Gentleman Jack: Let's have another look at your past perfect

May 20, 2019 8:26 PM - Season 1, Episode 5

Reverend Ainsworth arrives in Halifax and, with encouragement from Mrs. Priestley, sets his sights on Ann Walker. Meanwhile, Lister presses on with the transformation of her estate, but her ambitious plans threaten to lead her into trouble.

Vulture Recap: One Hand In Her Pocket

posted by oh yeah! (17 comments total)

This is totally beside the point but damn I admired the flower arrangements Ann Walker had in her breakfast and sitting rooms.

Also, while I really liked Anne's confrontation with Ainsworth, the actor seemed to be channeling a bit of low-budget Hugh Grant which was distracting.

Anne getting jumped by the thug was brutal. I am hoping that she'll invest in some cane self-defense lessons after this.
posted by TwoStride at 9:59 PM on May 20, 2019 [3 favorites]

Anybody else pretty sure that Mrs. Ainsworth was "thrown from an open carriage" on purpose by Mr. Ainsworth?? I thought of this when I was watching the episode when we find out Mrs. Ainsworth is dead and this episode just makes me think it even more. When he reads the letter that says "Don't come over, I'm sick" and he tears up. Yeah, it does kind of suck this isn't working out for you huh?
posted by bleep at 11:32 PM on May 20, 2019 [4 favorites]

I thought that too, bleep--I thought that was part of the subtext of Anne going over to reveal her carriage accident crime-solving skills...
posted by TwoStride at 6:29 AM on May 21, 2019 [2 favorites]

Haha I didn't even think of that, I thought it was just general intimidation (which was also brilliant multitasking - I can intimidate this jerk while also impressing on Mrs. Priestley what a good person I am).

I also gotta say how much I loved Walker's little breakdown. I love her character so much.
posted by bleep at 7:45 AM on May 21, 2019

Suranne Jones was fantastic in the scene where Ann is freaking out again and uses "queer" as an insult and Anne is all, "You understand that I have feelings, right?" That was heartbreaking.
posted by TwoStride at 7:50 AM on May 21, 2019 [5 favorites]

Just popping in mid episode because I just watched the scene where Anne confronts Ainsworth and I think I need a cigarette.

Anyway. Carry on.
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:18 PM on May 21, 2019 [4 favorites]

Finally caught up with the show, and wow that was a bit of a ride. I love how it's all very very much shot in a female gaze way, with the camera both loving Anne and presenting her as the subject, not object, of all her scenes. Ainsworth getting ground to dust was incredibly satisfying, and I can't wait to see what she does to the Rawsons.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 11:57 AM on May 22, 2019 [1 favorite]

I was totally in the moment at the time, but in hindsight, what a well-staged, well-observed, character-driven, powerful, brutal, fight scene that waylaying at the end was! $MOOK's confusion as Anne keeps fighting when he thinks she's subdued allowing space for her to hit back. Anne's confident cane swinging in the earlier Rev. Rapey confrontation sets us up nicely for the contrast with the desperate flub she makes with it here, adding weight to the beating she's taking. Really solid action work in the type of TV show I wouldn't necessarily expect to find it.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 1:25 PM on May 22, 2019 [2 favorites]

This is totally beside the point but damn I admired the flower arrangements Ann Walker had in her breakfast and sitting rooms.

Me, too! They looked like paintings.
posted by Mogur at 4:53 PM on May 22, 2019 [2 favorites]

TV Line - Gentleman Jack Renewed for Season 2
posted by oh yeah! at 6:36 PM on May 23, 2019 [8 favorites]

Thank GOD
posted by bleep at 7:28 PM on May 23, 2019

I was just thinking about the historical Ann Lister as one does and I was thinking about how her moving in with her aunt and uncle at an early age and inheriting the estate was her way of amassing her own societal power and/or her family's way of using their societal power to protect her and let her be herself (someone who didn't want to be a wife) so that she wouldn't need to be under the protection of some guy. Whereas Walker's family is trying to protect her by getting her under a man's power (when Rawson sends the guy to beat up Lister he's doing it selfishly but also on some level he thinks he's doing it to protect his cousin from being taken advantage of), not in a way that involves letting her be herself. It's kind of a story about the importance of families who really love each other using their resources to protect each other and that real love means that you know who the person really is on a level other than how they're related to you.
posted by bleep at 10:47 AM on May 25, 2019 [2 favorites]

Wait, I thought sleezy Reverend send the guy to beat up Anne?
posted by TwoStride at 11:22 AM on May 25, 2019

Nope, Rawson the Bad Driver says to Rawson the Pushover that instead of meeting Anne's price he'll teach her what it's like to run with the big dogs. Not noticing they just almost ran into her leaving the bookshop. I do wonder if she'll put two and two together, or just for safety's sake grind the reverend into dust some more at the same time as setting up the Rawsons to suffer consequences for the gig incident.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 12:10 PM on May 25, 2019

Yeah, but thug had the whole "when are you going home?" thing to her (which she said to the Reverend) and ended with "Stay away from Miss Walker," which made it confusing to me.
posted by TwoStride at 4:13 PM on May 25, 2019

I think the “Stay away from Miss Walker” thing is because she’s Lister’s source of money for launching the coal mine, which is what makes her indifferent as to whether she accepts the Rawsons’ offer... and what therefore puts them at risk for discovery that they’ve been stealing Lister’s coal.
posted by carmicha at 4:50 PM on May 25, 2019

But Rawson is also shown to be disturbed that Lister has access to her money at all and his mother angrily reminds him that that's her cousin. I think it's all the things.
posted by bleep at 5:41 PM on May 25, 2019