BWW Recap: GRACEPOINT Begins Filling in the Blanks

With only one episode left after tonight's ninth episode, GRACEPOINT is a mess. Not the show (at least, not entirely), but the town. The murder investigation is weeks underway, there's still no solid suspect, and things aren't looking too hot for Carver. He's stuck in a hospital bed after collapsing mid-chase, he's forced to finally speak the truth about Rosemont, and Miller's convinced he's unfit for duty. She's right - he lost a fleeing suspect, and he needs an operation. If anybody's unfit, it's him.

He's determined to stay on board, especially with the Rosemont case looming over his head, but Miller moves on with the case...alone. That doesn't last very long, though, as Carver shows up at work the next day, sauntering in as if nothing out of the ordinary happened to him the night before. Miller is unhappy, but her anger is nothing compared to the chief's. He reveals that Carver has one more day to work this case, since he must report to the medical team the next day, where he will undoubtedly be found unfit for duty, and demands Carver hand over his gun. Pressure's on, Carver.

Pressure is also bubbling up between Mark and Beth. Mark is already suspicious of Paul Coates, and seeing Beth leave Paul's apartment doesn't help to lessen his doubts. True, Paul's being a tad too comforting to Beth, but maybe it's not significant. Or maybe it is. Who knows. What's really important is that we learn that Beth still has some serious doubts about this baby, even though she pretty much told Mark and Chloe last week that she was all for keeping the baby. She's torn, and she has every right to be. They'll pull it together.

Now let's jump right into the really interesting subject of tonight's episode: Susan - if that's even her real name. She's in custody, thanks to the significantly large amount of circumstantial evidence connecting her to Danny's body, and she's finally giving us answers. She tells Ellie during questioning that she saw Danny's body on the beach the night of his murder while she was walking her dog near the cliffs between two and three in the morning. If the fact that she was walking her dog on the cliffs in the middle of the night isn't bizarre enough for you, you'll enjoy this next bit. She explains away the cigarettes by revealing that she stood over Danny's body, smoking, thinking about how beautiful he was. Um...I'm sorry, what?

That's not all, folks. That's not even the tip of the iceberg. After some poking and prodding by Ellie (you go, girl!), Susan spills everything. Years ago, her husband raped her oldest daughter. Susan was completely unaware. When he tried to attack their younger daughter, the older one tried to intervene, and Susan's husband killed her. He claimed she ran away with her boyfriend, but her body was later found buried in the woods. Long story short: he claimed that Susan knew what was happening, social services put her younger daughter in foster care and put her newborn baby up for adoption, and her husband later hanged himself in his prison cell. When she was looking at Danny's body, she was wondering if her daughter looked that peaceful when she died.

And now I feel really bad about ever hating Susan.

A handful of things happen next that are less significant, but still worth mentioning. First, Tom goes to Paul to get his computer back, and Paul acts as creepy as ever. Next, Carver goes to visit Raymond (remember him, the psychic?) in a desperate attempt to get answers. Raymond doesn't say much, but two potentially important gems stand out to me: Carver's been to Gracepoint before (say whaa?), and Danny's murder happened "close to home," whatever that means. Who knows if any of that is relevant? We'll have to wait and see.

But back to Susan. Things are getting really good.

She tells Ellie that she saw a boat the night of Danny's murder, and that she recognized Vince as the man on board. (And she didn't divulge this information before why?!) Next thing we know, Vince is sitting with his shirt off in the interrogation room, showing Carver his creepy tattoo reading "DANNY" on his right arm. Turns out him and Danny have gone hunting together in the past without Mark or Beth knowing. If it sounds weird, that's because it is. The real question is, why does Susan keep harassing Vince? Vince would like to answer that question: "She says she's my mother."

Right. Well that changes everything.

The rest of the pieces quickly fall into place from this point forward. Vince's adopted mother hid everything from him, and Vince resented Susan once she tracked him down and told him the truth. Susan took the skateboard to convince Vince to speak with her. Susan chooses to turn Vince in to protect him and any other children he may potentially hurt. After all, as Susan says, Vince takes after his father. If there was any doubt of that being true, Vince destroys it when he grabs his mother's face through his jail cell, threatens her, and chokes her until she can barely breathe. Like father, like son.

Susan's not the only one who's had a rocky past. Carver's got his secrets, too, and we finally uncover them, thanks to Renee, oddly enough. She tips Owen and Kathy off to Carver's medical malady, and the dynamic journalistic duo convinces him to spill his secrets by promising that they won't leak his condition to the public. Carver explains that, in the Rosemont case, they had everything to nail their perp, including a pendant from one of the victims directly linking him to the crime. However, the pendant was stolen out of the car of one of the detectives working the case when she stopped at a hotel to have a drink...and an affair with her co-worker. Renee, who initially covered the story, reported that the pendant was stolen out of Carver's car. Why would Carver take the fall for one of the people on his team? Well, wouldn't you cover for your wife, too? You heard me, folks, Carver's wife was the detective responsible for ruining the Rosemont case, not Carver. That explains the rather large chip on his shoulder.

Like I said, things are looking pretty grim for Gracepoint. Carver only has hours before he's taken off the case, and Ellie is burning out. There are three potential saving graces for the detectives, however: the boot prints from the hut match Vince's shoe size; information may be able to be salvaged from Tom's bashed in hard drive; and the crème de la crème - Ellie's sister says that she saw Vince's van (or rather, the Solano Plumbing van that Vince typically drives) parked in the woods the night that Danny died. Oh, and let's not forget about how the call alerting the police to the lights in the cabin came from Danny's missing cell.

I know it's pretty much an "all signs point to Vince" kind of situation right now, but I'm not sure I'm buying it. Paul Coates creeps me out. I'm not one to automatically jump onto the "priest is guilty!" bandwagon, but something about him is unsettling. More so now, after hearing about how Tom threatened to reveal that he abused Danny. He's just creepy, there's no other word for it. Since the GRACEPOINT team has claimed repeatedly that GRACEPOINT will end differently than BROADCHURCH, all options are viable options at this point, even though next week is the finale. Time to turn in your official guesses now, people. We'll find out next week if you're right.

One last chance: who do you think murdered Danny Solano? Tweet me your guesses @CourtHenley or tell us in the comments below. And don't forget, #SuspectEveryone.

Photo credit: FOX

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