5.2 A Brittle Thread The way in which everyone behaves in A Brittle Thread proves to be the episode’s most interesting element, each one approaching their similar goals in wildly different ways. A lot of it has to do with the power dynamic between the various parties, particularly when it comes to the opposing forces of Reid and Dove. The men are two sides of the same coin; both are calculating and intelligent, plotting not only the next move, but the ones after that. As Shine observes, it’s a battle of two tacticians, matched in wit and operating on the strength of their respective knowledge of the other. It is Reid who makes the first move here, leading to an extremely grisly scene in which he and Jackson desecrate a corpse to look like another of Nathaniel’s victims, thus disproving the pervading theory that it was Croker who cut a murderous figure through Whitechapel. It’s a bold move designed to draw both Nathaniel and Augustus out into the open and while it succeeds in causing something of a stir, Reid’s previous actions prove to be the scheme’s undoing. His first scene with Miss Castello is practically an explosion, a previously unseen aspect to a man who is usually so cool as to be the proverbial cucumber. That emotional measure is recovered later when he offers her evidence of the extrajudicial murder that has taken place within H Division. Both scenes are effective explorations of a character used to being in control and moulding the world to his needs. Reid threatens him so much because he is actively undermining that control at all turns and is perhaps the first person to be able to match Dove so closely. The end of the episode sees them at an impasse with allies lost and gained for both. In the middle of it all is Jedediah Shine, circling around the principle players like an exceptionally vicious hunting dog. Though he might not have the same level of intelligence as the two men he is caught between, he proves to have a cunning that neither Dove nor Reid expect of him. The dominant aspect of Shine here, though, is the way in which he combines it with a carefully directed violence. A Brittle Thread is a fascinating instalment to follow on from the foundations laid in the series’ opening episode, continuing the focus on characters that has raised the quality of Ripper Street’s later years. With loyalties tested and power dynamics shifting all across Whitechapel, the stage is set for Reid and Dove’s next move. Read Becky’s review of the previous episode, Closed Casket, here. This review was originally posted in October 2016.
