Your personal Tumblr journey starts here
What I love most about Broadchurch, and it’s the thing I miss most with S2, is the element of the sea. The very first shot of the entire first series was of the ocean breaking along the shore and you’re able to hear its low rumbling. I love how that sound is utilized from the very first, because it’s letting us the viewer know exactly what to expect. And then the very last shot of series 1 is of the sea again breaking on the shore, and it’s come full circle in this way.
But the sea, and its sound, is utilized so much more than that. It’s our grounding in a way, a silent watchful presence that is always there. Broadchurch itself, as admitted by the cast and by Chris Chibnall himself, is a character and none more so than the sea it resides by.
The sea plays along the scene when Alec sees Danny’s body for the first time. And of course we know the significance of the ocean (and any body of water, for that fact) for Alec but still the ocean is itself in this scene, not just a foil for a character. The sea has witnessed Joe Miller laying Danny out on its beach. It’s known the Latimers’ loss hours before anyone else did.
Then you see it again as the opening shot in episode 2 of S1, but it’s faster now, and its tone is more of a crash. The setting has changed now, the investigation has begun into Danny’s murder. There are so many instances where the ocean is there, present as its own character and not just a reflection of the people of Broadchurch, and it helps the story along. It’s there, frothing and crashing, when Mark breaks down after Alec tells the Latimers that Joe murdered Danny, and as mentioned before it’s the very last shot of the first series. Still there. Still crashing along its shore. But this time its moaning is calmer now, less of a crash, ending the series on a melancholy, almost peaceful, note.
S2 didn’t include much of that, and it really disappoints me. We see it a lot when we find Alec contemplating on its beach and we often hear its sound but we rarely SEE the actual ocean shown as its own character again. And maybe with S3 we’ll be able to see a bit more of the ocean utilized again but Chris Chibnall definitely knows the power of water, and its played such a large part of Broadchurch as a whole I’m anxious to see how he’s going to use it when the next series comes along.