Broadchurch is not The Killing

The big difference between Broadchurch, ITV’s knockoff of The Killing, and its model is that in the end, The Killing made sense whereas Broadchurch did not.

They were similar enough as they rolled along. Everyone damaged to a greater or lesser extent, many hiding secrets nothing to do with the murder, and enough red herrings to sink a drifter. But when Vagn was nailed for The Killing you could look back and say to yourself, oh yeah, that bit when he said the other thing was a bit suspicious. I thought so at the time. By contrast, when Joe finally confessed, claiming he couldn’t stand the hiding any more, or some such twaddle, it was a huge let-down. So much so that we had to be flashed back to 59 days previously ... for any kind of resolution. What a cop-out.

I’m not surprised that Wikipedia tells me few of the cast knew the identity of the murderer during filming. I’ve a hunch the writer didn’t either. A shoal of red herrings alone is not enough for a satisfying dish.

Rating: 1/5