Broadchurch - S2E3 - Episode 3
Previously on Broadchurch, ‘Episode 2’
When last we left Broadchurch, Beth Latimer was in the middle of fucking everything up.
Alex is pissed because Lee got away with Claire. He takes Ellie’s car to search for them while Ellie helps Beth home, even though all Beth does is curse her though the labor pains.
Alex tracks down Lee and Claire at the house. He kicks Lee out after Lee swears Alex won’t keep him from his wife. Alex confronts Claire about the bluebell and she claims it was just sent to her and she doesn’t know by whom. He asks if she has told him everything about Sand Brook. She says she has, but a flashback to the day after the girls went missing show her slapping Lee and asking what he’s done. That suggests she hasn’t told him everything.
Labor Pains and Family Business
Ellie gets Beth home so she can have her water birth. Mark is nowhere to be found, as usual. While they wait, the Latimer daughter asks Ellie if she really didn’t know about Joe and Danny, and Ellie insists she didn’t. Mark finally brings his raggedy ass home and Beth gives birth to a baby girl. When she sees that Ellie is still there the next morning, she instructs Mark to kick her out. How this show has made me despise the woman who lost her son and mother is wonder, but I do not like Ellie.
Meanwhile, Sharon visits her son who is prison. He’s struggling, clearly. Jocelyn visits her mother who is in an elderly care facility, which it seems Jocelyn is having trouble paying for.
Lee enters the newspaper offices an inquires about placing an ad, and then asks for directions to the police station. He’s called Claire and promised he won’t follow her about, but he will be there if she needs him.
The Case
Ben’s rattled by how the case is going, but Jocelyn insists they have the facts on their side. On the other side, Sharon is giddy at the thought of being able to get Ellie on the stand and rip her a part.
On the stand, Alex reads emails between Danny and Joe which suggests they had a personal relationship and that Danny confided in Joe.
Sharon counters the communications between the two could have been from someone else on Joe’s end - anyone in the family had access to the same computer. Mainly, the implication is that Ellie was emailing Danny. Alex can’t tell Ellie this as she hasn’t testified yet, but he does instruct her to stay close to Claire so Lee can’t weasel his way in.
Speaking of Lee, his visit to the police station was so he could file charges against Alex, who later has to apologize to Lee in order to avoid Internal Affairs.
Girls Night
Ellie goes out to a bar with Claire. While Claire is in the bathroom, Ellie checks her phone: she copies numbers and checks Claire’s search history: all searches are about Lee and the Sand Brook case. Later, Ellie lets Claire talk her into bringing home two guys for a one night stand. Ellie has sex with her guy, but she clearly doesn’t enjoy it and even asks the man to say he loves her, which he doesn’t.
Lee brings Alex all the evidence he collected when trying to clear his own name - evidence he collected while impersonating Alex, which is hilarious. He leaves the documents with Alex before claiming he didn’t send Claire the bluebell.
Jocelyn is driving home when she runs off the road and crashes. Ben retrieves her, and she refuses to go to the hospital or even tell him how it happened.
Claire brings Ellie some tea after one of the men has gone home. She climbs into bed with her and tells a different version of what happened the girls went missing: She claims Lee drugged her and when she woke up the next morning she found Lee cleaning the whole house. Claire is suspect as fuck.
Suspicions and Testimony
Ellie confronts Alex and wonders why he doesn’t consider Claire a suspect. That’s what I’m saying! Before they can get into it, Ellie has to go testify. Sharon questions Ellie about her sex life with Joe and then accuses Ellie of having an affair with Alex. Her evidence is Ellie’s presence in Alex’s hotel room the night Joe was arrested. She spent two hours in his room and Sharon twists it. I hate her.
Her tactic seems to have worked. Ellie loses it and everyone in the courtroom side-eyes her.
Overall Thoughts and Questions:
- Interesting that both attorneys are distracted by family issues. Between that and their personal history (and whatever the hell is wrong with Jocelyn), I’m wondering if this case will end up thrown out of court on a technicality. I just have a feeling this won’t end well for anyone.
- How much do you want to bet Beth blames Ellie and believes the affair accusations?
