorite faces take the stand.