What I’m Watching: Ridley Road (Series Finale)

Ridley Road: Season 1, Episode 4 (B+)

I hadn’t realized that the opening scene of the first episode was the same one we saw at the start of this hour, though there was much more intensity added to it once it became clear that Colin was fully aware of who Vivien really was. Baiting her with questions about her father was not a kind way to reveal that, and things didn’t look good when Jack was also being apprehended at the same time. Vivien did manage a daring escape on the roof, but then Colin showed up next to her on the train when no one bothered to respond to her calls for help. That might be more frightening and disturbing than anything else, the notion that someone could clearly be causing someone else distress and no one within earshot would do anything about it. Fortunately, Soly was able to communicate with Stevie and make it clear that they were on the same side so that he could get a message to his family. And after some severe gaslighting and some harrowing physical violence, Vivien did manage to make her escape, and it was affirming to see a happy ending. Nettie changing her perspective and even going so far as to sit shiva was a welcome development, one that’s hopefully representative of those who do manage to come through hatred and find inclusivity instead. This has been a very worthwhile series that effectively and expansively built its narrative in a short – I only wish it had been longer!

Series grade: B+
Series MVP: Agnes O’Casey as Vivien

Take Three: Ridley Road (Penultimate Episode)

Ridley Road: Season 1, Episode 3 (B+)

Vivien is acting in a fearless manner, gravitating very close to danger on a regular basis and not blinking. Her meeting with Françoise was intense, first being asked if she was a nanny or a mistress and then accosted in a much more physical manner, and she played it coolly, coming back later to fix her makeup while she listened to crucial intelligence about the synagogue and the rabbi as the next targets. Dropping the salon business card wasn’t a great move since it showed too much of her actual life, and that combined with Stevie finding the white power rally flyer in her coat means there will be far too many eyes on her that she doesn’t need at the moment. Needing to provide a birth certificate for membership so that they know she is who she says she is feels like a truly supremacist move, though in this case it makes sense given that she’s actually someone else. Nettie confronting her about finding the prayer book didn’t go nearly as poorly as I would have thought, and she seemed more upset about the lying than any sin like being a Jew. That she asked about the myth of the sheet being used in “Jewish relations” demonstrated that she had more curiosity than hate within her, which is at least somewhat promising even if that doesn’t apply to Colin and his crew. Vivien is going all in now, getting closer to Colin than anyone else, ready to do whatever it takes to bring him down and protect her community.

Round Two: Ridley Road

Ridley Road: Season 1, Episode 2 (B+)

Since this show is only four episodes long, things have to move fast, and so we got to see Vivien already meeting with Colin Jordan, not needing to do much to look for him and gaining relatively easy access. While he initially seemed wary of her, he grew close very quickly, and was ready to commit adultery with his children in the next room. She’s doing a phenomenal job of acting and making sure to keep her cover, and, though Jack was concerned to see her at first, he too seems impressed by her ability to convince Jordan that, like him, she’s a true believer, and that she should absolutely be trusted. It’s unfortunate, therefore, that Vivien has two people who know more about her than they should, with Stevie seeing her with Jordan and wondering what her true allegiances are and her bigoted landlord finding her prayer book that she tried to keep hidden. Given the meetings she goes to and how she’s being radicalized, she’s likely to try to turn her in, which could put her in the crosshairs of the same people who tried to interrupt the funeral and ended up getting sent to a different location where they still managed to desecrate a grave but did no bodily harm to anyone, despite the terrified man hiding behind another nearby grave. Back home, Vivien’s absence is having miserable consequences for her parents, who were expressly told that they would have to pay crippling rates if Vivien’s husband-to-be didn’t officially join the family.

Pilot Review: Ridley Road

Check out my one-minute take on every new pilot, which is embedded below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.