Gentleman Jack episode 5 review: Street fights and heartbreak

As Gentleman Jack continues, both Ann Lister and Ann Walker learn that living life on your own terms can come with uncomfortable consequences.

If you were hoping that you were going to get a big dose of Regency-era lesbian justice on in the latest episode of Gentleman Jack, you’re probably a bit disappointed. (Although Ann Lister did get in a fistfight with someone; she just didn’t punch the guy we wanted her to in the face.)

For the second episode in a row, Ann Walker struggles with what she wants from life generally, and her relationship with Ann Lister, specifically. This is understandable, even if her constant internal waffling can feel a bit like watching a tennis match. Very few people in this time period would have been as open and accepting – even proud – of their own sexuality as Ann Lister was. Certainly not a sheltered, generally isolated woman like Walker.

In “Let’s have another look at your past perfect,” Ann agrees to let Lister buy her an engagement ring, and seems cool with the idea of having a low-key secret religious ceremony that would be sort of like a wedding for the couple. It’s sweet, actually, given how genuine Lister’s feelings have apparently grown, to watch her fumble about ordering a ring special from an out of town jeweler and describing why such a pseudo-religious ceremony is important to her.

(But of course she also makes sure to hit her intended up for some cash to fuel her coal mine project. Because Lister isn’t that sappy.)

Unfortunately, their love story also appears to be two steps forward, one step back for Ann Walker, who finds herself yet again considering the proposal of the creepy Reverend Ainsworth. This isn’t because she doesn’t love Lister, but because she’s not sure if she’s cut out to be the sort of trailblazer that being with her requires.

Like most heroines in a period drama, Ann Walker has spent her life largely protected from the world around her. She’s nervous and fragile, and generally viewed as weak or sick by those around her. There are real-life reasons for her sickly state – she likely has some form of PTSD thanks to the sexual advances (i.e. assault) forced upon her by best friend’s husband – but she’s never been what one might call assertive or strong.

Therefore, it’s a lot to ask of her all at once. To not just admit that she fancies women and wants a long-term relationship with Lister, but to face public scrutiny, cruel remarks from friends and religious shame all at once. And for someone who’s never really stood up for herself in her own life, it’s a challenge. That’s a great deal of norms to buck all at the same time.

Last week, we saw Ann wrestle with the idea of whether she should just marry a man for convenience’s sake, as that’s what everyone expects of her already. (Plus, she’s unlikely to go to jail for it, which is a bonus.) Here, those same concerns are still present, but with an added bonus of religion guilt as well. Ann learns that two men were recently hanged in York for homosexual activities – it’s not clear that she knew prior to this moment that her preference for woman might be dangerous, at times. And she’s browbeaten with heightened talk of sin and religion by one of her best (only?) friends.

Lister, of course, has a sincere if rather pat explanation about how she’s actually honoring God by living out her sexuality, since He’s the one who made her the way she is in the first place. This is, of course, a fairly modern take on the subject, and one that Ann herself must certainly struggle to grasp herself, given what she’d likely been taught at the time.

It’s also another one of those moments were you can’t help but wish that Gentleman Jack hadn’t picked up the story in the middle of Ann Lister’s life the way it does, at a point in which her thoughts on her own sexuality are all so set.

Of course, her attitude is an admirable one, but it’s also a bit frustrating to never see precisely how Lister got there. Did she always assume her attraction to women was normal? How did she come to not just accept her own feelings, but also be proud of them? And how did she square them with her clearly devout feelings on the subject of religion?

Ann Lister is such a force on this particular issue that it’s almost impossible not to regard Ann Walker as a slow stick in the mud by contrast, and to wonder why she’s taking so long to just commit to the feelings she so clearly has. But we have to remember how difficult a choice like that would have been. For all that Lister insists that women can’t be criminally punished for loving one another, that doesn’t mean that such a choice was consequence-free or that it wouldn’t have required upending a significant portion of Ann’s life.

And watching Ann cry and insist that her feelings are sinful? Well, it’s heartbreaking. But it’s not inaccurate. Just as Lister’s own response – that she deserves happiness because she’s living out her nature – is also true. It’s just the unfortunate side effects of the time period in which these women are living.

Elsewhere, Lister decides to make a go of her own coal mine, a move which riles up some of the men in Halifax who are okay with letting a woman be a little “odd” on the fringes of society, but apparently not so much when she actually takes charge of business matters. The terrible Rossens even hire a guy to threaten Lister in the street, and the two end up in a fistfight, which Anne regrettably loses. (Though she does get in a few solid hits, which makes me wonder who exactly taught her how to throw a punch.)

The lesson, though, is that Lister is seen as suspiciously different in many ways, and some of them are more likely to be ignored by society than others. (Her plan to simply pretend to be gal pals with Ann for the rest of their lives feels ridiculous, but likely would have worked, if they’d chosen that path.) But Lister the businesswoman directly threatens male-dominated structures – and denies the Rossens something they feel owed, as men.

In short: Here’s hoping Lister destroys them all next week.

 Gentleman Jack continues May 27 at 10 p.m. ET on HBO.