S03.E07: Live Free, Live True

[weyrbunny]

Ep. 3.7 - Live Free, Live True

 

A heartbreaking episode, but with the breadth of women’s issues not just brought to the forefront, but all explored simultaneously, it was almost too much to take in at once. There just wasn’t room for much subtlety, with a return of the heavy-handed history lessons in a couple conversations even (e.g., the doctor's diatribes on abortion and contraception). The murderer, though, and the variation on the why women kill theme, were heartbreaking.

 

I have also never been more conflicted about Susan. I can’t remember the last time I saw a female villain with this much nuance and complexity, and ep. 3.7 added to it at every opportunity. If the show can sustain this through the finale, Susan might be the new standard against which I gauge female antagonists. But, I frequently stop myself from rooting for her with reminders that her body count is now huge, and that she’s been a pimp from the beginning.

 

The journalist’s exposition was a big mistake, IMO, because it completely forecasted the ending cliffhanger. The episode was already an exploration of parent/child relationships, so the arrival of you-know-who would’ve fit in anyway.

 

Reid’s single-parent, childcare problems were hysterical, though. After Jackson yelled, “REID! YOUR CHILD’S LOOSE!!” I couldn’t stop laughing.

 

There were several patterns within the larger theme. One was women looking for allies/partners in men: Rose in Drake, the doctor in her mentor, for example. Until the last act, the women were unsuccessful. My take was that George’s advice to Mary then acted as catalyst for Drake, Reid and Havelock to reexamine their actions, to become these allies. The husband, the father, the lover—it was a bit too diagrammatic (again, little subtlety), but at least it was progressive. And hopeful.

 

Susan found only patronization and threats from her male business associates, of course, and so she smartly didn’t wait for them to change or offer acceptance and simply took what she was owed. I do hope this wasn't the seed for her downfall, though.

[radishcake]

 

The murder of a chemist lifts the lid on a backstreet abortion racket.

 

[rallymantis]

Ugh.  I prefer the mystery-solving, CSI:Victorian shows.

 

Dearest Bennett! your proposal was sweet, but you are too good for her.  

Shall I rewind Season 1: "The One With The Birdcage"*, as evidence?

 

*tm Friends

Edited June 11, 2015 by gutette1

[attica]

I'm glad to see Susan getting her groove back. She is much better a character when she's running circles around the men. The pregnancy is a boring-assed trope, but I can wait to see how it plays out. (Dear Prop people: please lighten up on the color of whatever concoction your actors use when 'vomiting.' Not every Technicolor Yawn needs to be, well, technicolor.)

 

I would like Mathilda to start helping in the precinct. She could be a Victorian Nancy Drew. Otherwise, there's nothing to do with her character other than as a thing to create guilt in Reid for coppering. Which, I don't think I need to say, is fucking boring.

 

I really liked the proposal scene. I think Rose has grown up some. (and that ring was nice, I thought -- not specky at all.)

 

Dr. Frayn is my new hero. She turned in that Mengele-like dude without a moment's hesitation. That's a woman with principles!

 

I twigged that George was trans early on in the interrogation scene. The woman who played him is Haydn Gwynne, whose imdb page shows me lots of things I've seen her in, most notably as Calpurnia in Rome. She did that deep voice very creditably.  

Edited June 11, 2015 by attica

[rallymantis]

I would like Mathilda to start helping in the precinct.

 

She seems older/more sophisticated every time she appears.  Maybe she could join forces with the young copper (whose name escapes me; probably, I'm afraid to get close to him!) -- not in any 'ship sense, though.

[pezgirl7]

I think Matilda is too young to be hanging around the station house. She's already mentally scarred by the ripper stuff she saw, no need for her to be scarred any more. Maybe when she gets older though. I'm bummed that BBC America cut out the scene with her and Jackson. Jackson was working on rigging up the explosive on the safe, and he turns around, and Mathilda is holding his gun. Of course that makes Jackson angry and he calls in Grace to take her away. I wish Jackson was better with children. He's pretty childish sometimes, so I don't understand why he doesn't seem to like kids. He better start liking them though!

[crowswork]

Scary to think that unless a woman could handle 15 kids (though many died at birth) this was her solution. Also walk an old cemetery and marvel at a man buried with his first wife - second wife - third wife all in their twenties often with the baby they died having. There were reason's women risked this.

[Dowel Jones]

My thought was, Susan, what kind of madam were you that you had to be reminded of the possibility of sexual blackmail to achieve your ends?  I would assume she had some sort of insurance on the deal, as men like those would not hesitate to eliminate any threat to their social status.

