'Broken' Season 1 Episode 3: Will the Truth Behind Vernon's Shooting Be Exposed, or Will Powell Be Pressured Into a Lie?
"Broken" is BBC's new religious drama set to run for six episodes. But only two episodes in and it has already presented the resident priest, Father Michael (Sean Bean), with more challenges than he could've imagined he'd deal with in his small parish in Northern England.
And yet, said challenges have only worked to make him more determined — though also a bit more broken inside — to provide his parishioners with the spiritual support and counsel they might need at any given time.
The upcoming third episode will be finding the community still reeling from the shock of the previous episode's event. According to the official synopsis for the episode, Father Michael will be providing much needed counsel to police officer Powell (Mark Stanley), who is being pressured into supporting his colleagues' questionable version of just how the unfortunate shooting of Helen's (Muna Otaru) mentally challenged son, Vernon (Jerome Holder), went down.
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He was there to witness everything as he held on to Helen to keep the desperate mother away from the bipolar Vernon, whose behavior has, by then, become erratic and potentially harmful to himself as well as to others. When Vernon started to brandish the knife in his hand, a police officer shot him without a second's thought.
The incident came as a shock for both the people in the scene as well as the viewers, who felt it was too soon to be depicting such violence on TV in light of the terror strike in London Bridge that killed seven people. Other viewers, however, praised the series for its brave depiction of the day to day struggles that people normally face, as well as its thought-provoking handling of the more serious issues like benefit fraud and suicide.
How will Powell handle the pressure from his colleagues in the next episode? Will he be forced to back their story up or will he instead muster up the courage to share what really happened?
"Broken" season 1 episode 3 airs on Tuesday, June 13, at 9 p.m. BST on BBC One. Viewers who have been triggered by issues featured in the show are advised to seek out information and support from organizations that can help.
