RIPPER
STREET
Saturdays 9 pm on BBCAM
This is everything I wanted COPPER to be. Something about that
series always seemed to be just a bit off. I liked the setting, the time
period, the idea. It should have meshed but it never really did for me.
Then along came RIPPER STREET. Equally as dark, essentially the same archetypes but
now something is clicking. The stories are semi episodic with just enough of a
thread tying subplots together to help flesh out the characters.
Matthew Macfayden leads the cast as D.I.
Edward Reid. Without giving any spoilers, his back story revolves around his inability
to capture the Ripper. He is tormented by an estranged wife and the loss of his
young daughter. I first saw Macfayden in the original Death at a Funeral where is his droll, stoic characterization of
Daniel proved his comedic chops. Then I saw him in a miniseries called Any Human Heart where his dramatic side
overtook the series from Jim Broadbent interpretation of the same character.
This talent has carried him through grueling scripts this season as he’s
tackled copycats, socialists, and murderous characters.
Jerome Flynn plays his troubled partner
Sgt. Drake struggling to stay loyal to the force and his superior. Flynn does
double duty of Game of Thrones as Bronn. Where Bronn is cool in his battles,
Drake is a brute. Most often he is used to ‘interrogate’ suspects. Well, Reid
asks the questions while Drake uses his fists to get the answers. But there’s
more to Drake then brawn.
The final figure in this trio is rogue
Pinkerton agent and early coroner Captain Homer Jackson, an expatriate from
America. He and the Madame he bunks with have a history that has driven from
one country into the other. Adam Rotheberg plays the wily and mysterious
Jackson. A quick look at IMDB.com shows he’s had character roles in a large
array of dramas since 1999. He seems to have found a niche as Jackson.
Bottom line: The stories are goo, the
acting is solid, and the production values are high. Give it a watch if you
haven’t. BBCAM tends to give its shows a short shelf life. It cancelled The Hour after only two seasons. I haven’t
seen any mention of The Fades this
year. And where the heck is Dr. Who???????
BLATANT
SELF PROMOTION CORNER:
Yellow Mama will publish my western
short, Cavendish Rides next month. King’s River Life will run my soft
boiled short, At the Rainbow’s End
next week for St. Patrick’s Day. Finally, eFiction
Horror will post The Water Tower,
a steampunk horror tale of two boys and what they find in a water tower.
