'In My Protection' -- Ripper Street 1x02

Warning: Spoiler Alert

So, Reid and Emily are both grieving for someone. Why do I get the feeling that part of the problem that Emily has is the fact that Reid as thrown himself into his work? She's made it clear that he is distant with her (though I get the feeling that that isn't from lack of emotion or empathy (after all, he did say that he would take away all of her pain and suffer it himself if he were able), but is just how he copes with his own pain), and he does seem to spend quite a bit of time at work (far more than he spends with her).

I'm beginning to wonder if the two of them are grieving for a close family member. At first, I thought that maybe it might have been an elder sister of Emily's ... that perhaps Reid was originally in love with (and going to marry) her, but that she was killed (or died through some sickness that they didn't have the proper medicines for at the time), and so he married Emily instead. But the fact is that the pain seems like it is far too new for that, and it seems like it is rather significant that we learned that they were grieving for someone in an episode where children took such a prominent role in the episode. So, now, I'm thinking that maybe what we are seeing here is the grief of parents who have lost a child. I think that maybe she might have been murdered (perhaps as a result of the Ripper's actions, but probably not by him directly ... but perhaps by someone who fancied himself a fan of the Ripper) and that is why Reid has thrown himself into his work (body and soul) to make sure that the Ripper doesn't come back (and that there aren't any copycats of his crimes). It's true that Reid may have taken the Ripper's crimes kind of personally anyway, seeing as he seems to be the type of man who wants to protect those who can't protect themselves from such things, and he seems to think that there should be order and peace (even if it's hard to come by ... and maybe even more because their hard to come by), but he seems to be taking the Ripper's crimes a bit more personally than that (as well as the crimes of Rudy Carmichael, which seem kind of despicable since children were involved ... even if what he did gave them a small amount of security on the streets by banding together).

And the thing with the ring and the owner of it being "dead" ... yeah, I don't believe for a second that the owner is actually dead. It seemed far too much like we were being given a nod and a wink where that was concerned, and that the real owner of the ring was actually Jackson. We already know that something happened in America that Jackson and Susan are trying to get away from; so, what if they resorted to taking someone else's identities to do so? Ok, so maybe this theory isn't as plausible as the one about the possibility that Reid and Emily may have lost a child through murder, since Jackson's medical expertise would give him away if someone was really wanting to find him ... but they are trying to hide from something ... and the fact that they are helping the police (even if it's the police in another country) seems like it's something that will come back to bite them in the asses (since Reid doesn't seem the type to just let something go. He's not the obvious bulldog that Drake is, but I get the impression that once something starts to eat at his mind, he's going to want to figure out what the solution is so that his mind can rest). There is definitely something there with the ring; too much of a big deal was made about it for it not to turn out to be significant later on).

I kind of think that the writers want us to believe that the reason why Drake was having trouble sleeping was because of his military service (and that maybe the reason why he is such a bulldog is cuz he is trying to protect himself, or at least give the impression that he doesn't have a heart ... but the way that he was trying to reassure Thomas makes me think that he may be kind of a softie on the inside), but I'm wondering if it isn't more than that. I got the impression that he may have seen (and perhaps done) things that were particularly awful, and he wasn't able to shake it. It couldn't have been what he saw in Whitechapel, since he got the tat in Egypt (and the implication was that he got it when he was still in the military). Maybe he was somehow involved with torturing someone for information? Or maybe he saw killings that he couldn't justify? I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that there is something significant there.