"Ripper Street "is a BBC program that follows two Whitechapel detectives, a wayward American surgeon, and strong-willed brothel madam in Victorian London following the Jack the Ripper murders. The show aired from December 2012 to October 2016, but all five seasons are available now on Netflix.
I watched "Ripper Street" whenever I could, usually two or three episodes a night. When it was airing, it did eventually make its way to America, but I never saw any advertisement for it. Figures—the shows I usually fall head over heels for are generally the deeply underappreciated ones.
Why should you watch "Ripper Street"? I will tell you.
The strong female characters.
While Inspector Edmund Reid (played by Matthew Macfayden, aka Mr. Darcy), Inspector Bennet Drake (played by Jerome Flynn), and Dr. Homer Jackson (played by Adam Rothenberg), are the forefront of the story, the female characters hold their own.
The two leading ladies, Long Susan the brothel madam (played by MyAnna Buring) and Rose (played by Charlene McKenna), one of the prostitutes that works for her, are not what you would call damsels in distress. Either of them gets stuck in a messy situation, they get themselves out rather than wait for one of the dudes to save them. They are smart, strong women that survive by their wits.
It’s not just Rose and Susan either. There several women throughout the show’s run that are badass in their respective ways, such as Councilwoman Jane Cobden (who was actually a real person), Mimi Morton, and Inspector Reid’s daughter Mathilda (who I am nervous to mention because she is a spoiler of sorts, but I love her so much I just can’t not talk about her).
Accurate portrayal of Victorian London/Whitechapel.
"Ripper Street "is not just pretty Victorian costumes with the occasional gruesome murder scene. The writers of the show do not shy away from how "bad "Victorian London was during the later half of the 19th century. Corruption was everywhere. Poverty was everywhere. Aside from the Jack the Ripper murders, "Ripper Street "also covers various other issues of the time period: opium break-outs, Chinese immigration, the London matchgirls strike of 1888, freak shows, and persecution of Jews.
Morally gray characters.
You are not going to find any cookie-cutter Mary Sues on "Ripper Street. "Though at the end of the day Reid, Drake, and Jackson would do anything for each other, these guys have taken beatings from one of the others and occasionally pointed a gun at another’s head. Jackson and Reid have good intentions, but tend to do questionable things to get what they think needs to be done. Drake is the one I can say is inherently good and the feminist of the three, but he’s a pushover and that has gotten him into enough trouble.
Long Susan is definitely morally gray. There are many times during the show I found myself yelling at my computer screen: “Susan, "what are you doing?"” Sometimes, she knows what she is doing is wrong, but she’s desperate. Other times, she is genuinely sorry for her actions. There are even some villains on the show that I sympathized with, once I learned more about their backstories.
19th-century forensic science.
As an avid watcher of crime shows, I cannot tell you how many times I was shocked at seeing Jackson, who serves as the medical examiner of Whitechapel, not wearing gloves. But back then, they didn’t have the knowledge, or regulations, modern-day police and forensic scientists do. To me, it is fascinating watching people of the era learn more about science and develop it to what we know as 21st-century medicine.
Good romance, but it does not take away from the story.
So many shows are taken over by sex and relationship drama. "Ripper Street "is an exception. The relationships in the show take a backseat to the real stories. Sometimes, they play a role, but more often than not they don’t. Compared to some other popular programs on TV, this is refreshing.
Have you convinced you to watch "Ripper Street "yet?
