‘Grantchester’ Accepts Death is Sometimes a Gift

The fallout from Alphy’s mum going walkabout is upon us, and our good reverend is doing what many of us do when we don’t want to deal with grief – tidying. It’s such a crisis, Leonard calls Geordie to come by with a case. (Alphy won’t talk to the Bishop until next week about Leonard’s “lay preaching,” but he’s made himself at home in the vicarage like he’s already back.) The case in question concerned one Lord Worley – not dead, or not yet anyway, give the show a minute – just burgled, but he’s close enough to death that Geordie has an excuse to bring a priest along, just in case.

Probably a good thing, since Alphy is focusing his “I’m not having emotions” on Meg and her new beau, which Geordie hadn’t heard about yet. (The man is a gossip magnet, is what I’m saying. No wonder Cathy hasn’t divorced him.) Geordie plows ahead anyway, admitting to having spooked Mira into running last week, and creating one of the most passive-aggressive fights I’ve seen between cop and vicar in a hot minute.

When they arrive at the Worleys, the gardener, Reuben (Pierro Niel-Mee), is the first to say hi, only to be shocked that Alphy, who usually obediently uses the servants’ entrance, is walking up to the front door. Geordie isn’t here for classist nonsense, especially since it’s the butler, Briggs (Richard Graham), who is being a petty tyrant about it, and the two blow through the front door, only to be followed almost immediately by the arrivals of the ghastly Worley siblings, Jonty (Adam Mirsky) and Allegra (Amanda Fairbank-Hynes). Everyone insists his lordship is asleep upstairs, including the nurse, Hepsibah (Aretha Ayeh), who is just exiting the bedroom when Geordie plows in and finds the man is as dead as a doornail, and has been for days.