Gracepoint 1.03 Review: “Episode Three”

Now three weeks in, Fox’s Gracepoint is officially rolling on all cylinders. The mystery is running full force and everyone has their own suspicions. That’s exactly what the show is trying to do, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. So far, this mystery is smart, well-acted, and keeping all of us guessing. Every Broadchurch fan is certain that it will end a certain way, but I’m sure that they won’t be. I’m still betting that anything you know about the killer will be turned on its head in the finale.

I think one of my favorite parts of the show so far is the close-knit town that they’ve painted. Nobody wants to hurt the Solano family, and everyone treats that reporter like an outsider. I’m certain that it’s with good reason, because I’m still suspicious of her. Convenient time that she showed up, really. But I love how all of them, whether they’d have a reason to or not, treated her like an outsider.

This week’s chief suspect, however, was Danny’s father, Mark Solano (Michael Pena). I’ve always been a big fan of his work (I know, I say that every week). His acting was superb this week. Of course, it was SO frustrating when he wouldn’t tell the truth. The only thing that I didn’t like was that everything fell into place. I mean, they laid it on REALLY thick trying to get everyone to think Mark was the guy who did it. We all know that’s not it (okay, we’re not for certain). They’re not going to solve it in episode 3. It was pretty obvious to me that he was having an affair and didn’t want to confess to it, but now we know for sure (well, about that anyway).

The relationships on the show are excellent. Ellie and her family. The mom and the preacher. The reporter with Carver. I’m intrigued by all of them. I want to know more about all of them. I want to know more about the creepy lady in the trailer. I want to know more about the creepy dude with the sixth sense.  The show does a really good job of keeping you interested in the characters, and the amount of characters involved in the story is just right. I think that Ellie (Anna Gunn) and Emmett (David Tennant) are really coming along as characters, too. Carver showed an ounce of sympathy (while interviewing Ellie’s son) and Ellie got riled up, frustrated, and showed a different side of her as a police officer. I’m really, REALLY impressed with every single character on this show.

Does anyone think that this medium guy is right? That Danny knows the killer. He seems so sure of himself that I believed him, and then didn’t even realize it might not be true until later. That character truly fascinates me.

Lastly, the show does an excellent job of keeping us coming back. Even if I wasn’t covering this show, I’d have to tune in next week just to see whose phone number that was. Seriously, what a cliffhanger. Gracepoint, remake or not, is a seriously compelling story. I can’t wait to find out more. What about you guys? What are you thinking? Liking it? Who do you think the killer is? Let us know!

[Photo via FOX]