S04.E05: No Wolves In Whitechapel

[radishcake]

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Drake's life unravels as he questions whether he sent an innocent man to the gallows.

[Deanie87]

Has anyone else been watching this?  This season is SO good, but I'm worried that they are either writing themselves into a corner with Jackson and Susan, or else I am just not going to like where it end up.  

 

On the one hand, Jackson is my favorite character and I want to him (and Susan) to stay on the show and not in jail.  But on the other hand, they just keep digging themselves in deeper and the bodies keep piling up, so they certainly deserve some kind of punishment.  The reveal of the "wolf" surprised me and I am wondering if Jackson will try to leverage that knowledge to keep him and Susan safe.  

[weyrbunny]

On 2/28/2016 at 10:49 PM, mledawn said:

Rose is losing her mind. Is it just lack of sleep to start, and then when she sees Susan it sends her over the edge?

It’s partly sleep deprivation from caring for the child, as you (and Drake) said. I also think it’s the culmination of her frustration and resentment that’s been building throughout S4. (In the years between seasons, as well, since the stresses between Drake and Rose seem habitual and recurring.)

Rose seeing Susan’s “ghost” is a good way to integrate her in with the Gothic horror story and monster references. Her scenes in the misty graveyard and the lit-by-dusk streets have nice ghost story touches to them, too. Also, her hunt for Susan works nicely in parallel to the main investigation. Both are about proving a monster is not dead and not just a story—Susan and the wolf/golem, that is. But it’s still problematic that Ripper Street turns Rose into a mad woman, into a female hysteria cliché, even if that also is a Victorian horror trope.

It’s been difficult for me not to be judgmental towards Rose this season, because she’s become such a… desperate housewife. Her neediness and resentfulness are so unrelenting, and her spite towards everyone from Drake to Mathilda this episode is galling! So, in the scene where Rose screams at Drake at his workplace, almost ruinously, I had to stop myself from condemning Rose and consider her behavior objectively. She may be an unlikable woman, but is her behavior understandable?

I think it is, for several reasons. First, Rose is right about Susan—not just that Susan is alive but that she’s a murderer and pimp whom Mathilda and others forgive too easily. (Rose is mad at herself for enabling Susan, really.) She also guessed right that Susan and Jackson are threatening her family by planning to snatch Connor.

Rose’s behavior also makes sense because she’s truly struggling “trying to mother a child who will not have me,” (from ep. 4.4). Her frustration from being constantly overruled by Drake must be overwhelming, too. (Examples: Drake won’t agree to adopt Connor when Rose asks, but does when Jackson OKs it; Drake shelters a drunk murderer in their home, over Rose’s repeated objections; Drake shuts down Rose’s insistence that she’s seen Susan.) Rose is not blameless in their relationship, of course.

This season also has the simple theme of hearing and being heard. To explain: in ep. 4.1, Drake shouts at Rose, “I will not hear it!” (The context is, Rose was bursting with insecurities over not having children, which Drake had clearly heard before.) And just last episode, I noticed that Drake insists “You will hear me, Edmund Reid!” as a way to assert his authority. So, Rose shouting at Drake works as the apex of that theme. She can’t take being silenced anymore and targets him at his place of authority and in public. Her voice is one of the character’s few sources of power—she was a celebrated singer, IIRC.

But I still barely feel sympathy for Rose. Her lashing out is now endangering Drake, Reid... everyone.

By the way, the prison guard calls Rose a “mad woman, all a sea” in a brilliantly subtle callback to S4’s ocean motif.

More on this episode later. It’s actually the best episode of S4 (so far) and likely one of the best of Ripper Street. So, lots to mention…

Edited June 22, 2016 by weyrbunny

[weyrbunny]

I really enjoy episodes where all the hints and details finally fit together or pay off, and so I loved this. All the forensics, all the strife in S4 has been leading here. The best word to describe ep. 4.5 might be “cumulative,” but that’s not nearly exciting enough. No Wolves in Whitechapel is exciting and riveting, but a bit saddening, since Drake is at his lowest, embattled from all sides. Drake’s day just gets worse and worse, and Jerome Flynn is outstanding at conveying an amazing spectrum of emotions, of course.

There are so many important, showcase conversations here (and a funny monologue from Jackson!), that I’m actually impressed at how urgent the story feels. To the credit of the direction and always-moving camera, perhaps.

My favorite moment might be:

          Susan: “I have been seen.”
          Croker: [smacks forehead on book]

It’s a facepalm, in effect, which made me laugh out loud. Hee! I appreciated also that Rose made a dig about first Mathilda and now Susan coming back from the dead. Because somebody needed to.

The one beat that annoyed me, though, was Dove corrupting the investigation. Instead of being about Drake and Jackson making a tragic mistake, or how lack of forensics on the bite marks meant that the evidence didn’t lead to the truth, Dove being the architect just… let’s everyone off the hook. Well, not exactly. They still have to live with Isaac’s hanging and Thomas’ death, but Dove’s malfeasance gives them someone else to blame, conveniently. (BTW, in Series 3 comments, I brought up tragic flaw vs. tragic mistake. Here, Reid actually says “we must look elsewhere for the flaw,” meaning Dove as the flaw. That ties Dove into Ripper Street’s exploration of the choice to commit a crime, I think. Had Reid not said “flaw,” I wouldn’t have noticed.)