 

I also noticed the advertisement of the word tenement for the housing project, mainly because of the extremely negative connotation it has today.  So, I looked it up, and color me surprised.  The wiki article says that it is still a common term in parts of England, without the negative publicity.  A New York City law defines it as (abbreviated):

"Any house or portion thereof, which is rented to be occupied as the home or residence of more than three families living independently of one another and doing their own cooking upon the premises, or by more than two families upon a floor, and having a common right in the halls, stairways, yards,...."  That covers quite a range of current accomodations in today's urban landscape, but I don't think anyone would be overly eager to announce they live in a tenement.  Nor would one have much luck getting a loan to start construction, sexual escapades notwithstanding.

 

Also walk an old cemetery and marvel at a man buried with his first wife - second wife - third wife all in their twenties often with the baby they died having.

 

I found out years ago that my great grandfather lived in rural Missouri about this same time, and had 19 children by three wives, all of whom died in childbirth or shortly afterward.  Farm families grew that way because of the labor need, and the parents needed someone to take care of them at life's end.  I imagine it might have been similar in urban cities too.

[raven]

 

She seems older/more sophisticated every time she appears.

Apologies to the actress, but I find her kind of creepy.  Not because she showed up at the station; she just gives off a creepy vibe to me. 

 

I love Reid, whether stick up his butt or smiling/tilting his chair. or needing a shave while being depressed on his boat (yow!), investigating with his glasses on... but he really needs to take time off (if he can afford it) to spend time with his traumatized and just returned daughter, unless there's another time jump I missed.  If not, it's "hey she's back..off you go to the governess..what?" He even got a lecture about it.  My preference is really that she be shipped off somewhere though.  I wonder if there are more significant repercussions for Reid being shot in the head?  I don't want to lose MM from the show!

 

Though they did stuff a lot in, I really enjoyed this one.  Great performances as usual, most notably Haydn Gwynne (thank you attica).  It was heartbreaking to watch her being driven off in the wagon.

 

Love the guys peeking in the window for the safe cracking non-explosion.  Offices are still the same - spent much of the budget on the new-fangled machine and don't use it.  LOL. 

 

I also enjoyed Susan/Rose bonding futher and Susan getting her Scarlett O'Hara on.  It seems the show is making more of an effort with the women and I appreciate that - Dr. Frayn is a good character with believable behaviors and feelings in this one - I didn't really get her going along with Susan about Matilda so easily but this I do.  Not really happy about the Susan pregnancy and I would have liked a little feminine disagreement about abortion - rather than just Men think BAD and women think GOOD!  Kind of pat discrepancies of opinion. 

 

 

My thought was, Susan, what kind of madam were you that you had to be reminded of the possibility of sexual blackmail to achieve your ends?  I would assume she had some sort of insurance on the deal, as men like those would not hesitate to eliminate any threat to their social status.

LOL I know!  It's not like she's trying to run the straight and narrow, what with stealing from trains and shooting Capshaw and Reid and whatnot.  I do have to root for her in blackmailing those smug, condescending asses.  I can't make up my mind where they're going with her, the shooting is going to come to light and then what? As sympathetic as George was, and he killed an awful person, he was still shipped off to the gallows.  Still, Reid has gotten away with murdering the man who held Matilda hostage so who knows.

 

Had something in my eye during Drake's proposal - must be allergies.

[merylinkid]

Cannot stand the guilting of Reid over not caring for his daughter over his job.   The show is set in the 1890s, not 2015.    That's how it was back then.    Kids were raised by governess -- and they shut up and liked it.    England did not rule an empire by raising their own children.   

[raven]

I think it's because she was held captive and had her delusions about an evil man indulged for two years..  I'd totally be on board with sending her to boarding school or whatever they had then though.

[rallymantis]

Cannot stand the guilting of Reid over not caring for his daughter over his job.

 

Yeah, the whole ep was too AfterSchool Specialish for me: trans-identity, abortion, birth control, Mr Mom-ing...sometimes this show tries to be too much.  I don't mind seeing the evolution of morals -- it was the times -- but don't force-feed me all of it in a 65-minute period.

[Haleth]

Can someone remind me what happened to Mrs Reid?  I remember she was a little crazy because she thought her daughter was dead, but I keep confusing her with Ellen from Copper.

[gemmalogical]

Can someone remind me what happened to Mrs Reid?

I seem to recall that she turned to alcohol after series 1 and was institutionalized during series 2. After the time jump, it was revealed that she died. I don't like the actress - perhaps I've only see her play unsympathetic characters - but I did think the show could have made a better ending for her.

 

Gods, I love these guys. I love Drake the most, but only by the width of one of Artherton's (sp?) magnificent ginger whiskers. I'm thrilled for at least 2 more series, and I do think all three of our boys will return.

