‘Gracepoint’ premiere review: Did David Tennant, Anna Gunn live up to expectations?
We have been pretty excited about “Gracepoint”: We know it’s a remake of a British show named “Broadchurch” (that is a very successful crime show) and that viewers are on either side of the fence when it comes to this show being remade in the US. We personally haven’t seen “Broadchurch” so we are going into this without any bias – except for our love of David Tennant (who was also on “Broadchurch”) and Anna Gunn, since we are huge fans of “Doctor Who” and “Breaking Bad”.
Ellie (Anna Gunn) comes back from vacation to find out that the promotion she was promised after she returned was given to a new guy from the city named Emmett (David Tennant). As expected, she is not dealing with this devastating blow very well. When she meets Emmett and realizes that he’s a bit of a jerk, she tries to deal with the situation the best she can.
When Daniel (12) turns up dead on the beach Ellie is heartbroken since she knows him and his family well (his son was best friends with Daniel): Emmett on the other hand wants her to get herself together because she’s working a crime scene. At first Emmett thinks maybe suicide, but that’s quickly rule out and a homicide investigation begins.
This is Ellie’s first murder case (this is a very small town where everyone knows everyone… murder isn’t the norm), but she is handling it fairly well. Emmett we learn has been sent to Gracepoint to lay low after being exonerated, but laying low doesn’t seem to be his thing (his explosion at the station over the media finding out was epic – he’s such a boss).
We really loved the set up of the premiere: Great characters and an interesting dynamic between Emmett, the cold, but calculating detective, and Ellie the small town cop that lost her promotion to him. It is going to be very interesting to see how their relationship develops since both bring something important to the table. Emmett brings a lot of logic, experience with a side of crazy, where Ellie brings her knowledge of the town, how it runs, who’s who and her own experience on the force. Episode grade: A-
We will be covering “Gracepoint all season so be sure to come back for further reviews and previews to upcoming episodes. Also, sign up now to get further news worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: Fox
Rachel
October 3, 2014 @ 2:40 am
I love that you’re reviewing Gracepoint without having seen Broadchurch. I have seen Broadchurch and it made it a little difficult to fairly judge it because of that. That said, this episode was similar to Broadchurch’s first, but there were multiple changes too. I’m really looking forward to seeing what will happen next because from what I can tell, it will be different from Broadchurch.
rightened
October 3, 2014 @ 2:13 am
My biggest complaint has to be on visual side, in that the show felt too sterile and video-like. A stronger cinematographer using more special effects (i.e. fog) and with stronger camera angles would’ve helped the look, and some of the establishing shots didn’t come out right (the overview of the town was at a slight angle, for example). Audio-wise, a little more background music should’ve been inserted; the silent gaps were too noticeable and overused. I didn’t mind the casting but I do think that Nick Nolte shouldn’t be in that role, as his talk about baleen whales didn’t have the tone of a whale enthusiast in it, as you’d expect in a coastal town. Outside of that, everything seemed on schedule and made for a good hour of television.