Ripper Street Recap: “The Good of This City”

Ripper Street Recap: “The Good of This City”
Original Air Date (BBC): Sunday January 20, 2013
Series 1 Episode 4

by C.S. Kane:

This week’s episode of Ripper Street entitled The Good of This City brought us once more into a vicious and brutal interpretation of the world that some women contended with during the Victorian era. The cold and harsh brothel madame Long Susan (MyAnna Bring) takes a more active role in the plot of this episode. It opens with her turning away the young and vulnerable Lucy Eames (Emma Rigby) who was once one of Susan’s best girls but who had previously left of her own accord for a number of years. The next time we see young Lucy she is wandering the streets plastered in blood muttering about murder.

The young Dobbs (Jonathan Barnwell) delivers her safely to the station and despite her dazed and traumatised state Reid (Matthew Macfayden) learns the location of the murder she speaks of. Reid, Drake (Jerome Flynn) and Jackson (Adam Rothenberg) make their way to the site of a slum facing demolishment to make way for the new railway tunnel system. The trio discover a dead man and woman in one of the old slum-houses and we quickly learn that the woman is Lucy’s mother. It appears to be a domestic incident but upon further investigation including a blood spatter analysis from Reid it transpires that Lucy was an innocent bystander as the man shot the woman then an unknown person stabbed the man in the neck from behind. The focus then switches to the identity of the mystery assailant.

With the diggers at Whitechapel underground excavation site working at full steam to lay and electrify the track at the behest of councillor, Stanley Bones (Paul McGann) the impetuous is placed on Reid to forego his investigations to allow the advancement of the railway. It is worth noting here that McGann, the much loved eighth incarnation of Dr Who himself, gives a wonderful cameo in this episode and in fact could well have had more screen time. The sense of urgency he presents is at odds with Reid’s determination to have the truth and makes for a great interchange between the two.

Slinking in the background we have reporter Best (David Dawson). Again, the references to the relationship between the media and the police is highlighted and developed. With Reid garnering information from Best rather than the other way around it appears that two men can benefit from each other despite their mutual dislike. The blossoming mutual affection between Reid and Ms. Goren (Lucy Cohou) of the orphanage featured in a previous episode is made apparent albeit through an awkward exchange.

The tale takes us into another shady side of the Victorian era when Lucy is admitted to an asylum and receives treatment at the hands of Dr. Crabbe (Anton Lesser). The dramatic turn of events that culminate in the institution grip the viewer through pace and tension. The ultimate resolution of the story is equally as dramatic.

While the self-contained plot is dealt with effectively we seem to learn nothing new regarding the backstory of any of the main characters which is unfortunate. Deeper character driven episodes would be appreciated at this point. The police procedural side is interesting but the intriguing element of the concept is the variety of unique characters.

C.S. Kane is a writer of horror fiction and a DarkMedia contributor. Kane has a penchant for the paranormal and is a true a sucker for Sci-fi. Interests include reading, writing, watching movies and enjoying good food. Keep up with the darker side of life by following Kane on Twitter at @CS_Kane and via the blog: www.cskaneofficial.blogspot.co.uk