Grantchester

Peter McGinn7/10

Aug 8, 2023

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Almost by necessity this description will include some spoilers. It would be useless to discuss eight seasons without some reveals. My wife really loves the show. Don’t get me wrong; I also like it, just not as much. To be honest, a weakness I find might even be a strength to her. The plots behind their murder case are usually interesting. Boy oh boy, do they get a lot of confessions. But better that than then two of them always having to show up in court to testify against the perpetrators. They allow both Geordie and the vicars their case-solving moments. Geordie mostly gets his through his experience, legwork and instincts. The vicars just know a lot about a lot of stuff, and can talk to the witnesses, etc., in a way that draws them out of their protective shells. Miss Scott is also a great character. Even shallow PC Larry is given more depth in season 8 and becomes much more sympathetic. It was nice to see. Away from the police station, we find one of the better encore casts out there. The performers playing Mrs. Chapman, Leonard, Daniel, Cathy Keaton and a few more are excellent and usually quite beleavable. And even the two lead actors who combine to play the vicars are great actors— I just don’t like their characters. Their problems are nearly always self-inflicted and they seem helpless to do anything about them until loved ones step in and guide them. I ask myself if Will, who struggled with his love for Bonnie and overcame doubts to marry her, would the very next season suddenly leave her due to feelings of guilt having nothing to with her. Really? I know it is just to tug at heartstrings, but… So if I place my review on the scales of justice, I hope it reflects that I do like the program and recommend it. I want to spare a word about the bigots and haters out there who say the show is “woke,” a word used to not share their hate out loud. I reach for sympathy for them and can only say: “Boo-Hoo.” After many decades of all serious roles being white-only, they want period programming to reflect the “reality” of people of color being hidden away except for stereotypical roles. Maybe they weren’t as hidden as all that back then, but they were never represented in a meaningful way on tv and movies, so to be “realistic “ they must be hidden away still. Get over it, please. You may even like yourselves more. Sorry, a bit long, isn’t this?