S03.E02: The Beating Of Her Wings

[weyrbunny]

Ep. 3.2 – The Beating of Her Wings

 

Wow, the daughter…at first I thought they were just setting up Alice as a mirror/plot device for Reid’s grief and how it informs his police corruption, but damn, they went there, and they did so convincingly. To think I was finding the first half of the episode dull, well-trod ground—turns out it was just the calm before the storm.

 

I kinda loved the intricate storytelling—fairy tale language intercut with visual clues—that became the reveal. My interpretation of events was that Matilda wandered into Reid’s office and saw the photos of Jack the Ripper’s murder victims (for a 5-yr-old, yikes!), and through the trauma of the shipwreck and the memory of Reid being angry conflated them with her father. The show doesn’t bring up Jack the Ripper much anymore, come to think of it—this was a riveting way to make sure his spectre lingers.

 

There was also some overt scaffolding here: the Buckleys preyed on Alice, Obsidian preyed on the Buckleys, Reid and the police preyed on Obsidian...it felt very much like Whitechapel is just a food chain for predators. My favorite line in the episode—“your smile is a wolf’s maw” said about Capshaw—reinforced the feeling.

 

Second episode in a row with Wild West imagery, too—last time it was the train heist, this time it was ‘prospecting’ by the river. It was probably there in S1 and S2 too, but I’m just noticing it now.
 

[radishcake]

 

A curiosity shop is the scene of a murder, with signs of a secret dungeon and a girl held captive.

 

[Primetimer]

Detective Inspector Edmund Reid doesn't just bear the scars of a burn. He can dole out a pretty sick one, too.

Read the story

[Knuckles]

So Miss Hart informs Reid that she has buried the girl just that morning, and Reid does not ask where? Or demand to have her exhumed? He has Jackson at hand, and Bennett has done time as a gravedigger...and neither of them are put to finding out exactly who this girl is and how she died. We are supposed to believe that grief and fury override all of Reid's training and instincts as a cop? And, did Hart seem at all convincing a liar?

I am not buying this. At what point do Bennett and especially Jackson speak up and demand a look at the corpse? Are we supposed to believe that Reid would not want to at least see her face and confirm that said girl is indeed his daughter.

She has been dead less than a day, supposedly, and in the ground a few hours...exhume the girl and have Jackson confirm the means of her death. Be interesting to see Hart and Capshaw scramble to find a suitable corpse. There whole ploy is based on Reid not following his policeman's instincts and his need as a father to confirm the girl's identity, should be a very long shot, but the show want us to believe he throws over years of habit and procedure on Hart's say so....and that neither Jackson nor Bennett speak up...out of character for all three.

[Neurochick]

When did Susan become such a bitch? And a stupid one too. If she had given Reid back he daughter, he would have been grateful to her, might have even left Whitechapel, and then been out of her hair. Easy peasey.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Neurochick

[Haleth]

I'm watching now and all I can think of is, "Feed your lawn. Feed it!"

So that's what happened to his daughter. Poor kid is really screwed up. And so is her dad.

Edited May 8, 2015 by Haleth

[mrsdalgliesh]

The characterizations make sense to me considering the passage of time.  Based on what happened to them in S2, I can see Reid becoming more and more rigid in his thinking and Susan becoming as hard as she now is.  Drake's development into a more independent leader fits well also, considering why he left and that he was gone long enough.

 

Jackson is probably the character who has changed the least, but since I'm a goner for him, I'm not minding. :-)

 

But wow, this episode was DARK.  I was internally (and, ok, maybe out loud, too) yelling at Reid and Susan and especially the gullible doctor.  GAH.  My experience with the show says we'll get a bittersweet resolution to Reid and his daughter but we'll have to be well and truly tortured first.

[Neurochick]

I can see Susan becoming harder, but not stupider.  Reid would have been eating out the palm of her hand had she given him his daughter back.  

