by
Kristin Battestella
Rupert
Penry-Jones returns as Detective Inspector Joe Chandler for the
second, three part series of Whitechapel. This
time, Chandler, Detective Sergeant Ray Miles (Phil Davis), and the
East End team must unravel several violent crimes mirroring the
actions of the infamous Kray Twins. Soon, the detectives find
themselves targeted by a new pair of Kray descendants orchestrating a
complex web of law-breaking and corruption.
Cold
credits with period cityscapes, sixties gangsters, and mid century
boxing establish this Part One won't be a Jack the Ripper copycat
case continued. DI Chandler is bored with routine, simplistic cases,
and the snickers from the rest of the establishment won't let him
forget the letdown of the Ripper results. Fortunately, new blood and
violence intercut with the banal of detective dinners jars the empty
idle of the quiet squad room. They shouldn't be excited when the
phone rings, but floaters and precious few clues break the tedium of
nothing to do but clean and re-clear desks. Whitechapel balances
both the research of the crime – right down to a handmade shoe –
and the extremes of the job well. Is there an insider on the
case? Who has the skill and authority to pursue policemen at home?
Escaped prisoners are found dead while past shades of Kray
connections and mysterious informants add more than a whiff of
organized crime and higher corruption. Anonymous tips, gang related
parallels, and heavy costs within the department send constables
walking away from the case. Perhaps the Krays' infamy may not be as
well known stateside – certainly their tale isn't as popular for
Ripperologists. However, Whitechapel weaves
a complex case of thugs, violence, and an up the ladder trail. At
times, there are too many names, who is who, dismissed suspects, and
scared witnesses, but by Part Two, arrests are made despite a not
always helpful Organized Crime Division.
Escalating
interconnected crimes erupt over street cred and criminal celebrity
while mistaken identities, suspicious damages, and squad room
construction directly interfere with the case. All are looking over
their shoulders and ties at home assure no one ever truly gets out of
East End. With such threats and abductions, this case isn't going to
be solved by doing things proper and by the book. Paranoia is getting
to the boys on Whitechapel, and
the squad remains behind the ball thanks to tense consequences, old
retributions, and a reluctance to talk from those in the know. An old
fashioned bar room shootout sets up Part Three, leaving fatalities
and disbelief in Whitechapel's wake.
Everyone is on edge, suspecting resolutions in the wrong places and
clouding the case with personal viewpoints. Whitechapel
assures we are just as
interested in our constables cracking as we are about the cracking of
the case, and the learning to do their deductions the hard way makes
for some superb trauma at times. Granted, the previous Jack the
Ripper aspects can be oft done. However, this organized crime meets
regular cop corruption same old can be found anywhere, and these
unmemorable by comparison plots feel both stretched too thin and a
little much for only a three part season. This should have
been a taught, one off, ninety minute telemovie. Instead, Whitechapel
sets its crime war stakes
high – almost too high for our boys to win, rushing the changing of
the tide with good cops versus bad gangsters symmetry turning into a
slightly silly boxing ring ultimatum. Fortunately, despite a
ridiculously simple and downright obvious answer, actual
investigating pieces together the clues held all along, thus putting
Whitechapel back on track for the finale.
Forget
the jokes and Police Awards receptions, Detective Inspector Joe
Chandler is more than happy to pick up the phone for a “We got
one!” whodunit. Unfortunately, his eagerness to be on the street
doesn't prepare him to be out of his element with rough crowds or
tossed from private pubs. He marches about like he can handle
himself, talking to whomever he wants as if his badge means something
special. While he shouldn't be underestimated, he is off on the wrong
foot with this case, playing into the criminals' hands, and getting
caught – literally in the boot of the car as they say. He's warned
to back off the case and should be looking over his shoulder more,
but Chandler won't give up even after several mistakes. The suspects
themselves tell him he is the wrong sort of policeman for this
investigation, but Chandler attests that he doesn't care what people
think of him whether he is in line or not. Of course, he's threatened
to “take a holiday” and given one by force – not to mention his
car is stolen and a donkey is left waiting in his parking space. He
wanted a case to solve, however, the gangster games accentuate
Chandler's OCD, and Joe's counting thumbtacks and sorting them by
color to keep steady. Self-medicated drinking may curb these
obsessive compulsions, but such interference doesn't help Chandler or
the case. Our detective truly breaks once blood is on his hands –
forcing him to realize he isn't the best cop and that's okay.
