S05.02: A Brittle Thread

[Deanie87]

Quote

Reid and Dove engage the press in their battle for the hearts and minds of the people of Whitechapel.

Shine's villany grows...

[weyrbunny]

I’ve been waiting for this episode since the Series 2 finale, "Our Betrayal", when Reid’s corruption took full hold, I think. I’ve certainly been waiting for it since Reid murdered Buckley with his bare hands. It was a surprise that Dove finally pulled the trigger and released Reid’s police file and its damning evidence, actually—it had been an un-dropped shoe, for so long.

I still want Reid to persevere against Dove (and Nathaniel), to get justice for Drake, but it felt right that Ms. Costello barely hesitated before publishing the evidence against Reid. She chose the “moral imperative of the truth”, and I respect her for it.

In some ways, she is mimicked by Mathilda, who accepts that there were mitigating circumstances to Reid’s crimes, but sides with the evidence, anyway. Mathilda’s betrayal is personal, of course—and she technically gave Dove a way to catch/kill Reid. At first, it irritated me that Mathilda so easily betrayed her father to Dove, much like Rose so easily betrayed Drake in Series 4. But, in hindsight, I like the twist and see how it was seeded throughout eps. 5.2 and 5.1. It goes back to the conversation in 5.1, between Drummond and Mathilda, about whether to side with the law or with Reid, I think. They chose Reid before, the opposite now.

I could’ve lived without the symbolism of Mathilda and Drummond having sex in her father’s bed, of course. Because, A) it’s an overused trope, and B) I liked the gender reversal of Drummond not being ready for sex earlier in the episode. (And how Mathilda respected his decision.) It was so overt, it reminded me of that scene in ep. 4.3 where Reid over-explains the episode’s Dracula symbolism by actually saying “This crime is just like Dracula!” Bad writing…

On 1/5/2017 at 9:39 AM, Deanie87 said:

...made [episode 5.1] seem out of place in Ripperville, almost like another show altogether, and I've found that this gets more so as the season goes on.  [...]

Another shot that stood out to me was when Reid, garbed in his theatrical scarf and 1930s gangster hat of course, stares up to see if Mathilda is lighting the candle. When she finally does, he practically pivots and stares goggle-eyed at the sight for an almost comical amount of time.  It truly was a scene out of a cliched melodrama, which is so unlike Ripper Street, IMO.  [...]

Hello Deanie87! I agree with much of what you say—Series 5 does seem to be “off”. I’m now noticing one poor production or writing choice after another: Reid and company have escalated to carrying bodies past people... in broad daylight. And, as you hint at, Reid spends so much time standing in the alley watching for Mathilda, Dove and Shine could’ve caught him immediately if they’d simply posted police AT HIS HOUSE. It seems illogical also that Dove constructs a plan to kill Susan’s spy, Leonard, but not one to kill Reid. I realize that his priority is to secret Nathaniel away, but Reid can terribly expose both Nathaniel and Dove if he is arrested. And when Dove finally sees Reid, he doesn’t shoot at him, and then leaves. Also dumb: Russian wolves conveniently acting like guard dogs.  

That said, ep. 5.2 was better than 5.1, IMO. Shine and especially Dove needed depth, needed to display how calculating and dangerous they are, and they certainly did. (Last episode, we knew more about Nathaniel’s psychology than we did Dove’s or Shine’s, for example.) Dove’s diatribe to Ms. Costello, arguing against the chaos and “naked savagery” of Whitechapel’s streets and people, is a particularly interesting glimpse into his true personality, and his need for control, I think. (But it was also bullshit, since he was trying to manipulate and control her.)

This episode even managed to rationalize Reid and Jackson being seen in broad daylight through the idea that Whitechapel’s people wouldn’t turn them in because they’re folk heroes, because they oppose the police. It was a good reminder that the London police are distrusted by many and that their history of violence is not a secret. Shine never hides his brutality, certainly.

Shine threatening to rape Ms. Costello—and physically threatening Mimi, too—was hard to watch. I commented last time that he didn’t seem as physical as he was in Series 2. Well, he proved me wrong here. Or, at least, he practiced what he told Thatcher and Drummond: he was physical with women whom he knew he could win against. His need to dominate everyone he comes in contact with makes him such a stereotypical thug sometimes… but, interestingly, it has put Dove in his crosshairs.

[pezgirl7]

Shine is so horrible. Thank god Frankie grew some balls at the end of the episode.

[Dowel Jones]

I would like to see Miss Cuthbert (can't remember her name and I'm appropriating the matron from A League of Their Own, sorry) come to her own end by walking home one evening, and being accosted by a stranger in the twilight.  She is chloroformed, and wakes up in a dark room.  The stranger moves into the dim light, and says, in an nondescript voice, "Welcome to Ripper Street."  The camera focuses on a knife and her reaction to it.  Fade to black.

And I hope that Thatcher channels his inner Chuck Norris and leaves Drummond with a permanently broken nose.

