The Peace of Edmund Reid

Episode aired Dec 26, 2014
TV-MA
1h 9m

IMDb RATING

8.9/10

438

YOUR RATING

Crime Drama Mystery Thriller

The murder of an American journalist, recently arrived in London to help Fred Best, may have life changing consequences for Reid and everyone else.The murder of an American journalist, recently arrived in London to help Fred Best, may have life changing consequences for Reid and everyone else.The murder of an American journalist, recently arrived in London to help Fred Best, may have life changing consequences for Reid and everyone else.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.9/10

438

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

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User reviews2

8.9438

Featured reviews

7southdavid

Season Three Review

It's been quite a while since I watched season two of "Ripper Street", but I did always intend to carry on with the series at some point, and, in the last few weeks - that point has arrived. This was the first season of the show revived by Amazon and, as if deciding to make a splash from the start, it begins with a spectacular set piece.

Drake (Jerome Flynn) returns to Whitechapel by train, after a spell in Manchester. His return coincides with an organised heist of another train, that has unforeseen consequences as it causes a serious accident resulting in many deaths. Trying to get to the bottom of who is behind the heist has a knock-on effect for Obsidian industries, Susan Hart's (MyAnna Buring) company that has engaged in buying up and clearing slum properties to create a new East End. Her work eventually reveals the actions of one family, that has a remarkable set of consequences for Inspector Reid (Matthew Macfadyen)

Despite some elements stretching the bounds of credibility, or, to keep things spoiler free, it's better described as the limits of forgiveness, generally I quite enjoy "Ripper Street". The performances from the central cast are good, with criminally underrated David Dawson taking his largest role in the series today date, as journalist Fred Best, who is on to Obsidian's role in the disaster early and tracks it relentlessly. This season also sees the arrival of Josh O Conner as a junior constable - which wouldn't have been much of a consideration to me at the time the show originally was released, but now he's one half of the tennis double act in "Challengers" which is one of my favourite films of the year so far.

Story wise this is perhaps the best plotted season so far, with each episode feeding the main story whilst not losing it's "case of the week" focus. The timeline for how long the season is supposed to take though is interesting, with Reid in particularly having not one, but two storylines that should perhaps have kept him out of more episodes than it actually does.

Having crossed the halfway point now I'm still enjoying "Ripper Street" and look forward to the remain two seasons.

Trivia
The episode title "The Peace of Edmund Reid," is spoken by Fred Best (David Dawson). "We, the children of the east, of the docksides, highways, rookeries, and laneways, we pray for the peace of Edmund Reid."

Goofs
When discussing the distribution of arms to "anti-imperialist forces (which may be argued is a usage anachronism in itself)," Jackson mentions "anti-U.S. to the Philippines." The US did not acquire the Philippines as a territory until the Spanish-American War (beginning in 1898), so the anti-imperialists would have been anti-Spanish until then. This scene clearly takes place 3 years at least before the outbreak of that war.

Quotes
[last lines]
Fred Best: [v.o] London will remember him for this, that he was the detective who, alongside Detective Inspector Frederick Abberline, led the pursuit of the man we at The Star named "Jack the Ripper." But whilst his streets might, in the years since, have found some measure of recovery, it is this obituarist's fear that Edmund Reid did not.
Mathilda Reid: I shall race you, my Daddy.
Fred Best: [v.o] If there is justice where he now walks, it might be that the care which he wore so heavily will be lifted from him. Those who knew him, those who did not, those who may have only seen him stride past in pursuit of whatever villainy beset him that day, we might offer a prayer for him. And this might be our prayer for peace. For his peace. We, the children of the East, of the docksides, highways, rookeries, and laneways, we pray for the peace of Edmund Reid.