[tennisgurl]

 

Cannot stand the guilting of Reid over not caring for his daughter over his job.   The show is set in the 1890s, not 2015.    That's how it was back then.

I agree. I can understand how we might feel about her being parented more closely by Reid (especially after everything that happened), but for him, this is just how kids are brought up. Plus, all the lectures reminds me of modern cop shows, where the cop/doctor/FBI agent guy gets guilt-ed by everyone for missing their kids game or something because they were catching a violent criminal/saving someones life. Oh, such a negligent father! Come on! People are getting killed left and right in White Chapple! There are all kinds of horrors going on daily, why is it so horrible that Reid wants to stop them? Its not like he`s ignoring her to go drink with the guys. He`s trying to make the streets a safer place.

[Mabinogia]

While it is common for kids to not really be raised by their parents at that time, she also just basically came back to him from the dead. He was obsessed with her being alive for years then, when he finally gets her he goes back to work as if she'd been with him all along. That is the only reason I find it weird. Unless I missed where he took a few months off to rebond with his daughter. But I don't care much. I don't like her and wish she'd not been found, or had been discovered to really be dead. Whatever.

 

I loved the safe cracking moment. Soo adorable. I love my boys when they're working together.

 

Don't like Rose so the proposal did nothing for me. IDK why I don't like her. Nothing particular she has done, I just don't. It's one of those things.

 

I am most curious about what they are doing with Susan. How can she be redeemed from shooting Reid? It's not like she shot a bad guy who was threatening her. Why did she shoot Reid? I still don't get that. She should have just shot that weasly guy that was working for her. But then this ep she shows how awesome she can be in holding her own with the construction guy, then remembering that she had a whole house full of powerful mens secrets and rather than trying to lowball him or anything, she simply demanded what he originally promised. I just can't tell what they are trying to do with her. It's frustrating because there are barely three women on the show, only two who are "main" and one is all over the place.

[rallymantis]

I love Drake the most

 

I saw him first.

Don't like Rose

 

ME too, to both of these.  Which is why I'm still yelling, "Run, Bennett! before it's too late!" every time they're together onscreen.

 

She's going to dump him at the altar.  You heard it here first.

[paloma58]

Just wondering - Since Susan was on board before the creepy doctor revealed his true plans, why does she not have the female doctor help her out?  I cannot believe in all her time as a madam, she did not figure out how to avoid pregnancy....

Homer/Matthew must have some powerful little guys

 

Just a little too 'convenient' for her to get pregnant now

 

And....loves me some Bennett Drake - with both RS and GoT on right now, I am in Jerome Flynn heaven!!

[mrsdalgliesh]

Susan knows how to provoke a miscarriage -- Reid found the plant/herb she used in the first season episode with the girl who showed up all bloody at the police station.  And her turnaround with the doctor regarding providing abortions was the one thing that -- for me -- released the message anvils that the episode was balancing before that.  The messages were important enough and informative about the time so that I didn't mind up until that point.  Haydn Gwynne was absolutely heartbreaking.  (As an aside, it's interesting that we accept the idea of a sci-fi show addressing current issues through its plots, but find it more clumsy when the allegory comes from an historical drama.)

 

pezgirl, thanks for the mention of the cut scene.  I'll look forward to seeing it since I'm definitely purchasing this season from Amazon.  (I have S1 and I'll just skip right over S2 to this one!)

 

I do hope this wasn't the seed for her downfall, though.

Isn't the seed of her downfall the prints Jackson got off of her at the end of the episode?  That's going nowhere but trouble.

[pezgirl7]

Just wondering - Since Susan was on board before the creepy doctor revealed his true plans, why does she not have the female doctor help her out?  I cannot believe in all her time as a madam, she did not figure out how to avoid pregnancy....

Homer/Matthew must have some powerful little guys

Maybe she doesn't want an abortion? She told Jackson she was going to call for him, so I'm guessing she was planning on telling him she was pregnant. No need to do that if she doesn't want the baby. I think they only had sex that one time in the alley, and I'm sure she wasn't expecting it to happen, so it's not like she had time to use whatever birth control they had back then. But even if she wants to keep the baby, I think her pregnancy made her realize the plight of other women who are less fortunate than she is. I guess her pregnancy could be seen as convenient for the plot.

I was confused why Susan said she was an unmarried woman. I thought she and Jackson were still married, just separated.

[SonofaBiscuit]

I can't root for Drake and Rose, I just can't.  Back in the first season, she didn't want to be with him, didn't want to be a cop's wife, and told him they were just friends.  Plus, I remember her being pretty dumb and nearly getting herself killed (possibly more than once, though I'm not positive on that).  

 

Can't say I'll be even a little bit sad if Susan goes down for all of the terrible shit she's done this season.  Don't know why the writers decided to go this route with her character, but she's become completely awful.  I'd say that it ends in death or jail for her.