It’s interesting how communicative Croker and his “family” are: Susan admits feelings to him that she won’t tell Jackson, Dove and Croker talk unguardedly about details of the case and their crimes, even Nathaniel confessed his worst to Croker and Dove, apparently. It’s a sharp contrast to Drake and Rose and the scene where they… don’t.

Helluva cliffhanger this time...

[attica]

On 6/25/2016 at 7:18 PM, weyrbunny said:

The one beat that annoyed me, though, was Dove corrupting the investigation

Ah, I saw it coming the minute the character was introduced. So clean cut, so good looking, so well spoken, so grandly and peaceably named. Has to be a bad 'un.

I was twitching on my sofa for Rose. If ever a thing has always been true, it's that women are universally considered unreliable testifiers. (Which shouldn't shock us, considering the very root of 'testify' is 'testes', which, wimmenfolk ain't got.) Rose is tired, she's mistaken, she's insecure, she's bonkers. All that they'd prefer to the truth. Nice work by McKenna throughout the ep; it was nice to see the show give her something to chew on.

I also liked the scene in the lab where Jackson is talking to himself. The minute he gripes about Susan calling him overemotional, he botches the procedure. Hee! 

[voiceover]

First of all: a big two fingers up to BBCA, who moved the Ripper Street (solo, no repeats) eps to the 3pm hour, for those of us in the MST/WST zones.  Which means the dvr-less amongst us must take a vacation day.

*burns*

Nice ep.  But the best moments in the series remain when the boyz are in the same room.

And even though I get Rose & Susan, I'm not a fan of either character.  Especially Rose.  I begged Bennet to find another girl!!  And Susan is just taking Jackson away from the lab.  Thank goodness Lucy Cohu (Deborah) is back -- strong, determined, not-a-hooker.

[TiffanyNichelle]

Both the Drakes have really been irritating me this season. I understand them but it still annoys. Bennett's defensiveness with Reid no matter what he says or does, whether warranted or not. Rose is just way too dramatic. Seeing Susan and having no one believe her is frustrating yes. But she just went all over the damn place with it. And what happened to all her tears and sadness when she was visiting Susan in jail? That went away when she got Susan's kid? I hate this part of the storyline. Not that I'm a fan of Susan. Her part drags the show and Jackson down. I can't see anyway for Jackson to come out of this.

Is the only likable female character really Mathilda who's barely gotten a chance to do anything?

So the guy that works for Crocker, what is his connection to Dove? His brother?

[raven]

The Rose histrionics are frustrating.  Now she's not Susan's friend?  I guess because she feels threatened?  Dragging Connor to the grave sites, then to the police station while she yells at Drake - the kid was ignored by everyone except Jackson.  I was waiting for him to mysteriously disappear.   Does Rose even like Connor?  All he has caused her is misery, apparently.   I know she feels dismissed by everyone, especially her husband and we know she DID see Susan but it is hard to feel completely sympathetic to her. 

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Her part drags the show and Jackson down.

ITA.  It seems that during their break-in their were guards coming and Susan says she doesn't want more blood on her hands, so Crocker sends Wolfman after them (we hear sounds of a fight) - did he kill them?  That's OK with Susan and Jackson?  I don't see how either of them are going to get out of this either.

I thought Jerome Flynn did good work here - he feels like he failed at work, homelife is falling apart...I love Reid but I thought the show went a bit overboard with "Drake was bamboozled and Reid is right".   I really felt for Drake, who probably thought he was at the pinnacle of his life and it's all crashing down on him.

I like Rachel, I like pushy reporter characters.  The people need to know (just not pics of dead bodies)!  I really hope they are not going to romantically involve her with Reid; if Reid needs romance I prefer him with Mrs. Goren; the actors spark off each other and I like her character.

Reid and Drummond together was cute, with poor Drummond stammering through his good intentions for Mathilda and Reid talking business. 

[pezgirl7]

Do we know what horrible secret Rose is keeping that involves the three guys? I can't think of anything.

Rose is really grating on me. The way she was talking to Matilda was so bitchy. And I don't understand why she hates Susan all of a sudden. I feel like the writers have made a lot of the women this season very temperamental and annoying. Even Miss Goren seemed a bit unhinged at the murder scene which was against her character.

Even though Jackson is whipped by Susan, my favorite moments still involve him. I liked him talking to himself and nearly blowing himself up, twice. That seems to be his thing. I also liked how he picked up Connor and told Rose and Bennet to STFU. And how he kissed Susan after she said he was the bane of her existence. Those crazy kids. LOL

[Neurochick]

On 9/4/2016 at 9:25 PM, pezgirl7 said:

Do we know what horrible secret Rose is keeping that involves the three guys? I can't think of anything.

Would that be when they killed Susan's father last season?

[pezgirl7]

5 hours ago, Neurochick said:

Would that be when they killed Susan's father last season?

Ahh could be! I didn't realize that Rose knew about that though. Drake or Susan must have told her.

[weyrbunny]

On 9/4/2016 at 9:25 PM, pezgirl7 said:

I liked [Jackson] talking to himself and nearly blowing himself up, twice. That seems to be his thing.

Heh. Thanks for the laugh.