With another new episode of Broadchurch, the case continues to unfold.
There’s still little sign of the net closing around one particular person – in fact, Broadchurch threw us a curveball this episode, with the implication that the attacker is someone entirely new that we’ve not yet seen before.
It’ll be a while still before we can be certain who did it – but for now, consider these potential suspects.
Ed Burnett
We’ve repeatedly seen that Ed has something of a fixation on Trish, and we’ve already had one witness put Ed near the scene of the attack on that night.
From previous episodes alone, Ed is already heavily implicated.
But here we see Ed attack Jim Atwood upon finding out that he slept with Trish – demonstrating not only that he is a violent man, but perhaps also suggesting a jealous streak?
Could it be that this jealousy manifests into a controlling and possessive impulse – leading to the attack?
Leo Humphries
Episode five continues to paint smug teenager Leo as a potential suspect for the assault.
Hardy and Miller interrogated his girlfriend, attempting to corroborate the alibi he previously supplied – and she maintains that it’s the truth.
However, it’s soon revealed that Leo told his girlfriend to lie – his alibi was false.
The question of where Leo was on the night of the attack is now important to answer. Could it be that he’s the attacker?
Jim Atwood
Lucas the cab driver – a firm suspect himself – levels an accusation at Jim in this episode, and he’s not the first.
Both Hardy and Miller, as well as Jim’s wife Cath, have suggested Jim might have been behind the attack.
Jim maintained that he’s not the attacker, pointing to the fact that he’d already had sex with Trish – arguing it left him without motivation.
But Broadchurch continues to emphasise the fact that an assault of this nature isn’t about sex, but power – meaning that Jim isn’t out of the picture yet.
Someone else entirely?
However, Broadchurch episode 5 also raises the possibility that Trish might have been attacked by someone else entirely.
New evidence comes to light indicating the possibility that there might be a serial rapist in the town, prompting Miller and Hardy to re-evaluate the whole case.
There are certain details about prior cases that rule out some of the current suspects – Aaron Mayford, for example, couldn’t have perpetrated some of the prior cases.
This episode changes everything, and each suspect should be reconsidered in light of this.
Who is the main suspect?
This episode appears to suggest that Leo Humphries is the main suspect – he certainly appears the most suspicious.
If nothing else, Leo is clearly blatantly lying about his alibi, and was doing something he doesn’t want the police to know about on the night of the attack.
Considering that he also would have had access to the blue fishing twine used to tie up Trish, Leo is beginning to look guiltier by the minute.
Alex Moreland is a freelance writer and student based in London. You can read more of his work here.
Share this with