 

Each episode I become more and more convinced that Matthew Macfadyen is leaving the show.  Why'd they nix the romance with Jane Cobden?  Why'd they kill off Emily Reid?  Why'd they bring back Matilda?  With Matilda returned and Emily dead, Edmund is the only parent left to care for her.  I think that Reid's going to decide that he needs to spend time with his daughter, and he'll decide to leave his job, so they didn't further develop the romance with Jane since there would be no point.

 

Loved the entire scene with the safe and Jackson (although, apparently BBC America cut out a part with Matilda/Jackson?).  The look of confused disgust on Reid's face when Jackson said that he couldn't crack the safe and Jackson's "I'm not sure" response to Reid questioning if he was sure that he wouldn't destroy the safe's contents and half of the station house were both super entertaining. 

 

 

[zoey1996]

The George and Mary Tait story brought to mind the Glenn Close film, "Albert Nobb," an excellent film that explores the paths available to women at the time.  There were few, if any, options.

Loved the safe cracking scenes.

Susan is playing a very dangerous game with her business dealings.  Factor in her fingerprints on the gun, and she may not get out of her troubles unscathed, nor do I think she should.  There are consequences, even unintended consequences, for what she's done and how she's lived.  And now daddy dearest shows up!  Can't be good.

[Dowel Jones]

What was the unused machine that they appropriated for the counterweight on the safe door?  I missed that and then erased the episode.

[pezgirl7]

What was the unused machine that they appropriated for the counterweight on the safe door? I missed that and then erased the episode.

It was a typewriter.

I feel like I should put more in this post, so here's a pic.

Edited June 16, 2015 by pezgirl7

[Neurochick]

I really loved this episode.  It showed why women today are so hell bent on not having our reproductive rights taken from us.  Back then there were not too many paths for women.  I understood why George (can't remember the name as a girl) wanted to be male.  He'd seen his own mother die because she had too many children, because back then women weren't allowed to say they didn't want sex when their husband wanted it.  Women were told that shit even in the 20th century.  

[merylinkid]

 

because back then women weren't allowed to say they didn't want sex when their husband wanted it.  Women were told that shit even in the 20th century.

 

Hell marital rape was not a crime in most states until the 1980s.   You read that right.    Think about it.   Right around 30 years.   

 

But damn this was heavy handed with the "just rip it right on out so they can't have kids every because they are all dirty scrummy people who breed like pigs making more dirty scummy people."    It was almost an anti-abortion message.

[helent]

My subconscious must want him and Angus MacFayden to be related

 

 

And I am only just now realising that Angus MacFayden is not MacFadyen.

[rallymantis]

pezgirl! Ta very much for the photo.  They look -- what a surprise -- adorable.

[AnnaMayWong]

I saw him first.

ME too, to both of these. Which is why I'm still yelling, "Run, Bennett! before it's too late!" every time they're together onscreen.

She's going to dump him at the altar. You heard it here first.

Nuh! Uh!

Both o' youse need to STEP waaay BACK 'cause I want 'im--a lot! (lol!)

[weyrbunny]

Rewatching...

 

OK, ep. 3.7 is definitely a companion to the last episode—both exploring characters fleeing a woman’s life and marriage.

 

It’s nice to see Reid still mellow, still focusing on investigation and policing.

 

The beach scene Mathilda describes here—I realize now that

it’s actually the exact imagery we see in the season finale. Reid's bare feet in the ocean, for example.

 

I was confused why Susan said she was an unmarried woman. I thought she and Jackson were still married, just separated.

This is puzzling me now, too. Perhaps Susan told the doctor that she wasn’t married when they met and was simply maintaining the lie. Unless she and Jackson were common-law married or something?

Edited February 21, 2016 by weyrbunny

[supposebly]

I'm finally catching up on Netflix and I like how this episode summarized Susan's desperate and failing attempts at being respectable. Her realization that there is no such thing as respectability for her, and that it is really an illusion overall. The "respectable" businessmen she deals with and who used to frequent her brothel. I think she was hoping for "real" respectability and finally realizes how she can be just that, respectable, just like everyone else, with the seedy underbelly that everyone has in Whitechapel.

I would hope that she will get away with shooting Reid, she only did it so she didn't end up at the gallows for murdering her murderous lawyer. I think she didn't want to shoot that well, though. If Reid gets away with murdering the guy who took care in his weird way of his daughter, she should get away with shooting Capshaw.

As someone upthread said, she is one of the most interesting female characters out there. Unfortunately, I don't think the actress quite matches the excellent writing.

The beach scene is what Reid promised her, in mostly those words, before he got shot and then decided he was needed in Whitechapel.