Broadchurch finale. Roll up, Roll up.

[fruitstick]

Eyes down for a full house on Monday.

Hopefully we can combine both threads.

In advance, why don't we each post ONE theory, then we can all gloat afterwards about how clever we are

Have loved swapping theories and notes on here . Thanks to all of you who provided me with a "Nooooo/WTF?" moment or two

The line "how could you not know" is not only prudent to Ellie but actually to all the main characters who had any past connection with Danny.

Really hope OC and DT return for second series.

Aha somebody has suggested that susan knew that joe had killed danny, therefore gave tom the skateboard so that joe knew she knew! (dont know why she dobbed nigel in though!!!!!)

JO put Danny's skateboard beside him
On the beach - like if he skated off the cliff

But skateboard wasn't there later - so how did PQ get the board! Unless she found the body and took THe skateboard

Hence why JO looked so shocked when his son brought the skateboard home with him

Maybe PQ didn't know she knew and giving the skateboard to Tom was a coincidence?

@spotty26

Why didn't Joe, as a paramedic, try to resuscitate Danny. Bugging me.

A PARAMEDIC? i thought he was a SAHD?!

Evening! Have been at a friends house, but following in ad breaks.

I actually think it ended as it should have.

In real life cases there are all sorts of coincidences and unexplained behaviours which are never resolved as not relevant.

I think, in hindsight, ITV were after the acting talent/drama so it had to be Joe. No other killer would have given enough material for OC & DT to get their teeth into.

And it wasn't a straightforward child abuse case - and reinforces the fact that it's not black & white. That children don't always know they are being abused and the abuser is often warped into thinking it's OK - rather than malicious or predatory.

The 'how did you not know' bit, whilst obvious to everyone on here, passed a lot of people by.

We are just dead clever

These have been my favourite threads for ages.

Well done everyone

He was a paramedic before he was a SAHD, Olivia.

PQ only gave it to Tom when he knew OC was his Mum.

I'm pretty sure Joe was quick to touch it when Tom came in so his prints would be on it.

Just watched it and my eyes are red from crying (more poignant when you have a DS a similar age), but what a great series, I don't usually watch ITV crime dramas. Have enjoyed this thread immensely, I didn't think it was Joe but then it seemed he was a likely suspect, after seeing him/Noige on the beach. I liked all the red herrings, all loose ends are never tied up, surely. How will Broadchurch "return"? DT is signed off sick and OC leaves town?

I thought it was the perfect resolution because I was proved right, sort of. Anybody else would have been a let-down.

I think the fact is that most murders have a pretty mundane reason, committed by pretty mundane people.

But all this mundanity (new word alert, see it on the next edition of the OED) actually ripped lives apart. And that was the whole point of it.

Presumably Joe hadn't left school and gone straight into being a SAHD ;)

I loved the first 7 episodes-absolutely gripped, but thought tonight's episode was crap, really disappointing. I thought after episode 3 that it would be Joe but presumed that was too obvious and had been promised a twist. I thought it was a huge let down with too many unanswered questions: diesel, psychic, Ollie/reporter, previous murder, DT's daughter, Ellie's sister and her husband, Nige ringing his mum.

It reminds me of Lost-lots of woo things thrown out there and none of them solved-lazy, sloppy writing, I thought.

Loved DT and OC but v disappointing.

I think though when you think about the last eight weeks, it's been built up letting us get to know the characters, it always had to be one of them because some random weirdo who nobody knew would have made the ending disappointing wouldn't it?

Dramas that do that are the one hour two part series that don't invest as much into the characters and keep them quite peripheral to the plot so the random weirdo blindsiding you at the whodunnit bit isn't a total letdown because you've not invested so much time in the characters. They're mainly about the police inestigation; this was more about the whole affect on a small town as much as it was a detective drama.

Tonight's wasn't as much of a big reveal so much as showing the aftermath of the people we've got to know and like and therein lies the reason it was a good ending. I don't see they could have done it any other way tbh. On the other hand if you never read threads like this and didn't suspect Joe then it would have been a total shocker.

@BOF

He was a paramedic before he was a SAHD, Olivia.

I dont remember us learning that, that's all.

Should have been mark. Where did he ad the hotel owner have their tryst?

Maye series two will reveal tht mark and joe were having an affair but then joe saw mark with floosy from hotel and killed Danny as revenge. Tat would be better, anything old be better. Tom an Danny bing swapped at birth wold have been better!

Loose ends not tied up. Letting Ellie go into the cell alone to see Joe was far fetched as was Mark being allowed down to talk to him. Ollie and his mum rushing to the hotel to be with Ellie- i was afraid that Ollie would do a story on it and send it to one of the national papers. Ellie meeting the other reporter at the hotel. Very coincidental. A bit of a let down really- so many of us guessed it was Joe ages ago. Where will i find the other Broadchurch thread please?

Found the other thread.

Olivia, it was in the episode when DT went to Ellie's for dinner and they were talking about how Joe and Ellie met.

I said last week that I would be disappointed if it was Joe and I am. I think this thread was the best thing about Broadchurch tbh. Lots of clever people here, we could have come up with a better ending.

We should have episode 8, the MN version

If probably would have been enjoyable to watch if it hadn't been so badly produced. So many inaccuracies and far fetched details that instead of concentrating on the drama, we were shouting at the screen; ie
It is illegal for an 11 year old to have a paper round. Miller would have never been assigned the case in real life to find the killer of her best friends son. And post arrest/being charged. The senior detective would not be discussing details of his discussion with the accused with her.

I was very satisfied with the ending to what has been a wonderful series.

I was also thinking that there was no way the Custody Officer would have allowed Ellie or Mark to have any contact with Joe post-arrest, but then the police team dealing with this have been shown up as being extraordinarily inept throughout. Last week they lost track of two of the prime suspects after all.

I also think this was rather truer to life as regards murder than we normally see on TV. So many murders are unpremedidated and I thought the 'in love' angle was refreshing but also unfortunately true to life as regards some adults' non-sexual (but romantic) interest in children.

It was DT who let Ellie see Joe in the interview room. The custody officer let Mark see him in the cell, but this was a small community where everyone was very sympathetic to the grieving family and I suppose thought Mark was entitled. At the start, it did seem a very relaxed station, and I can imagine it happening. Very deniable, too.

The thing which annoyed me was the contrived "how could you not know" stuff.

Otherwise, it was very believable, loose ends and all. We've been fed a diet of Poirotesque stuff for a very long time. Nice to be treated to something a bit messier, bit more like real life, and less da-dah dramatic at the end.

Wait, did I miss this - how did Joe get the keys to the hut?

I'm going to be one of those annoying people who droan on about police procedure here but in real life, the custody officer although usually a sergeant, has complete primacy and is the ultimate decision-maker as regards who is allowed contact with a detainee.

I still think it was fab. We'd guessed the murderer but we are a bunch of educated mumsnetters, bordering on obsessive with the case, presumably not everyone was?

It was contrived but I think the, 'how could you not know' moments were part of the main 'message'. You never really know people, what's going on under your nose, all the complex interactions of a community etc.

Hoping that when it returns it will still be OC and DT together because they were just EXCELLENT.

The extra scene was a bit pants... However maybe ollie telling the journo lady that he was not going to take the other job and would stay at the echo in Broadchurch was a clue towards the next series... ie, that it will still be in Broadchurch and many of the same characters like ollie will still be in it..