'The Long Call': Episode 4 Finale Recap

We’re at the fourth and final episode of Britbox’s The Long Call and Simon’s murderer has still not been found. But we have learned about a lot of other problems and wrongdoing in the community, much of it criminal, all of it obfuscated and kept hidden. And if, like me, you were wrapped up in the relationships––Matthew and Dorothy, Matthew and Jonathan, Jen and her family––take a step back. The whole muddle is becoming more cohesive, and we’re taken back at every turn to the Brethren, with the Woodyard becoming less significant. Or, to be more specific, the spotlight is on Dennis and Grace.

We’ve seen Dennis acting abusively toward Grace. Matthew has seen it too, and he’s tried to talk to her but she’s rebuffed him, convinced that years of being told that she’s fragile and incapable means it’s true. But in this episode we see her consulting a professional, asking for medication. She won’t enter into any sort of therapy because the church doesn’t allow it. But now she knows that something in her life is very wrong.

Chillingly, we see Dennis meet with Gaby, and Grace knows exactly what he’s doing. Gaby has come to talk about Simon’s funeral, but he’s assessing her as another recruit. She’s alone, with her mother in London. How tempted is Gaby by the offer of community, a fresh start, the casting-off of sources of shame? Probably he isn’t aware of her close friendship with Caroline or their plans to raise the baby together. But Grace is concerned enough that she calls Matthew.