[raven]

It was nice of Thatcher to get tough about Shine wayyy after Ms. Costello literally begged him not to leave her alone with him.   That scene was hard to watch, as was Shine's threatening of Mimi.  As a woman then,  you could talk as tough as you wanted, but if you didn't have a weapon or someone to help you, if the thug wanted to cause you physical harm in nearly all cases he could do so.

So they had to make Shine as awful as possible because our heroes are again showing traits that make them less than likable.

Susan - goes for help to the happy couple because of Connor naturally.  Nice husband is brutally beaten to death (because Nanny is, apparently as big of thug as Shine) leaving pregnant wife alone and probably to be thrown on the street.  Yes, I know it was their decision to help her and they did it happily, but it's just another case on this show of Susan needing help from someone else, and the someone else suffers for it.

Jackson - too jumpy with the gun for me.  Shoots two vaguely threatening dogs.  If the show was going for blood thirsty, imminent danger from snarling hell hounds, they failed miserably. Still enabling Susan.

Reid - actually said "they made me do it" when admitting to Matilda about killing Buckley.  I never expected Reid to not take responsibility for his actions and I'm very disappointed. 

I felt for badly for Matilda, given evidence of her father's bad behavior, including the murder of someone she thought for years was protecting her.   I appreciate her characterization and also liked that Ms. Costello published the news about Reid. 

Dove is a dope beyond words - with Reid and with Nathaniel.  Sure Nathaniel will just settle in that little cottage and not kill anyone else (not).  At least he's been nice to Connor so far, except for hiring a murdering nanny.

I'm really curious as to how the show will end up.    I hope that something truly terrible happens to Shine. 

[Snarklepuss]

I have to admit I'm only watching this now to see how things end since I really took to the characters in its earlier seasons, but I am not loving this season at all so far.  I think it's so far off from where it started that it's almost like a different show altogether.

My husband pointed out that even with closed captioning we were still scratching our heads at all the plot twists.  And we are usually far from unable to keep up with complicated British TV shows!

I didn't like Mathilda turning against her father.  Yet another plot twist, but I have a feeling it will lead to her father having to rescue her in the end from some terrible fate and a reconciliation.

And I thought the "two dogs" Jackson shot were supposed to be wolves although they did look more like dogs.  I agree about shooting them being unnecessary and not even justified by their behavior, but if they were wolves I suppose there is an implied threat.

BTW, this episode (and Season 5 episode 1) have aired in the US now, so that notice at the top of the thread can be removed.

Edited March 19, 2017 by Snarklepuss

[pezgirl7]

7 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

And I thought the "two dogs" Jackson shot were supposed to be wolves although they did look more like dogs.  I agree about shooting them being unnecessary and not even justified by their behavior, but if they were wolves I suppose there is an implied threat.

I think they were Siberian wolves. If they had gotten loose, they definitely would have killed people. I thought Jackson shot them because they were about to attack him and Reid.

[raven]

27 minutes ago, pezgirl7 said:

I thought Jackson shot them because they were about to attack him and Reid.

I'm sure that's what they were going for but to me the scene looked like the "wolves" were standing there making noises; no hackles, no teeth, etc.  It looked like they could have walked right around them.  Just not a well done scene IMO.

[CoderLady]

On 3/18/2017 at 5:19 PM, raven said:

Susan - goes for help to the happy couple because of Connor naturally.  Nice husband is brutally beaten to death (because Nanny is, apparently as big of thug as Shine) leaving pregnant wife alone and probably to be thrown on the street.  Yes, I know it was their decision to help her and they did it happily, but it's just another case on this show of Susan needing help from someone else, and the someone else suffers for it.

I think Susan personally has been a bigger menace to the life and health of Whitechapel than Jack the Ripper could ever have been. The body count for all of her ill-conceived schemes just keeps rising, and her chief enabler Jackson has yet to make any effort to put a stop to it. Also, she seems to get stupider and more reckless with each plan, which means it's got to catch up with her eventually. I just hope it's before there's nothing left of Whitechapel but a smoking crater.

[wrlord]

I've always had a lot of trouble with Reid's murder of Buckley, but for him to now disclaim all moral responsibility for it because Susan misled him is shocking. I'm glad his sins have caught up with him, but there is no redemption for this character.  Where are the mea culpas?  Buckley was (mostly) innocent and really did treat Mathilda like his little princess. It's heartbreaking.

[ganesh]

On 3/18/2017 at 6:19 PM, raven said:

It was nice of Thatcher to get tough about Shine wayyy after Ms. Costello literally begged him not to leave her alone with him.   That scene was hard to watch, as was Shine's threatening of Mimi.  As a woman then,  you could talk as tough as you wanted, but if you didn't have a weapon or someone to help you, if the thug wanted to cause you physical harm in nearly all cases he could do so.

I watched this week on the plane, and it's chilling in light of our current events.