Ripper Street A Series Overview (spoilers if you haven't watched the whole season)

So I'm getting around to this a bit late, but whatever I want to chat about Ripper Street so I shall!  All and all I have been nothing but thoroughly impressed and entertained by this show's first season.  Though, I often wonder if the title "Ripper Street" holds the show back a bit.  We know historically that Jack was never caught nor did he murder any more women past the point the show begins, but the constant illusions to Jack and his victims get old.  I mean, obviously they couldn't call the show Whitechapel because, well, that's been done.  That being said, I still love the show's writing, I only hope that expands even farther next season.

Now, as far as season finales go... well this one wasn't at the top of it's game.  And it involves Rose, getting kidnapped and nearly dying again.  Rose, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER.  You are literally a dumb whore.  DS Drake has practically thrown himself at you, he's gives you his whole heart, nearly commits a robbery to win your heart and what do you do?  Respond to a lonely hearts ad and get yourself kidnapped and nearly human trafficked.  Well done.

Anyhow.  The tired plot of Rose's kidnapping was made up for with fantastically beautiful shots like these:

As if to distract you from the fact that Captain Jackson had been jailed, accused of being the Ripper the episode before and it really didn't get addressed it much during the episode.  As everybody is out looking for Rose, and apparently Reed is not having a full on affair with Ms. Goren now (which, btw people who didn't watch on BBC America, did they edit the shit out of that scene?  They were just suddenly in bed, were the Americans robbed of a sex scene?).

During the episode though, Reed (after Ms. Goren pretty much tells him to grow a pair) finally tells Emily what happened to their daughter, and how, not only is it his fault, but he thinks she may still be alive.  See, the bad guy of this episode who kidnapped Rose was with their daughter when the boat crashed and he survived.  And we are constantly shown him and his kidnapping family with a little girl.  You want to believe it's Reed's, but let's be honest  this is a British show and they aren't big on happy endings (I'm looking at you Doctor Who and Being Human).  I'm going to spoil it for you now.  It's not her.  But that's beside the point, Amanda Hale NAILS this scene, she deserves a billion awards just for this one single moment.  Seriously she needs to be in more things all of the time.

Anyway, my personal favorite part of the show comes after the bad guy was shot to death before Reed could find out where he was keeping Rose (and possibly his daughter who is not his daughter).  Basically, Captain Jackson performs an autopsy on the bad guy and the whore he supposedly ripped solving both cases while fucking handcuffed.  Now that's badass, clearing your own name while your wearing handcuffs.  Loved it.

But that's not even the best part.  After he clears his name, Jackson scalps the body of the bad guy in order to convince the kidnapper's sister that they are torturing him so the police could ascertain the location of the kidnapped women.  I am very pro Captain Jackson, and he's American so woot woot!

Anyway the episode ends with a bit of a sigh of relief, everybody is safe and sound.  All three men are back together again and ready to solve a new case.

So yeah, kind of a "wah, wah" ending, but I think part of the disappointment comes with the editing on American TV.  I really hope we weren't robbed of a sex scene between Reed and Goren, but it's more than that.  Seeing blurred out body parts on the dead bodies seems kind of silly and takes me out of it.  Any how,  I loved this show and look forward to another season.  I really hope the cast gets high praise and lots of awards because they were fantastic.  Really, bravo Ripper Street, Bravo!

Ripper Street Just Keeps Getting Better And Better

Is there nothing about this show that isn't beautiful?  Between the sets, costumes, dialogue and brilliant performances it's hard to find a fault.  I find with most TV shows that no matter what, there tends to be something irritating about a show, whether it be a cast member or cinematography or bad writing, but this show, much like Boardwalk Empire, is not only is it historically well written and put together but superbly acted.  Well, Boardwalk had to deal with Paz de la Huerta, but they got rid of her right quick.  The truth is, there are no cast members in this show I would want to see removed, in fact I find myself wanting more of certain performances.  Basically, I think we need more Emily Reid (Amanda Hale who I wrote about in Being Human), her performance is quietly brilliant portraying extreme depth in silence.  That girl needs to get in some Pinter plays.

Everybody on Ripper Street is wonderful, and a shout out to Adam Rothenburg who is playing Captain Homer Jackson, an American actor playing an American.  I mean, even in America we don't cast Americans in main or sometimes even title roles, a good accent goes a long way.  But Rothenburg is not only the real deal, but he keeps up with veteran and extremely talented British actors.  It's not secret that the Americans and British have very different acting styles and educations, but Rothenburg shines along side his Brit brethren so bravo!

But I had a point when writing this blog and my point was this.  Matthew Macfadyen is brilliant.  It's like watching poetry in motion.  He plays Edmund Reid with grace and beauty.  Reid's character isn't a new one, damaged cop with skeletons in his closet and a crumbling marriage.  We've all seen it before.  But Macfadyen brings something new.  It's not all close to the cuff, get your work done and move on.  In every frame you can see the pain of his life shining behind his eyes and he is constantly battling against it.  I mean... look!  Look at this:

I can't!  I can't!  It's just too good!  And his scenes with Emily... OH!  The two of the together are a lethal emotional combination.  They play off each other so well.

In the past few episodes we keep seeing the same few characters popping up over and over again.  One of those characters is Deborah Goren (played most lover-ly by Lucy Cohu).  At first she seems like a minor character but she kept popping up episode after episode.  And without showing it overtly,  you could see the unhappily married Reid falling in love with her.  So what you ask, characters fall for each other all the time.  No, you don't understand, Macfadyen played it in such a way that you could tell he had no clue he was falling for her and you could see in his eyes the moment he realized how he felt.  When he finally kisses her, you felt the release of the building tension as much as his character must have.  Isn't that why we watch TV?  For these kinds of cathartic moments?  Boy does Macfadyen deliver.  I could honestly go on and on with how impressed I am with this performance.  Macfadyen truly breathes new life into a totally beaten to death character type.

