S05.03 All the Glittering Blades

[Deanie87]

Quote

The serial killer - Nathaniel Dove - is hid in the Hackney Marshes, but how long can he stay out of trouble?

This episode was quite a departure, and I have mixed feelings about it.  I was completely sucked in by the semi-stand alone story and thought that the acting, the directing and the cinematography was better than in the last couple of episodes.  But...it was barely an episode of Ripper Street and we don't have many episodes to spare!  I guess I wish that either we had a lot more time to explore some of the minor-ish characters because I do think that giving them complexity adds to the depth of the story overall, or that this was done a lot earlier.  I mean Prudence seemed to be more fully fleshed out in one episode than Rose ever was during her entire run, at least for me.  And yet, she is really not at all important in the ongoing story of Reid, Jackson and Susan.  Of course, I appreciate getting to know more about Nathaniel and thereby Augustus, because I find both characters to be very interesting (much, much, much more than the uber-villain Shine or even Mathilda at this point), but I'm just not sure that this was the best time for such an episode.

I did enjoy the brief scenes back at the theater, especially the one between Mimi and Jackson.  Lydia White is an excellent crier!  I wouldn't be surprised if Jackson ends up having some real regrets about his choices.  If not now, then much later when all the excitement has worn off.  I have a hard time imagining him, Susan and the boy setting up a home and living life in boring domesticity.

[weyrbunny]

That’s more like it. I really enjoyed the return to poetry here. Both poetic imagery and language have been largely missing from S5, and Ripper Street has seemed lesser for it. (As well as seeming like a different show.) There’s beauty here, too, in the pastoral visuals and even in the “screams and hooves” tragedy of Nathaniel and Dove’s backstory.

A French phrase has come to mind: “L’heure entre chien et loup”, the hour between dog and wolf. It’s primarily a reference to dusk or the gloaming but also to dawn and other low-light times. It’s also synonymous with transition, ambiguity, uncertainty, and I’ve seen it used as an idiom for when you can’t tell who is friend or foe, dog or wolf. It fits Nathaniel’s psychology well here, as well as his dawn and twilight fishing activities.

The show has now peeled back the layers of a serial killer’s psyche in full, and Nathaniel is certainly a three-dimensional character because of it. I was interested to see that he has quite a lot of self-awareness and interior life. Susan and others have reused the phrase “child-like” to describe Nathaniel, but I see now that reflected how Croker and Dove treated him like a child—or how his submissive behavior was construed as simplistic—not his level of awareness or intelligence. Nathaniel sometimes understands Dove and Croker better than they do themselves—his protectors, but also very selfish in their treatment of him as a “beast of burden…beast of prey”.

The saddest moment here: when Dove is angry and steps towards him aggressively, Nathaniel backs up and cowers, not making eye contact. This is classic submission behavior from dogs. It was a sad reminder that Croker beat and kicked him sometimes, and Dove has likely always dominated him.

By showing his depth, one thing lost focus, though, that killing was an animalistic compulsion for Nathaniel. Ep 5.3 was about him resisting his compulsion—almost a “sinner’s journey” exploration of how he was faced with triggers and temptations at every turn. But by the end, he was so provoked and attacked, it lost meaning. It didn’t help that the Sumner family were such a stereotype of domestic abuse that it made the ending a forgone conclusion.

I appreciated that we got a break from Shine’s manic violence. He seems to have some of the same vague symptoms—headaches, unsteadiness on his feet, blurred vision—that Reid had at the end of Series 3, after being shot.

Nathaniel’s story was still brimming with violence and threat though—a knife in every scene seemingly, challenging how we take their utility and domesticity for granted. Even the beauty of nature was filled with threatening blades: the corn stalks, the grass blades, the eels.

On 1/5/2017 at 1:02 PM, Deanie87 said:

But...it was barely an episode of Ripper Street and we don't have many episodes to spare!  I guess I wish that either we had a lot more time to explore some of the minor-ish characters because I do think that giving them complexity adds to the depth of the story overall, or that this was done a lot earlier.

Good point. In retrospect, Dove and Nathaniel were too underdeveloped in S4, maybe because the show didn't want to give away how central they would be. The depth they're receiving this season is still very relevant thematically, but you're right that it would've felt less like a delay if it was presented earlier.

On a lighter note… Mathilda’s grape-purple, paisley shirt is hideously ugly. And she’s worn the thing every S5 episode, even to Drake’s funeral!

Edited January 9, 2017 by weyrbunny

[raven]

Did I really just see the three fugitives bitch at Thatcher, the guy they (well, the men) put astride a horse naked - this man they humiliated is now trying to give them information and they complain because they already have it?  The show is trying to show their cabin fever but my sympathy level for Reid, Jackson and Susan is pretty much at zero.

The Nathaniel/Dove relationship scenes are well acted and the episode was beautifully shot, but it felt so heavy handed to me (though Nathaniel accidentally killing Prudence was a surprise) and TBH I don't really care about the Nathaniel/Dove relationship, especially not when there are so few episodes left.  I want to spend time with the characters I've been watching for many seasons now.

All of this may have something to do with the series end game but it seemed self-indulgent and I was annoyed for most of it.

Mimi is a bright spot.  Mimi, I understand completely when you talk about how you feel when Jackson knocks on your door.  I hope there are no repercussions for Mimi sheltering the trio.

I wish I felt more positive; I'm glad we're getting a wrap up but this season feels so patched together.

[Snarklepuss]

On 3/23/2017 at 9:29 PM, raven said:

The Nathaniel/Dove relationship scenes are well acted and the episode was beautifully shot, but it felt so heavy handed to me (though Nathaniel accidentally killing Prudence was a surprise) and TBH I don't really care about the Nathaniel/Dove relationship, especially not when there are so few episodes left.  I want to spend time with the characters I've been watching for many seasons now.

All of this may have something to do with the series end game but it seemed self-indulgent and I was annoyed for most of it.

Mimi is a bright spot.  Mimi, I understand completely when you talk about how you feel when Jackson knocks on your door.  I hope there are no repercussions for Mimi sheltering the trio.

I wish I felt more positive; I'm glad we're getting a wrap up but this season feels so patched together.

ITA, but I think everything you've said is actually kind.  This season appears to have been taken over by a madman who hates the original characters and is putting them through an agonizing on-screen humiliation over several episodes and replacing anything decent about the show with gratuitous violence surrounding hideous, evil new characters the audience doesn't care about.  If this is what we got in exchange for another season, I actually wish they'd have ended the series last year.

Edited March 25, 2017 by Snarklepuss

[attica]

I too wondered why we spent the great bulk of this episode away from our trio. And the rest of it on various meditations on Beauty and the Beast. With the notable difference that the show depicted the usual outcome for such pairings, unlike the fairy tale.

[ganesh]

I'm watching all the episodes now, finally, so in the context of 6 hours in a row, it's fine, but I could see that once per week viewing would be a waste. I didn't see it coming that the brother was the kid's father though. Yeesh.