S03.E01: Whitechapel Terminus

[weyrbunny]

Thanks, radishcake, for setting it up. How about ‘More Than Just the Show Rises From the Ashes’ as the S3 tagline? There’s also Reid’s “We ARE the Abyss” line, which is shaping up to be S3’s theme, I think.
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Ep. 3.1 – Whitechapel Terminus

 

This was a really strong premiere. The acting and directing were superb—I noticed multiple shots where the camera lingered just to let the emotions play out on the actors’ faces, for example. MacFadyen and Flynn rose to the challenge, of course.

 

They may as well’ve called the Necropolis line “Train of Death.” I wish the show hadn’t used that detail actually, since it totally foreshadowed the disaster. How bleak and ironic also, and therefore in keeping with the show, that averting one disaster actually caused another one. (If I understood the railway logistics correctly…)

 

There was dialogue from S2 used as voiceover at the beginning…I think it was Susan saying “35 died so that 250,000 could live,” and the point was that she was horrified at what Reid had done for the “greater good.” Well, I noticed at the end of this episode Susan saying “55 lives for $350,000” in an eerie parallel and subversion of her earlier indignation. How interesting that Susan has taken up Reid's motive and the corruption that accompanies it.

 

I must start using the word “vigilate.”

Edited November 23, 2014 by weyrbunny

[Tara Ariano]

Season 3 begins with a daring train robbery that results in a locomotive disaster in Whitechapel. The incident resurrects old resentments as Reid's former team regroups. Meanwhile, Susan creates a business out of her brothel.

[Primetimer]

They love each other. He's single again. Quit teasing us and marry them off already, Ripper Street.

Read the story

[Knuckles]

Agreed on Drake and Rose...but this show loves convoluted, so don't hold your breath. Funnily enough, I couldn't remember why the three were at daggers drawn either, but I do like this show. There is something about the slums of Victorian London that just throws up good stories. And that explains where the Blackfish has gone...he's busy ruining Reid's career.

[pezgirl7]

This episode takes place four years after season 2, so I don't think we're meant to know, at this point, why the boys had a falling out, especially Reid and Jackson. Also, I don't think Jackson is angry at Susan. After she killed Duggan in order to be free of him, and to get his money, she told Jackson she was done with any man, including him. I think they still love each other, judging by the way they looked at each other. I don't really like Mimi, but if she brings more naked Jackson, I suppose I can put up with her. ;)

Edited April 30, 2015 by pezgirl7

[Sarah D. Bunting]

"I don't really like Mimi, but if she brings more naked Jackson, I suppose I can put up with her." Almost exactly what my notes said.

[Kat]

Oh, Ripper Street. You're like this sugar-high I don't know I'm addicted to or have been missing, until I start seeing ads for you while watching "Broadchurch", and my dvr magically knows when to start recording you.

 

Yeah, count me as another who felt like their brain was doing catch-up trying to remember what happened last season. I did really like the 4yr time jump however. 

The show feels invigorated in a lot of ways. My deep affection for Jerome Flynn continues unabated; Bennet Drake is one of the best characters on television in my opinion. And although Reid as a character bugs the crap out of me, I really enjoy the way Matthew Macfadyen portrays him.

 

Oh and I recently got to see a play that David Wilmot was in and that man looks one thousand percent different (and 30 yrs younger) without his Sergeant Artherton beard!!

[ferretrick]

God, I thought it was my fault I couldn't follow the plot at times. I do enjoy the show though; I just more or less gave up on following most of the side plots and relationships and just concentrate on the case of the week. There's a good chance any given side plot will be dropped without resolution. Even the season long case storyline doesn't seem to matter much (remember when this show was about finding Jack the Ripper? No, no really. WAAAAAAAY back in Season One? Hello?)

[ZoqFotPik]

(remember when this show was about finding Jack the Ripper? No, no really. WAAAAAAAY back in Season One? Hello?)

How much time did you expect them to dedicate to Jack the Ripper? It's not like they could have actually caught him.

[attica]

I was inordinately happy to see Mr. Best again; and got a little sniffly when he got a little sniffly.

 

For a show so close to the axe, they seem to have bumped up the budget significantly! Although I giggled a bit at the double use of the train model as the model train. Very cheeky, show.

 

For all the ads BBCA have been showing promoting the new season, none of them seem to have featured any of Rothenburg, so I was peeking through my fingers afraid he'd been written off. Delighted that he's back; we need him, and like him naked, thanks.

 

And no kidding, it's felt like so long, I half wondered if the four-year time difference in show-time was a four-year time difference in real time.

[Neurochick]

I watched this episode today and I was confused about something.  Why not just rob the train?  Why cause  an accident?  Was the lawyer just evil?  What the fuck is wrong with Susan?  I guess the woman has no morals.  

[pezgirl7]

I watched this episode today and I was confused about something.  Why not just rob the train?  Why cause  an accident?  Was the lawyer just evil?  What the fuck is wrong with Susan?  I guess the woman has no morals.

