Broadchurch season 3 finale: Who raped Trish Winterman?
Really, the reveal was terrible. We’re talking about the nature of the crime more so than the quality of the series, which was all sorts of fantastic. It turned out that the case tonight was far more sinister and complicated than we ever thought it would possibly be.
After first, it appeared that it was Michael Lewis who was the person responsible, but it actually turned out that he was doing so after being forced into it by Leo. He was the real architect behind everything, and the man who raped without conscience and had a psychological hold over Michael in the process. He felt that raping gave him a sense of power and control; he had no regard for consent, and no interest in letting a woman feel like they had any chance at all to free herself.
The entire interrogation scene with Leo near the end of the episode was one of the most haunting, chilling things that the series has ever done, and this is a show that’s done its fair share of shocking, haunting things since the start. Nothing is ever so simple, and sometimes, the limits that some criminals are willing to go break our perceptions of human decency altogether.
After dealing with that particular confession, we saw a more broken Hardy and Miller than ever before, as Hardy did his part to tell his partner that Leo was not representative of what men are. This was a rough, painful moment for them to deal with — even though justice was served, that does not necessarily equate with any sort of relief. Ellie was able to go and pass along the news to Trish that the arrest was made, but it was hardly a comfort upon hearing that there were so many other victims.
In the end, it’s over. There’s not much else to it. Life goes on. There will be other cases to solve, and people to help in the community. That’s it. The legacy of Broadchurch will be one of the great mysteries series in British TV history. We’ll miss it dearly.
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Meanwhile, be sure to also vote in our poll as to whether or not you want to see another season of the show on the air someday. (Photo: ITV.)