The Whitechapel Project

Because of a big plot development in episode ten, I’m putting the entire post-mortem behind a cut. Normally I assume you’ve already read or listened to the episode before you read the post-mortem, but in this case you definitely should if you want to avoid spoilers.

You have been warned.

Author’s Commentary

I’ve planned to have Jack the Ripper involved in this story in some way from the very beginning. While I’ve left lots of elements about the plot open, I did know at some point that Six would learn that he is tied in some way to Jack the Ripper. I do have some ideas on how that would play out, but like with all things with Whitechapel, how it ends up working out is up in the air.

When I offered up the names that Six was called, it actually informed what character would impact this episode on some level. I honestly figured most people wouldn’t pick up on “Druitt” since it wasn’t mentioned in any way on the site (“McPhearson,” for example, was tagged in episode nine), but a few readers picked up the reference pretty quickly. In a very cool move, they kept things to themselves as much as possible, but when I saw that Druitt was chosen, I knew I had to have Jack involved in the episode.

And I admit, I had absolutely no idea how I would do that. That’s part of the reason why I delayed a week — I knew this episode needed me to think about it a bit more than most, and I just wasn’t giving it the time it needed over the holiday.

I actually debated not spilling the beans this episode, because for some reason I had it in my head that the revelation of Six being involved with Jack the Ripper was part of the big reveal. As I thought about it, though, I kept looking back at my roadmap for the story, and this is the point where things get even worse for Six. And what can be worse than thinking you’re the most notorious serial killer in history? So, Six finding out about Jack isn’t really the end of the story, but the part where it gets worse. What he does with the knowledge — that’s the story.

I also confess that this was the one I was most nervous about. I was afraid that it would be too over-the-top, too corny. From the commentary I’ve gotten on the board and the email I’ve received, it seems like I hit the balance well — people who saw it coming a bit didn’t quite see that coming, people who didn’t see it coming were totally floored, and I think folks get that the mystery of Six isn’t resolved yet — not by a long shot.

Voting and Discussion

Voting and discussion was pretty subdued this time, but I’m not surprised — I did just drop a big bomb in people’s laps. There was just no contest in the voting — people love the trope of the mysterious woman walking into the hero’s life. Whether it’s the mysterious “Elizabeth” or not is something I’ll decide on in the next few days. :)