(Spoilers) Broadchurch Series 2 Review

***SPOILER WARNING: Spoilers may be found in the post below about VARIOUS ITEMS. And I'm going to add in a bit of filler text here to limit how much of the main article gets shown in a preview. That should take care of most of it. Hopefully. And away we go. SPOILER WARNING. ***
Over a year ago, I saw Broadchurch series one and loved it, so it was a pleasant surprise to find out that a second series was being made a while ago. Here's my short spoiler filled review of the first season. It was an even nicer surprise to know that the local channel would roughly show the series at the same time as the United Kingdom -- within a week -- and I wouldn't have to wait for the DVD or a later showing. And that was a while ago...

Overview
The first series ended with Miller's husband getting caught for the murder of Danny Latimer. I didn't think there was much story left, and the previews made me think that it was going to be about a completely new case. Yes and no. Series two ended up being about the trial of Miller's husband and the major case that Alec Hardy allegedly botched.

Good or Bad?
I thought it was good, but not as good as the first series. There seemed to a sort of acclimatization that made the first few episodes less than great in my opinion. After the first few episodes and I clicked in, the show felt like it got better.

The big issues I had dealt with the legal mumbo jumbo. Not being a lawyer, everything I knew about criminal court cases came from watching American television shows about cops, trials, and District Attorneys. I have ten seasons of JAG, another ten seasons of CSI, and tons of other shows all tattooed into my head. Being all in English and based on Common law, I thought things would generally translate pretty well. This did not seem to be the case. There were a lot fewer "objections" and "you're badgering my witness" than I thought there would be.

After I learned to just ignore some of these things, the show felt more consistent and better. The chemistry between Hardy and Miller was excellent. I very much liked the case they were working together and that came to a satisfying conclusion. Even the trial came to a somewhat satisfying conclusion by the final episode. The camera work, panning shots, and slow motion all looked great to me. Also worthy of mention is that the courthouse building was absolutely gorgeous, as was the rest of the country side. After watching the American version of Broadchurch, Gracepoint, this scenery was sorely missed.  Overall, it was reasonably good once the show got past the first few episodes.