Crusty
as ever but no less heartwarming in his own way, Phil Davis has no
airs or graces as Detective Sergeant Ray Miles. He's right to call
out the department politics and upward moving brown nosers for making
Chandler the laugh of the force when Chandler's putting his team's
safety before solving the case saved Miles' life. Unfortunately,
Miles is having a tougher time getting back to the job than he likes
to admit. Going his own way is one thing, but panic attacks and more
pent up anger than usual mean Miles isn't always forthcoming with his
previous ties and Kray family connections. Surprisingly, it's Steve
Pemberton returning as Ripperologist Edward Buchan who helps Miles in
a begrudging information exchange. Buchan knows a thing or two about
the Krays and his amateur detective work comes in handy for the team.
Again, I'd like to see more of Claire Rushbrook as forensic
pathologist Caroline Llewellyn, but it is tough to have her involved
beyond morgue moments. Although the ensemble is a bit too crowded
this season, we like the detectives and root for them even when the
writing is too thin or convenient on Whitechapel. At times the
secondary police are too obvious, interchangeable, or unevenly used.
Ben Bishop (Hunderby) as new transfer Finlay Mansell doesn't
do much while Sam Stockman's young DC Emerson Kent idolizes Chandler
– and pays for it dearly. George Rossi as family man and burly
jokester John McCormack struggles greatly with the Kray situation,
but Christopher Fulford as the demoted Constable Fitzgerald is still
about the squad room, too. While Craig Parkinson (Misfits) is
fun in his villainous dual role, Peter Serafinowicz (Shaun of the
Dead) as looks are
everything, highly decorated Detective Chief Inspector Cazenove is
worried about department embarrassments when this broadly written
character is embarrassingly obvious on Whitechapel. If
it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck...
Now
then, camera work should be used to accent the scene and build
atmosphere, not call attention to itself with flash flash flashy as
Whitechapel seems to think it
must do to stand out compared to other police procedurals. Although
not as bad as the debut season, this distorted photography or
artsy scene changes aren't necessary when better straightforward
filming is interspersed with brief narrations on the past crimes.
Sepia slices via period crime photos and a montage mix would be okay
– except slow motion is tossed on top for excessive hitting it over
the head emphasis. It should be one or the other, and Whitechapel
tries to look super
sophisticated when the intrusive glossy dumbs down everything.
Brief forensics scenes, surgical masks, and at the crime scene
inspection do much better in adding that touch of macabre and
violence. Shadows, alleyways, and darkness add a fitting sense of
danger for our team while traditional editing builds the stalking
scenes and ominous faces in the window. Now that these episodes are
five years old, the use of technology is also minimal compared to the
increasing instant crutch in more recent shows. Our detectives have
cell phones – ahem mo-biles – and computers, but
fortunately those devices are not an essential part of the crime
solving.
After
what feels like years of waiting, I was finally able to see this
second series of Whitechapel on
Hulu Plus. The DVDs never seem to be available here across the
pond, so a few ninety second ads aren't a bother. The subtitles can
be irksome at times, but it's easy to marathon these three episodes –
which you almost have to do to keep all the details fresh. Yes, wise
Whitechapel viewers will see the answer in the first ten
minutes of the first episode. This isn't eerie anymore, and the tonal
shift toward standard police drama is drastic enough to put off
audiences who tuned in solely for the debut season's Ripper update.
However despite the uneven writing flaws, viewers watching
Whitechapel for the
characters and the conspiracy possibilities can enjoy the yelling at
the tele drama here.
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