[raven]

Not a fan of this storyline.  Susan not telling Reid about his daughter makes NO sense IMO.  I can understand her being harder; starting the clinic is an interesting turn for her and makes sense after her interactions with the former match girls, but she seems to be emotional about Matilda.  It's just odd to me.  I don't like bringing Matilda in either - it's too convoluted. Locked up in the basement, fairies, etc etc  I watch the show to see the interactions of Reid/Drake/Jackson with each other with some other characters orbiting around them.  Reid is of course going to find out about Matilda and I'm not looking for that kind of family angst.  I'm still in because I like all three leads and enjoy the sets, costumes and dialogue.

 

So Reid and Jackson had a big falling out over name calling?  I can definitely see them arguing and Reid being harsh but it all seemed a bit much. 

 

I did really like Drake and Reid in Reid's house; Drake saying he was there for him, aw. 

Edited May 8, 2015 by raven

[Wynterwolf]

Holy cow that was dark.  Yikes.  I can see it as a product of the harshness of the time, but that was hard to watch.  I think Susan's motivations are two-fold,  as much as she's trying to be hardened, I think her primary concern was to protect Matilda.  The girl had basically just told her that Reid abused her and she was terrified of him, so there was no way in heck Susan was going to give the girl back to him, but at the same time, she needs to cover this ever growing mess she's making (and justifying through the myth of her altruistic cause) and the most expedient way to do that is to distract Reid with profound grief.  And it's obviously worked in the short term, but now with Drake to pick up the slack, she really only delayed the inevitable, and for a huge cost.  

[Mabinogia]

Susan may have done Reid a favor. If he'd met Matilda right now she would have screamed bloody murder, said she hated him, fought tooth and nail not to go near him, etc. That would, I think, break a parent, to have the child you love and have mourned all this time look at you with pure fear in her eyes. I'm finally interested in seeing where this season is headed. I can't imagine where they are going from here and that is kind of exciting. I could have done without the return of Rose but with only two women in the show I guess it was inevitable. I loathe the man working for Susan. He is making this season very difficult to watch. I NEED to see him get his in the end.

[lidarose9]

Not sure I want to keep watching. Telling a grieving father that his daughter was tortured and raped? Why? I am tired of children being tortured and raped on TV whenever a writer wants a shortcut to "dark." And what purpose did it serve to tell Reid this? Why not just say she had a fit and died? Why embroider with such mental cruelty? I was really enjoying this until now.

[Happytobehere]

Not sure I want to keep watching. Telling a grieving father that his daughter was tortured and raped? Why? I am tired of children being tortured and raped on TV whenever a writer wants a shortcut to "dark." And what purpose did it serve to tell Reid this? Why not just say she had a fit and died? Why embroider with such mental cruelty? I was really enjoying this until now.

But Susan actually believes this was done to the girl by Reid himself. If in fact he were guilty, how is that a punishment for him. If Matilda's tale about her father were true, why should Susan have the slightest concern for Reid's hurt feelings and emotions.

Now I don't agree that Reid is guilty, but as one poster already noted, at this point, the child's mind is twisted and until she is clearer about facts verses perception, which she may never be, Matilda would have screamed bloody murder and accused Reid of who knows what. How would that have helped his emotional state, his daughter accusing him of horrific abuse would have destroyed him both personally and professionally. The only possible difference, and I say possible based on Reid's maniac behavior, would have been the prisoner would have remained alive. But Reid might have gone berserk and killed Buckley anyway.

Edited May 10, 2015 by Happytobehere

[lidarose9]

So she knew this was Reid's own long-lost daughter, and believes that Reid is a secret sadistic incestuous pedophile, and now will be the heroic protector of abused children, too, is that it? Cuz it works out tidy for her to shift the blame for Mrs. Buckley's murder away from her lawyer's cronies.

