Ripper Street S2 Meme -- Rise of Jedediah Shine, Morality of Sgt. Drake, & Moral Downfall of Reid...
The show's season two really went up a notch with character developments and England's historical events. Season two was definitely a solid season, but I have to rank season one a tad bit higher. Having that said I'm really happy to hear Ripper Street was renewed for a third season. The show has so much potential to at least last a couple more seasons. There is so much to explore with 1890's England, and I want to see what becomes of the characters' fate. As of late I have had so many shows that are having their farewell season or have been cancelled. Granted, I have new shows that have replaced these shows, but I still miss my favorites hehe.
Ripper Street is one of the few dark shows that are on my tv show docket. Its gritty, dark, grimy, and you never know what to expect. Afterall, the show's setting is England's White Chapel neigborhood that could honestly serve as the real Gotham City in a historical context. Ripper Street isn't afraid to show the darkside of humanity, however; what I love about this show it also show the lightness in humanity as well through the main and supporting characters. One such character that show the lightness of humanity in season two was the show's interpretation of the Elephant Man (more on him later). Its intriguing to see how the main characters are tempted by the darkside and are having inner struggles with themselves to keep the light within them.
Favorite Episodes: "Pure as the Driven", "Am I Not Monstrous?", "Become Man", "Dynamite and a Woman", "Threads of Silk and Gold", and "Our Betrayal Part 1 & 2"
Least Favorite Episodes: "A Stronger Loving World"
Favorite Storylines: There were so many in the show's second season.....
The Tragedy of the Elephant Man -- I was blown away by the show's interpretation of the Elephant Man. I loved how they gave this historical character such grace, love, and intergrity. The show also showed the tragic life he lived with his disease and the ridcule of society due to how he looks. I was literally in tears when he died *sniff*. I really loved his interaction with Inspector Reid and the circus folk the most.
The Rise of Jedediah Shine -- Jedediah Shine has to be one of my favorite villains I have watched this year in anything. Shine is evil down to his core. He thrives off the suffering of others to profit in his own agenda. Jedadiah Shine was pretty much Inspector Reid's shadow self. I wonder if the show was doing their own parallel of Sherlock Holmes to Professor Moriatry. By the end of the season you can understand why Reid wants Shine six feet under, but at what costs? I'm really curious if we will see Shine in the show's third season considering season three will take place four years later.
The Morality of Sgt. Drake -- One of my favorite storylines involved Sgt. Drake's rise of morality. So much as happened to poor Sgt. Drake that I love that the writers haven't kept this character stagnate. They could've easily kept Drake as the show's muscle. It is so easy to get certain characters into stagnate positions. I have to hail the writers for giving Drake of morality. He's the man that does Reid's dirty work for years, and now he turns it on Reid thus waking Reid up in his moral downfall. I'm really curious to see how Drake is four years from now, and how Reid and Drake's friendship is. Will these two boys ever be the same?
The Equality of Long Susan -- Long Susan has to have the most uncomfortable storyline in the season, however; it is a storyline that must be told. You can't go into 1800's England without noting the discrimination women go through. Heck, another favorite show of mine Sanctuary had to show this discrimination during their flashbacks of Helen Magnus. It's uncomfortable, but that's the whole point. There are sadly still areas of our world today that continue to go through this discrimation of women. The writers pushed the limit of Long Susan's story. It was uncomfortable, awkward, and scary. However, the ending of Susan's storyline has a huge payoff. I love how Susan not only stood her ground to Duggan, but also to Jackson as well. She learned so much from Jane Cobden's supporters that you can see Susan progress as a women against the discrimination she now sees regularly. Sounding like a broken record, but I'm curious to see what she is like now four years later.
The Moral Downfall of Inspector Reid -- The downfall of Reid was a tough one to watch *sniff*. It was so nice to see Reid finally find someone after the tragedy he had to witness and go through with his young daughter and wife. So to see it taken away just as quickly was brutal. I did like seeing the evolution of the downfall from all the cases he has come up against to constantly fighting with Shine. The more as the season went along the more it became evident that Reid was about to lose it. Alas, to see Reid's utter breakdown at the fighting match was so sad to see. He finally broke to what White Chapel has become. I'm really curious to see what becomes of Reid due to the time jump. Did he make amends with Drake? Is he still looking for love in all the wrong places? Did he lose his job? Questions and more questions.
The Historical Events of 1880-1890's -- I just loved the historical backstories of Chinese immigration, London Matchgirls Strike of 1888, Electrical War of Currents, Cleveland Street scandal, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Joseph Merrick aka the Elephant Man, and the Baring Crisis. I thought the show did a terrific job at bringing the historical aspects to life in a very creative way. The last time I saw something like this was on Stargate and Sanctuary. I'm curious to see what they use in the next season *fansqueels*.
What did you think of the season in general? As stated before I really enjoyed this season. It's slightly lower than the first season, but not by much. I can't wait to see what is in store for next season!