'Broadchurch' Postmortem: Inside Claire and Lee's Big Blowup

Spoiler alert! In the penultimate episode of Broadchurch’s second season, the Sandbrook case got even twistier: Lee (James D’Arcy) learned that Claire (Eve Myles) had an abortion after his arrest, and the two officially parted ways — which led to Claire marching up to Hardy (David Tennant) with the pendant ready to talk. Hardy and Ellie (Olivia Colman) realized that Lee must have known Lisa better than he’s let on if he recognized the name of her stalker, Gary Thorp, who’d received financial help for his family’s failed animal furnace business from Pippa’s father, Ricky (Shaun Dooley). They also finally saw the bluebell print in Ricky’s office and that it’s his number Claire had in her phone.

Meanwhile, the defense rested at Joe’s murder trial after making it seem as though Ellie had bribed her sister to give false evidence against Joe when she loaned her money in exchange for information on what she saw the night Danny was killed.

The verdict is in, which means all will be revealed in the April 22 season finale. Below, we continue our weekly debriefings with Broadchurch executive producer Jane Featherstone.

Related: ‘Broadchurch’ Postmortem: Inside Hardy’s Surgery and Mark’s Testimony

That was an intense fight between Claire and Lee after he learned about her abortion. How difficult was that to film? It really looked like they were trying to drown one another.
It really does, and that was difficult. We had two amazing actors, an amazing DP [cinematographer John Conroy], and an amazing director there for that. Mike Barker, who was directing that, is brave and strong and just said, “Right, we’re going to go for it.” The actors absolutely wanted to go for it. There was a longer sequence actually, but the episode wasn’t long enough. We couldn’t have too much more of it. Then John Conroy went straight into the water and was just in there with them, so the whole thing felt messy and dangerous and sexual and difficult and all of those things. So yeah, it’s a challenge to shoot, but everyone was really up for it to make it feel authentic and intense.

We’d all been thinking that Claire and Hardy had slept together, but really, he had taken her to have the abortion and stayed, stretched out in the next bed, to comfort her. Was that something creator Chris Chibnall thought of early on?
Yes. Chris had always had that in mind. It’s a Broadchurch red herring, of which there are many, but they’re usually based in some sort of truth. They’re not red herrings for the sake of them. I think that maybe in another life, who knows, maybe Hardy would have had a relationship with Claire. But he didn’t, actually. But did he overstep the line even by taking her to the clinic? Was that really his place to do that, and was he too embroiled in this case by this point? Was he in too deep, really? That’s the question the audience can ask themselves.

There’s a moment in this episode when Jocelyn (Charlotte Rampling) says, in reference to her mother’s death, that compartmentalizing is how we survive in this world. Joe also compartmentalizes — that’s why he hasn’t accepted responsibility for killing Danny. So is a theme of this season, at what point does compartmentalizing become dangerous?
Definitely. I think one of the things Chris always writes beautifully about is the emotional consequences of things, or the lack of. How there ought to be more emotional consequences, but some people can compartmentalize and can run away from the truth of what they’re feeling and what’s happened as a way of self protection or delusion. But actually, you have to face the truth. And all through both seasons, it’s about all these characters facing the truth. Ultimately Jocelyn, she may feel now she is compartmentalizing, but she needs to face the truth before she can grieve properly.

Jocelyn does finally acknowledge her feelings for Maggie (Carolyn Pickles) in this hour. What did you and Chris want to explore with their story?
We very much wanted to give Jocelyn a story beyond simply being a barrister, which I think she has a wonderful story through the series. Chris always felt that that’d be a great relationship based on friendship but perhaps something that should and could have happened many years ago and didn’t — and through the cathartic process of the trial, that Jocelyn’s able to finally find the courage and the strength to re-engage with the world, which is what Maggie makes her do, and then to declare her feelings for her. You get some hope from that moment.

The Broadchurch Season 2 finale airs Wednesday, April 22 at 10 p.m. on BBC America.