 

I have forgotten 95% of the setup from past seasons so I'm fumbling with histories and relationships: but until now it never dawned on me that Susan would believe Reid could do such things. They know one another well, no? I had assumed she knew the girl was deluded and confused, but saw an opportunity to save her own skin. I don't remember the girl's exact words, but I was stunned when Susan used the words rape and torture. The doctor had said Alice showed no signs of injuries apart from the "usual" malnutrition one sees in Whitechapel kids. Apart from the burns, of course. Didn't the doctor say the girl had *not* been raped? Does Susan know Reid had a missing daughter? Does she know the girl IS Reid's missing daughter? How? I assumed Susan exaggerated in order to inflame Reid deliberately, hoping to provoke him to kill Mr. Buckley, so there would be no further investigation of the murder. If yes, what a stone cold bitch. If no, uhhh, I dunno. I think I'm getting this show mixed up with Copper.

Edited May 11, 2015 by lidarose9

[Wynterwolf]

 The doctor had said Alice showed no signs of injuries apart from the "usual" malnutrition one sees in Whitechapel kids. Apart from the burns, of course. Didn't the doctor say the girl had *not* been raped? ...I assumed Susan exaggerated in order to inflame Reid deliberately, hoping to provoke him to kill Mr. Buckley, so there would be no further investigation of the murder. If yes, what a stone cold bitch. 

 

Good point about Buckley being the only witness to the wife's murder, I think you're right about why Susan invented such a graphic lie to provoke Reid.  The biggest thing I was surprised about was why Jackson didn't speak up when she was going on about Matilda's condition, since the condition of the room the girl was in didn't support that kind of treatment.  

Edited May 11, 2015 by Wynterwolf

[Neurochick]

Susan's just evil AMD stupid. The girl was spouting crazy shit that made no sense. Why would Susan just believe her?

[Snarklepuss]

I love this show but it's getting too out there for me.  The new season doesn't follow enough from the old one to make any sense whatsoever.  It's like Susan is a different person not just the same person 4 years later.  I don't buy it.  And this business with accusations against Reid of rape and torture of his own daughter are just a little too much for me to entertain.  I can't even suspend disbelief to go there.  Making Reid this dark, deranged character is just not my cup of tea.  I could deal with flawed as in having an affair, but not this.  It's too heavy handed and going for shock value.  Not subtle enough for me.  The former seasons were deliciously convoluted and the mysteries invited hours of pondering.  Now the characters are being manipulated beyond belief for me.

[weyrbunny]

Rewatching…

 

Damn! I always took the River Lethe (river of forgetfulness) dialogue in ep 3.2 as symbolic for Reid, but it’s actually a metaphor for Alice/Mathilda: she died, drank from/was drunk by the river, and forgot her waking self.

 

Both Susan and Reid really are at their worst here. Susan’s lies are so multi-layered, so manipulative, so good at setting the murder in motion that I was impressed for a moment. (Maybe Capshaw was actually the lies’ architect, but she carries them out.)

 

And Reid…well, he’s definitely not delegating the physical violence anymore, like in earlier seasons. Episodes 3.1 and 3.2 both subtly compare Capshaw and Reid, I’m realizing. They’re both shown as everyday bullies, and then Reid even murders Buckley in the same location that Capshaw murdered Buckley’s wife.

 

It struck me as fitting that Reid paused for a moment to steady himself with his hands on Buckley’s shoulders and then seemed to decide to kill him as though he were restoring order to chaos. Fitting with the earlier “we are the abyss” conversation that followed the River Lethe references, that is.

 

Is this the first mention that Reid is an atheist?

 

Also, Reid keeps revealing what he does/does not know to Susan and Capshaw by rushing to accuse them…he really should stop giving things away like that. It's helping them plot.

Edited February 17, 2016 by weyrbunny

[Ironspy]

Does anyone know the song from the music box? I know that it was a waltz but I'm not sure of which one that might be.

[Anothermi]

On 2016-05-24 at 10:48 PM, Ironspy said:

Does anyone know the song from the music box? I know that it was a waltz but I'm not sure of which one that might be.

After a little hunting around, it sounds to me to be a fragment of The Blue Danube Waltz by Johann Strauss II. It was written in 1866 and became popular in Britain by 1867.

Here is a piano verson. What I think is the portion the music box plays can be found @ 0:30 sec mark and the 1:00 minute mark. The music box is quite a bit slower. See what you think.