Ridley Road Review: Episode 2

Far from her cozy home in Manchester, Vivien soon becomes an adept amateur spy on on Ridley Road Episode 2. She plays her role nearly seamlessly, and yet a couple tiny mistakes leave us holding our breath.

For a young woman who was very recently claiming she wanted to stay out of politics, her complete transformation is more than physical. There’s a ferocity here that both draws us in and fully understands the threat posed by fascist bigots.  

In the span of this hour, Vivien gets confirmation that Jack is alive and relatively well, brings in information to protect the funeral of a slain Jewish boy and, together with Jack, sets up listening devises in Jordan’s house.

By the time we get to that last one, it’s clear that Jordan is as intrigued by the looks and personality of her alter-ego, Jane, as he is by Jane’s vocal commitment to the white supremacist cause. And, for better or worse, she seems poised to take advantage of this development.

There are many very uncomfortable dynamics to this relationship. We know from a flash forward in episode one that this relationship is going to progress quickly, especially as Jane bonds with Jordan’s heartbreakingly young and naïve son.

Yet we have no room to doubt that any actual romance presented in purely an act on Jane’s fictional part. It adds an extra level to that discomfort, then, to feel even for a moment that Jack might be jealous—or, worse, think her feelings are real.

Knowing ahead of time that this plan will work helps put minds (and stomachs) at ease. It’s not going to be fun to watch, but we can’t help rooting for how good at this Vivien as become. It feels, as she so wonderfully puts it, “bloomin’ fantastic”.

This isn’t to say that she’s flawless, and I’m not even referring to her and Jack (undercover as Peter) making out in Jordan’s office while we try not to yell at our screens about the literal Nazis just down the hall.

A young, pregnant worker in Jordan’s house, intriguing and mysterious in her own right, seems to warm toward Jane but also searches her pockets, finding a card for the salon where Vivien works. It’s unclear how or if this could lead to trouble, but it’s still worrying.

A cause for more immediate alarm could come in landlady Ethel discovering Vivien’s Hebrew book amongst Jane’s things. This, at least, is almost certainly going to raise questions, and I’m not sure she has enough training to answer them effectively.

At times we break away from these scenes back to Vivien’s family, where her father covertly receives updates on her actions, hiding them from his wife. These help to retain our connection to her old life, though they can be hard to focus on with such pressing matters elsewhere.

Former fiancé Jeremy does at least do his best to add to the overall tense tone of the show. He does this by threatening to raise the Epstein’s rent to an unsustainable level if their daughter does not return to marry him. As sweet and charming as he is interesting, that one.

Ridley Road’s biggest achievement might be how seamlessly it blends its fictional plot and characters with real life events. Colin Jordan was real. So was the 62 Group, even if the people running in in this world were invented by Jo Bloom.

What comes next should be thrilling if at many times deeply unpleasant. We want to see Jordan taken down while our heroes emerge unscathed. We just have to hope that the romance between Vivien and Jack will survive as well.

 

What did you think of this episode of Ridley Road? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Ridley Road airs Sundays at 9/8c on PBS.

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