Oh don't worry Jerome Flynn, I haven't forgotten about Drake, the brute with a heart of gold.  It's just that your presence on this show is disturbing to me as I adore you on Game of Thrones and your main character status on Ripper Street makes me believe you may be biting the big one this season.  I don't like that.  Either way, Drake is the complete opposite of Bronn, showing the range that Flynn can perform.  No offense Flynn, but you have the face of a tough guy, so it's not hard to see you as the muscle on a show, but on Ripper Street he is sensitive and kind... even if he does beat the shit out of most suspects.  His pining over the whore Rose (played by the absolutely gorgeous Charlene McKenna) was heart breaking.  He was like a puppy.  I love contradictions, but they are hard to pull of, Flynn does it with skill.

Another character that I hope to see more of is Long Susan, played by MyAnna Buring.  Her character is still a complete and total mystery, other than the fact that we know she is in bed (literally and figuratively)  with Captain Jackson.  And we also know she is a tough cookie.  For a women as lithe and beautiful at her, the tough bitch character is hard to play convincingly, but the small amount of fear in her eyes shows that her mask is on the verge of slipping.  I really look forward to see more of this macho madame.

If you haven't watched Ripper Street yet I suggest you do so, especially if your an aspiring actor because there is a lot to be learned from these talented men and women.  I hope to see a lot of awards in the futures of these actors because boy do they deserve them.

Ripper Street: Series Premiere

Last night was the series premiere of BBC's Ripper Street and as with all BBC shows I was thoroughly impressed.  As far as series premiere's go this had everything, murder, sex and really really supreme acting.  Of course, I, living in America, had to watch the show on BBC America and you can't help but feel a bit cheated by the editing and commercial interruptions.  But we will get to my gripe about BBC America after I rant about the high quality of Ripper Street.

Ripper Street follows the detectives of East London known as H Division shortly after the infamous Jack the Ripper murders.  The show opens with a Jack the Ripper tour.  High class Londoners cower in fear and disgust behind a barker who brings them to all the sites where Ripper bodies were found.  It's all fun and games until you stumble upon a body.  Isn't that always the way it goes?  And, oh my, it would appear that she's been ripped, throat slit, eyes hatched and gashes all about her face.  Cue the frantic shouts of murder.

From there, the show goes on to follow Detective Inspector Edmund Reid played superbly by Matthew MacFadyen and his partner Detective Sergent Bennet Drake played by Jerome Flynn of Game of Thrones fame.  They enlist the help of American ex-field surgeon Captain Homer Jackson played by Adam Rothenberg who is a great foil to the two stuffy detectives.  Of course as I sit watching the show I can do nothing but panic about Jerome Flynn's leading role.  Does that mean curtains for the wise cracking Bronn on Game of Thrones?!  Whoever will protect Tyrion Lannister!?  Oh March you cannot come fast enough!

But I digress.  The plot follows the quest of these three men to prove whether or not Jack the Ripper committed this murder.  They are under intense public pressure since, of course, they never caught the man who tore through East London's whores like some sort of demon breeze.  On one hand the press hounds them, falsifying facts in the case to make it seem like Jack is back, on the other hand DI Reid is being hounded by his superiors, who secretly pray that it is Jack's doing so they could have the chance redeem themselves.  I will not go too deeply into the plot of the show as I would like to give people time to watch it.

Overall I found the show beautifully filmed, well written and as with all BBC productions brilliantly acted.  We have only been given a glimpse at each character, learning bits and pieces, but you can see all these men have been through in their eyes.  So far we have seen Captain Jackson as a bit of a whore monger, living in a whorehouse.  He seems to be in cahoots with Madame of the house, they both hint at hiding from something in their past and I can't wait to learn what that is.  Then there is MacFadyen who gives a wonderfully refined performance.  I have yet to be disappointed by a MacFadyen character, whether or not the film he is in is any good.  His character holds the weight of the world on his shoulders, but does so with a cool head and a steady hand.  We learn in the episode that he has a horrific looking burn on his shoulder which gives him trouble, making even putting a shirt on difficult.  How did he receive this?  I'm sure we will soon find out.  Then we have my dear Bronn, Jerome Flynn.  Flynn's character is a scrapper and a fierce fighter.  Or at least that's how he seems.  As we delve deeper into his character, we find a gentler man with high moral standards.

The only drawback to the show is BBC America.  It would have been better suited for HBO or any other non-cable channel.  Ripper Street includes graphic violence, nudity and sexual situations.  I feel like I'm missing out on the full vision of the show by watching this heavily edited version.  Not to mention the ever oddly placed commercial breaks.  Listen BBC America, I appreciate what you do, trust me I do, but sometimes it seems like you don't even try.  I've seen you cut off the end of sentences to begin commercial breaks.  I know you need commercials, your not government funded here, but Jesus!  While I'm ranting, the BBC has more to offer than Top Gear and anything involving Chef Gordon Ramsey.  If I see one more 6 hour stretch of Kitchen Nightmares I am going to scream.  And, I know you're BBC America but you don't need to show American TV shows.  We get those here.  And yes Patrick Stewart is a God who happens to be English and Star Trek Next Generation is awesome, but why do you constantly air it???  Ok, I'm biased and I wish you would only air Doctor Who, but I wouldn't mind more Graham Norton or Torchwood or Copper or bring other BBC shows over.  I know it's off season, but I know for absolute sure that Chef Gordon Ramsey is not the only entertainer Britain has to offer.

Ok back on track.  Ripper Street is a show worth watching, if not for the great cinematography and writing, but too see how the characters develop over the season.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!