'Grantchester' Recap: Season 10 Episode 6

Grantchester airs Sundays at 8:00 pm on WTTW is available to stream. Recap the previous and following episodes and other seasons. 
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Alphy’s not one to celebrate his birthday, but Geordie insists on taking him out to a rock club, where his friends are all waiting. Mrs. C insists that no one will drink, to support Leonard as he struggles with alcoholism, but when, to Alphy’s surprise, Meg shows up, Alphy buys her a drink. Geordie has invited her even though Alphy has neglected to spend time with her since he received a letter from his birth mother that was left with him at an orphanage.

Meg gives Alphy a hat for his birthday. He’s not a hat man, but the real reason he avoids her is because he’s nervous. Indeed, she thought he was no longer interested in her, but agrees to another date when he asks.

As everyone leaves, they notice a young woman vomiting in the bushes – she had been arguing with the bassist of the night’s band. Alphy forgot his hat inside and goes back in to see the drummer arguing with the band’s manager. He then hears a scream and sees the guitarist dead on the floor of another room with the bassist standing nervously over him.

Arun, the bassist, says he found Eric, the guitarist, already dead. He heard raised voices, one male and one female, but didn’t see anyone other than Eric in the room. There’s a wound to the back of Eric’s head but no sign of a weapon. A bottle of pills is on the ground nearby.

Eric had been seen criticizing the band manager Laurel for her failure to book a gig in London, saying the band should never have hired a woman. She says that her argument with Aidan, the drummer, was over something he took from her. Indeed, when Alphy and Geordie go to his residence, they find him leaving with a bag full of cash. He claims it’s what Laurel owes him and Arun – she hadn’t paid them in months. They were planning to quit the band after that gig, but Arun had to go back inside for his guitar and found Eric’s body.

Geordie searches Arun’s guitar case and finds a bloody ashtray hidden inside.

Arun says he didn’t kill Eric, even if he didn’t like how Eric treated people – he was a playboy who frequently slept with fans. Arun’s parents arrive at the police station and insist Arun would never hurt anyone, insinuating that he’s under investigation because he’s Indian.

When Alphy hears about a fundraising vigil announced for Eric, he attends and asks Laurel if the money is actually going to Eric’s family. She says she’s just recouping what she is owed – the band didn’t appreciate the work she did for them. When Alphy notices the young woman who vomited at the vigil and realizes that she’s pregnant, Laurel smirks that she has probably been with all three members of the band. As the woman leaves, Arun follows her.

Lab results show that the pills found by Eric can treat nausea from pregnancy – and Arun’s parents are pharmacists. When Arun is questioned in front of his parents, he admits to taking the pills to help Iris, the young woman. She’s having his baby. His parents warn that the drug can be fatal if taken in an overdose. Arun says Eric also flirted with Iris, leading her on.

Iris tells the detectives she didn’t take any of the pills. She fiercely claims the baby as hers to raise on her own, swearing she will do anything for her unborn child.

Mrs. C and Cathy understand the desire to be independent women unbeholden to men. They want to start a clothing business they’re calling CeCe’s Boutique, but women aren’t allowed to take out a bank loan without the signature of a husband or father. Jack has offered to lend them the money, but they want to do everything on their own. The bank loan officer is impressed by their business plan but can’t give them the loan.

The women bring in years of budgets from the vicarage and Cathy’s department store job to demonstrate their financial competence, then grudgingly introduce Jack as a “cousin” who will sign for them. But the loan officer knows Jack, so Mrs. C and Cathy launch into an impassioned defense of themselves – and the loan officer gives them the loan without a male signature.

CeCe’s Boutique already has someone to dress. Miss Scott and Larry are going to quietly get married in a civil ceremony while away for “appointments” in the middle of the work day. Because of their desire to keep it quiet and the time crunch, Miss Scott has decided not to wear a nice dress.

While they’re gone, Geordie searches for a case file in Miss Scott’s desk and finds a bridal magazine. Realizing what’s happening, he and Alphy rush to the courthouse. Geordie tells Larry and Miss Scott that he wants them to have a memorable wedding – it should be the best day of their life. They agree to go to the vicarage instead, where Mrs. C and Cathy are waiting with a dress for Miss Scott.

Geordie gives Miss Scott away and acts as Larry’s best man while Alphy marries them. A tear comes to both Geordie’s and Jack’s eye.

After the wedding, Alphy figures out who killed Eric, the guitarist: it was Iris. She was having Eric’s baby, not Arun’s; Arun lied to protect her. She had gone to tell Eric that she was keeping the baby. He responded by claiming she would blackmail him with the child and started shouting and attacked her. She pushed him off to protect her baby and then struck him with the ashtray in a sudden surge of rage on behalf of her child. Arun found her with Eric’s body and hid the ashtray while she fled.

Alphy is moved by Iris’ love for her child despite her difficult circumstances, and her desire to do anything for it. He thinks of his own mother – and becomes so preoccupied by her letter that he forgets his date with Meg. She excuses him, telling him that they don’t have to date while he’s so distracted by whatever he is going through.

Alphy decides to open the letter. He calls Geordie to the vicarage and has him read it aloud. The letter is an expression of love and confidence in Alphy. I can’t give you a happy life because I have nothing and nobody, his mother wrote. I’ll always think of you. Alphy cries as Geordie grips his hand.

Leonard also confronts a difficult situation head on. Mrs. C has called Daniel back home from visiting his formerly estranged parents, paying for his train ticket but not telling him why Leonard needs him. Daniel’s visit with his parents was excellent: they said they were proud of him and want to come visit. But he didn’t tell them he and Leonard were together; he just said Leonard was a lodger.

This almost sends Leonard back to the bottle, but Mrs. C encourages him to ask Daniel to tell his parents that they’re in a relationship. When Daniel tries to pour wine for Leonard at dinner and a spill results, Leonard admits that he has a drinking problem triggered by the death of his father. He then cries - he’s hurt that Daniel won’t tell his parents he’s in love with Leonard. I went to prison for you and stood by you when you were drawn to a cult, Leonard tells Daniel.

Daniel embraces Leonard and agrees to reveal their relationship to his parents.