Broadchurch Vs Gracepoint

I was excited to leap into the Fox Broadcast of Gracepoint. The premise was a whodunit about a missing kid and Mark Peña starred as the dead kid’s dad. What could be wrong about that?! Unfortunately, Gracepoint borrowed liberally from the British Version, Broadchurch, but something was lost in the translation.

Broadchurch Vs Gracepoint

I abandoned Gracepoint when I discovered that Netflix was showing the original. The Fox version followed the BBC version somewhat. There was David Tennant as Detective Emmett Carver, a nastier version to his Detective Inspector Alec Hardy. Anna Gunn, last seen wondering WTF happened to her life in Arizona (she killed as Skyler White in another Netflix binge worthy show, Breaking Bad) took on the role of Ellie Miller, and while I could watch Anna Gunn act in anything, she was no match for Olivia Colman’s turn as DS Ellie Miller. Both shows were set in a small beach town, but the American beach town felt forced, where the British town seemed homey.

Virginia Kull as Beth Solano seemed more whiny and annoying while Jodie Whittaker as Beth Latimer was the epitome of grief and longing for her son.

Due to a busy schedule, I limit my TV viewing. Gracepoint was supposed to be a treat along with Gotham. It was not. Gracepoint made me feel like I was viewing a watered down version. Even though the two shows were almost shot by shot identical, Broadchurch was the far superior experience.

Stop reading here if you plan to watch either version.

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I can’t applaud the Anna Gunn’s performance enough, but Olivia Colman made me BELIEVE she was Ellie. The last episode of Broadchurch had me riveted to my screen, I felt every emotion from each player as Ellie realized her husband had an inappropriate relationship with Danny and killed this child. I could feel Ellie’s pain as she realized that she was a detective who could not even detect her husband’s devious deed. In Broadchurch, Matthew Gravelle went through a range of emotions as his crimes came to light. Josh Hamilton went through motions, showing no kind of remorse or sadness as it was revealed he was involved in the killing of Danny

Hands down, Broadchurch Vs Gracepoint is not a fair fight.