Gracepoint recap: Episode 7
Ed Araquel/Fox
I have resisted mentioning much of Broadchurch up until this point because while the shows have been different, the major reveals have been largely the same. Not so in this episode. In this episode our detectives were forced to confront a frightening reality that never crossed their paths in Broadchurch: Ellie’s son Tom has gone missing.
Throughout the series Tom has appeared surly and detached, but that, for the most part, could have been credited to the fact that he’s a young boy who just lost his best friend. But let us not forget, he also has something to hide—in the first episode he deleted files from his phone and his computer.
When the town is gathered at Jack Reinhold’s wake, Emmett notices Paul Coates put a hand on his knee, just before he has an episode. Emmett uses his momentary slip as an opportunity to sidle up to Tom and start asking him questions. He asks if Tom is alright, and if he and Danny got along with Paul. Joe interrupts him. “You assume the worst in people at every single moment,” Joe tells him. Ellie asks her son if he is okay and questions about Danny, and he lashes out at her. “You don’t even know anything about me anymore,” Tom says.
On the way to school, Tom’s little brother drops his toy. He’s going to be late and is three blocks away, so Joe, reluctantly, let’s him ride his bike ahead. A short while later, Ellie gets a call from the school, revealing that Tom never showed up. A look of horror crosses her face. Suddenly, she is on both sides of the case. She calls Joe who insists, “this isn’t what happened to Danny,” but what does he know about that? “Of course that’s what I’m thinking,” Ellie replies. This, as it should be, is a moment of friction in what was previously a seemingly perfect marriage. Ellie, as hard as she may try not to, initially places blame on Joe.
Ellie and Emmett initially focus on one of Tom’s teachers, who was on the list of suspects the Solanos gave them, but that ends up to be a false lead. Soon enough the entire town is out searching for Tom, led by none other than Mark Solano. The Solano family in general is coming to the aid of the Millers—Beth gives Ellie a tragically knowing hug, and Beth’s mom and Chloe make sandwiches to hand out to the search party.
By the end of the episode, the entire town is led to a wooded area in search of Tom as someone spotted him on the road. They approach Ellie in a massive pack, and Ellie and Joe reconcile. And then there’s the shocking conclusion. Paul Coates—a man who has been an object of Emmett’s suspicions—stumbles upon Tom’s bike. Abandoned.
NEXT: A mysterious man returns
Lars Pierson
Tom’s disappearance eerily coincides with the reappearance of Lars Pierson, the man whose cell phone number Danny had on him the day he died. In Pierson’s home our detectives find weapons and antipsychotic medication. Lars, meanwhile, sits eating a hamburger in the back of the police car.
When Ellie and Emmett interrogate Lars—Ellie insisting she be there even though Emmett says it wouldn’t be appropriate—he is both unhinged, asking about fries with his hamburger, and seems to have an interest in antagonizing the detectives. He tells Emmett he looks “stressed,” and Ellie looks “traumatized.” He comments on a photo of Tom, that he’s “a good looking boy.” Ellie loses her cool, and Lars continues to cackle that Tom is good looking, and mentions that he looks like Ellie. Emmett has to take Ellie out of the room.
But when Emmett goes to interview him alone, what emerges is something more tangible. When he finally shows Lars Danny’s picture, Lars says “Budapest.” It’s not some sort of code. When he encountered Danny that fateful morning Danny asked Lars what the capital of Hungary was for a crossword puzzle. Lars told him the answer. Danny said he “wanted to see places,” and Lars gave him his phone number for if he ever wanted to talk. “Is he dead?” Lars asks. It’s a question that seems completely genuine. Emmett asks why he’s asking. “I’ve seen guys that know when someone’s dead. They look like you look,” Lars says.
Raymond Connelly
Gracepoint’s seer of sorts made his return to the town in this episode, this time with a message about Tom. Knowing Ellie and Emmett’s hostility toward him, he goes to one person who had been sympathetic toward him: Beth Solano. Beth takes this news to Joe Miller. Raymond told her that Tom’s been hurt and that he’s bleeding.
Vince Novik and Susan Wright
The stories of these two are now seemingly inextricably linked, and Susan’s behavior is creating rifts elsewhere in the town. Kathy Eaton confronts Ellie at the wake about what she did with the creep-tastic information she gave her about Susan. The first time we see both of them this episode, they are each engaging in suspicious behavior. Susan buys brownie mix, but when the salesperson tries to make chit chat, she harshly says, “they’re not for me.” Meanwhile, in Vince’s shed, we see him closing a freezer and washing blood of off his hands. Those brownies were meant for Vince’s mother, and Vince realizes quickly who brought them. Vince’s mother notices blood on his face and says he went hunting. Susan told Vince’s mother that he’s in trouble. He throws the brownies in the trash. Later he goes to Susan’s trailer, handing her an envelope as a bribe to leave Gracepoint. She tells him, “I know what you did,” and encourages him to talk to her. He becomes violent, grabbing her by the throat. He tells her he has a rifle in his van, and says “don’t make me use it.”
NEXT: Another blast from a past
Emmett
Emmett begins the episode more than ever the town pariah, with a newspaper asking “Is this the worst cop in California?” next to a picture of his face. He is grasping. The county supervisor is cutting the budget. Now, there’s another missing kid, he doesn’t appear to be running things very well. After a press conference wherein Emmett is a target, the chief says he should consider stepping down. And then his daughter arrives. Despite the fact that he’s been calling her, Emmett doesn’t pay much attention to Julianne, forgoing her for his detective duties. He asks her gruffly, “What’s up, Julie?” and she corrects him to “Julianne.” When he leaves her alone in his office she goes through his drawers and finds his medication. Julianne confronts him about this, asking whether there is something wrong with his heart, and if this is the reason he said no to a ski trip and her mother said he shouldn’t have taken the Gracepoint job. “All you care about is other people’s children,” she says. After he interrogates Lars, he comes out to find that Julianne has left. When it’s revealed that someone actually took her to the bus station, he hangs up his jacket, resigned.
Those other deaths
Though the episode ended with another distressing reveal, it began with Jack Reinhold’s funeral. At Jack’s funeral Paul Coates takes on the town. “How are we here? Why did this happen? Because we let him be smeared and intimidated.” He says, “We failed him, just as we failed and continue to fail Danny Solano.” Paul’s condemnation is suspicious to Emmett, who asks if it was a veiled message, but in many ways Paul’s charges also feel fair. Emmett and Ellie did fail to properly protect Jack, and the town did fail him.
As I established at the beginning of the series, I’m a Broadchurch fan, and while I’m excited to see something different, I’m conflicted about Tom’s disappearance. Certainly it makes the ending more of a question mark, but it also frustratingly takes attention away from the two deaths Gracepoint has already suffered: Danny’s and Jack’s. Despite Paul Coates’ damning sermon, the show barely lingered on Reinhold’s tragic death and its implications for the town. Because of Tom’s behavior, I’m inclined to believe that the boy took off himself—worth noting: Joe briefly noticed Tom’s heavy backpack, asking if he needed help—but the show seems to believe that perhaps there’s a killer on the loose. It feels like a diversion. The show, after all, is still focused on the Danny case. The new evidence that came to light? Danny’s cell phone was set to forward all calls to another number—likely his smartphone.
Now watch Jack Irvine (Tom) and Kevin Rankin (Paul) discuss the episode in this exclusive Talking Point video.