A crime story without magic

If that Gracefulness The season four premiere was a great example of a reliable TV mystery. Season 4, episode 2, “Want You Dead,” is a cautionary tale about how easy it is to miss the mark. It’s still worth watching – but mostly for the performances of the BritBox series’ impressive cast. As for the plot, there are some clear deviations from Peter James’ book of the same name and some massive plot holes that make the episode completely miss the mark.

“Want You Dead” picks up shortly after the events of the premiere. Detective Inspector Roy Grace is convinced that his arch-enemy Alvin Smallbone is plotting against him and his pregnant fiancée. However, the discovery of a body in a park leads Grace and his team onto a chain of magical murders. And that’s where it all becomes far too familiar, resulting in an episode that, while entertaining, could have been so much more.

Grace’s cast is still the show’s best asset

John Simm and Craig Parkinson shine in Episode 2

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Even though the story is rough, Gracefulness Season 4, Episode 2 is worth a watch just to check out the cast. One of the better scenes is early on, when Grace stops by to pick up her partner, Glenn Branson. The conversation moves from the burning stroller left outside Grace’s house to Branson congratulating Grace on Cleo’s pregnancy. The former gets the necessary explanation out of the way, but the latter re-establishes that the two actually care about each other. The effortless back and forth between John Simm and Richie Campbell is real chemistry that goes beyond the over-played-out basic “TV cops who are also best friends” idea. Instead, Simm and Campbell show multiple facets of Grace and Branson’s relationship in one conversation.

Simm shows more of his versatility in “Want You Dead” than he did in the premiere, as Grace goes through more emotions, including being completely at a loss a few times. Whether he’s trying to solve two seemingly unrelated crimes or briefly tangling with his boss – who happens to be the man his ex-wife was having an affair with – Grace isn’t your typical stoic supercop, and Simm seems almost at ease playing him, except for the most dramatic moments. There are many great British crime series on television, but John Simm as Roy Grace is one of the most reliable. No matter what the story demands of him, he is always worth seeing.

The fourth act of “Want You Dead” also provides great material for Craig Parkinson, as things get very personal for Norman Potting and his partner Bella Moy. Parkinson has often contributed Gracefulnessis comic relief, but this episode not only makes Norman very serious, it also sends him into an understandable panic. It is Parkinson, not Simm or Campbell, who becomes the effective hero of the hour… which is important, as it reminds viewers Gracefulness is an ensemble show despite the title. But Parkinson has that moment because Episode 2 stumbles and runs into some plot holes that audiences will see coming.

Grace Series 4, Episode 2 comes closer to genre norms

The plot is macabre, but quite typical

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Gracefulness Season 4, Episode 1, “Dead Man’s Time,” was successful in part because it did a good job of laying out the basic plot points to reveal the real mystery underneath. Episode 2 also reveals a lot more story than its original premise. However, it doesn’t work as well because the audience knows what’s going on from the start. “Dead Man’s Time” proved that the viewer doesn’t need to be surprised as long as the plot is believable and interesting. But “Want You Dead” crosses the line from understandable clarity to such obviousness that the viewer becomes frustrated with the team’s inability to keep up.

For example, as soon as a milk can – or milk jug for US viewers – comes into the picture, it’s pretty obvious that the killer is referring to Harry Houdini’s infamous milk can escape. Magicians are good murder suspects because of their careers of deceiving an audience; just watch the classic show Jonathan Creekabout a magic consultant who becomes a private detective. But Grace and his team take too long to draw the line between a performative killer and the world of magic. Then there is the part where the main suspect Alan Whitlock just happens Seconds after Grace arrests him, he suffers an epileptic seizure, but it takes Grace a few more minutes to realize he’s been set up. Even Bella’s kidnapping is announced as she’s lured into previously unknown underground tunnels. And it’s no surprise when Alan taunts the team with a live video feed, something that’s been done in countless other TV shows and movies.

The concept of dramatic license means that smart characters occasionally have to do not-so-smart things to get a television show from point A to point B. Gracefulness In Season 4, Episode 2, viewers will notice the big twists long before the characters get to them. While the emotional component of the plot still works – solving a previous hate crime mixed with betrayal and an accusation of child abuse – the mystery feels as heavy-handed as a standard crime series and not at the level of what this series is capable of. The most nerve-wracking moments come at the end when Bella’s life is on the line, and that’s only because the performances of the entire main cast scare the audience.

Grace series 4 further expands its subplots

Season 4, Episode 2 has another cliffhanger

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Like the episode before it, “Want You Dead” occasionally interrupts the action with quick cuts to things that have nothing to do with the main plot, as it reminds the audience Gracefulness‘s ongoing mythology. These digressions continue to disrupt the momentum and pace of the episode, but at least they’re relatively quick. The biggest problem is more scenes with Grace’s ex-wife Sandy, who is now in a Munich commune and has to explain to another resident how she got there and why she disappeared. This is essentially information overload for the audience and has the side effect of making Sandy an even less interesting character. The final scene – in which she is deliberately hit by a car so that a man on a motorcycle can run up and steal her purse – only interests the viewer because the series has to finish this storyline due to such a major development.

Sandy’s story dragged on too long in the Peter James books and has become worn out in the TV series. Likewise, a brief scene where Alvin Smallbone sits in a bar adds absolutely nothing to the plot, as he just assures his friends that he has evil plans. The audience already knows that Smallbone is after Grace, and he doesn’t give away any new details. Adapting a book series for TV means working on ongoing storylines, but in this case, the episode is weaker because of it.

Gracefulness Season 4, Episode 2, “Want You Dead,” is a step back from the season premiere. The story is more cliched and the guest characters aren’t interesting; while the hate crime motif generates some sympathy, the characters themselves are so one-dimensionally evil that it’s erased. Alan Whitlock is just another selfish villain who taunts Grace while being put in the back of a police car. Yet the fantastic cast of Gracefulness is still entertaining and they carry the episode from start to finish.

Season 4 of Grace streams Tuesdays on BritBox.