They didn't plan to cause the accident. The guy that took over the switches was unfamiliar with the latest train schedules and didn't know there would be a train on the same line, so he had to divert it onto another line and then it ran into the passenger train. I think Susan feels very guilty about it, which is why she started burning some of the bonds in the fireplace, asking the lawyer if it would buy back a life. The lawyer convinced Susan to keep the bonds and use them to do some good in Whitechapel.

[Neurochick]

So they did the job because Susan needed the money? But robbing the train was the lawyer's idea, correct?

[pezgirl7]

So they did the job because Susan needed the money? But robbing the train was the lawyer's idea, correct?

Yes, I think so. Susan said something to the lawyer about how all this happened because he saw an opportunity. They're both to blame, but Susan seems a lot more bent out of shape over it than the lawyer/accountant.

[seacliffsal]

Wow, what an episode and set up for the season.  I am so glad this show is back.  Quite a compelling storyline.

[Snarklepuss]

I thought I wouldn't like the 4 year time difference but I actually think they've handled it very well.  Something is quite compelling about the way they've set it up even if I have to suspend disbelief about all of them all running into each other again just like that after so much time has passed.  It's like they wanted to scrap where they were last season and start afresh.  As usual with this show I end up with more questions than answers by the end of it.  Neurochick, don't feel bad, I had to ask Mr. Snarklepuss to answer those very same questions for me.  If not for him I'd probably have asked them here myself.

[raven]

 

(remember when this show was about finding Jack the Ripper? No, no really. WAAAAAAAY back in Season One? Hello?)

It wasn't though - they talk about not having found the Ripper and hoping he's dead, but they pretty quickly figure out the first episode's murder

isn't the Ripper.  I love the first season and it's more about the Whitechapel vibe, all these bad things happen even though the Ripper is gone.

 

Anyway, glad to see the gang back.   Very interested in everyone's various paths - what caused the breakup of Reid/Drake/Jackson, Drake now being equal to Reid at work, Susan's path, etc.   I've been kind of meh on Rose but nice to hear she's made a life for herself.

 

Strong performances as usual all around.

 

I was inordinately happy to see Mr. Best again; and got a little sniffly when he got a little sniffly.

 

I've always enjoyed this character and yes, the scene was very touching. 

 

The London Necropolis was a real thing and was used to transport bodies.

[MDKNIGHT]

Anybody know what's up with them removing episode one several days ago from On Demand.  How many days are they going to keep and episode on for?  This took me by surprise so I didn't get to see it. 

[weyrbunny]

This episode takes place four years after season 2, so I don't think we're meant to know, at this point, why the boys had a falling out

Did BBCA edit down this episode too much? Because I remember the clues to the group's falling apart being evident in the Amazon UK version—Reid's turn to the dark side at the end of series 2 was the tipping point. If so, it's too bad. The hour-plus running time on this episode really helped, IMO.

 

Oh, I just found mention of the "amazon cut" having exclusive, extended scenes that won't air, so I might have answered my own question.

[pezgirl7]

Did BBCA edit down this episode too much? Because I remember the clues to the group's falling apart being evident in the Amazon UK version

Do you remember what the clues were? I downloaded this episode, not through Amazon, and since it was a while ago, I can't remember what was cut out from the BBCA version except for some sex scenes with Jackson, and something with Best and his friend who was injured. They do mention the rift between Reid and Jackson in the 2nd episode, which helped explain some.

[weyrbunny]

I think the clues were the few references to what happened at the end of Series 2, where Drake decided to leave and Jackson and Reid argued. (I had finished Series 2 right before starting Series 3, so it was still fresh in my mind.) The Amazon UK "cut" has a running time of 1:06 though, which makes it 7 minutes longer than the iTunes version, for example.
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A few random observations during rewatch…
 
It’s hard not to read everything as foreshadowing in this first episode. I never noticed before that Reid pulls a girl from the train wreckage and can’t let go of her, for example. Reid’s sadness is a little bit heartbreaking, and I have true sympathy for him, for once. Macfadyen does a beautiful, quiet job in the lingering camera shot afterwards.
 
Also never noticed Jackson’s “Got any idea what to do with one of these?” line when Drake asks him to look after the orphaned boy. Again, foreshadowing.
 
It’s all very meta, as well. There are so many comments about being dead (“What is this, a hallucination? We’re all in fact dead and you’re here to greet us?”), returning from the dead, and time turning backwards as the core characters reassemble–like the show itself returning from cancellation and reassembling itself.
 
Suddenly, also, I’m seeing the beauty of the clothing and costumes. What at first glance looks like dark blue, brown or black suits and dresses is actually complex plaids, rich greens, and textured and layered fabric. I must associate Ripper Street with dark colors and, well, Gothic-ness, but there is in fact visual complexity everywhere.