‘Grantchester’ Experiences the Expected Disappointments
'Grantchester' returns to the well-worn grooves of the season with a case that doesn't matter and relationship obstacles that do.
Like most mysteries of the week, Grantchester’s ultimate goal is a world where everything returns to its rightful place. It’s part of the tension the series has maintained over the past 12 years since its 2014 debut: Progressive storytelling vs. Conservative values. You can see the conservative angle in the way most of the cases resolve – if you made a chart, more than half wind up being women criminals who are reacting to being punished for stepping out of line. The show’s desire for an orderly resolution for everyone also means that some storylines, no matter how tired or seemingly long concluded, keep coming up again.
One of the biggest breaks the show made with its original concept was taking Leonard out of the church. The series was stuck between a rock and a hard place – for Leonard to be out, he couldn’t keep his job as curate. Despite the show slowly pushing forward in time over the series’ run, it’s still only 1963, and the decriminalization of homosexuality in the U.K. didn’t occur until 1967. Leonard wouldn’t have the opportunity to return to his former profession until the show reached at least Season 15 – a milestone that’s never coming. But this is the final season, and the show wants everything put back in its place, so, once again, here we are with Leonard pining for the church that rejected him.
This week’s case revolves around Grantchester’s local students at Cambridge, the first of whom, Norris Featherstone (Issam Al Ghussain), is introduced attempting to steal a Bible as part of his hazing, while Alphy is showing off the church to his mother. Alphy kindly lends him one to pretend to have stolen, partly because the kid isn’t white and partly because he knows the pain of assimilation, even if Mira doesn’t understand.
