GRACEPOINT: Who Killed Danny? {Recap}

Warning: this piece contains spoilers for the finale of Gracepoint, so if you haven’t seen it, please watch and then read. You’ll thank me.

Well, the end is finally here and the answer we’ve been waiting for has been answered.

The list of suspects changed over each week, but there were always a few people in Gracepoint that stuck out as being just odd when it came to it, the list was right only every few weeks. Who seemed the most obvious was not in fact, or maybe it was if your mind works that way.

Tom Miller killed Danny and Joe Miller will take the fall for it, protecting family all the way.

Carver’s last day is finally here and he wants to use all of it to put the case to rest. He follows the last of the leads, interviews both Joe and Tom and finally goes back to the Millers where Joe sees Carver and confesses.

Joe had a secretive relationship with Danny, talking to him after Danny and Tom’s friendship cooled. Joe was attracted to Danny, even if Joe can’t (and probably won’t) understand it. Joe and Danny had gone to the hut just after the Millers returned from their vacation and soon it was awkward between them both and Danny ran away.

Being related to a police officer gave Joe all the knowledge on how to clean the crime scene, too, which makes this death all the scarier (even if it wasn’t intentional).

Too bad Ellie’s handling the news of what Joe did poorly (not that I blame her at all). Everyone’s rather disbelieving, though, and that’s to be expected. It was the same on Broadchurch, the murder being rather random and off-putting to the whole community.

As Ellie talks to Tom about what happened to his dad, he slowly tells Ellie that he actually killed Danny while trying to stop his dad from hurting Danny again. Too bad Ellie knows this and can’t do anything as Joe is being yelled at by Mark Solano while in the station.

Carver should feel like this case isn’t settling right – because he only knows half the story – and that’s going to send the rest of the Millers far away from Gracepoint. No one will forget what Joe (didn’t) do, no matter what. Right when he’s about to leave town, however, Carver re-watches the video of Joe and Tom’s interview and he knows. He wants to tell Ellie, but she never answers the call.

So if there were a season two of Gracepoint what does that all mean?