From the beginning, we were promised that Gracepoint would diverge. We were told the story would start in the same place, but that eventually, it would become its own thing, with its own unique resolution. For the most part, that promise has proven to be Gracepoint’s biggest red herring, a long con as boring and pointless as the show that utilized it.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Alisen Down, who plays Kathy Eaton on Gracepoint, in the lead up to that show’s finale. Though Down was understandably tight-lipped about what will happen (and in fact, knows as much as you or I about the final reveal), she had thoughts to offer on the series, how it sets itself apart from Broadchurch, and how she got the role of Kathy, who was initially written as much older.
As we near the end of the season, Gracepoint continues to be such a bland, lifeless remake of Broadchuch that its differences stick out like sore thumbs, pointing in the direction of the ending we have been assured will be different.
After feinting in the direction of becoming its own thing last week, Gracepoint virtually immediately decided to become an undercooked Broadchurch remake again this week.
This week, Gracepoint finally reaches its fabled episode where it diverges from its source material.
I’m not the right person to be reviewing Gracepoint. Sometimes, I recognize a fact like this before I take on a show. Sometimes, it takes me a little while to realize I’m not the right fit for one reason or another.
The deeper we get into Gracepoint the more fascinating I find it. Not, unfortunately, because the show is improving. It isn’t, really.
Most murder mystery stories are, on some level, about how we never really know anyone. They are stories about monsters in our midst we happen to overlook. Partly, they are metaphors for our own inability to fully see the people around us. But partly, they are accurate.
There’s a pervasive air of pointlessness surrounding Gracepoint, a show that is an American remake of Broadchurch, a British show broadcast in English just last year.