“Everything you would see rid from these world, I glorify,” says Lady Vera Montacute after being brought into Lehman Street for questioning by Inspector Reid.

What, you didn’t think he was never coming back, did you?

Some time has apparently passed since last week’s episode, when Reid’s flicker of life suggested he was far from out for the count. Now, he’s back on the Whitehall streets, seemingly never more at home.

Here, we see him leaning comfortably against the police station, sitting back with a contented smile on his face. It’s a striking contrast from the bedridden mess or the psychotic avenger we’ve come to know in Season 3 of Ripper Street: we’ve seen him at his saddest this season, but now, also at his happiest.

If Episode 7 has something of a generic, case-of-the-week vibe about it, that only serves to highlight how much things are back to normal on Leman Street. It’s a bizarre step backwards for the show, after such an epic narrative arc that demanded a bloody pay-off: from the moment Matthew Macfadyen emerges from the shadow into the light, glasses and polite manner in place, what, you wonder, is he doing here? Why not die, as many expected? Or run away with his daughter?

It’s a question that the other characters are clearly asking themselves – and The Incontrovertible Truth, if nothing else, answers it.

Once again, the programme highlights just how good its supporting cast, from David Wilmot’s
gout-suffering Sgt. Donald Artherton, who yelps every time he stands up, to Josh O’Connor’s fresh-faced PC Grace. The entire episode is stolen, though, by Lady Vera. Laura Haddock is fantastic as the socialite under interrogation, seductive, sad and serious in equal measure. We may not get any time with Long Susan or her loyal doctor, but we get more than enough female wiles to marvel at. (Poor Bobby Grace doesn’t stand a chance.)

What unfurls is a tale of stabbing, sleaze, drugs and society’s wealthiest members, where what matters most is whether people prove amusing; a case of boredom more than traditional whodunit. Political pressures soon clash with Reid’s own passion for justice. What’s impressive, though, is not the satire or raunchy subject matter, but the way in all this is communicated: with the minimum fuss possible.

The episode’s central set piece is simply two people sitting at a table, the most thrilling chase when Captain Jackson dashes to the lab with an idea of using fingerprints to solve the crime – science to overcome scandal. In a season where guns and body parts have played their biggest parts in the show’s plot to date, it’s an impressively confident change of pace. At 75 minutes, this is the longest episode of Season 3 so far, but those additional minutes are used for character development, not gratuitous sex or bonus bullets. That extra breathing space allows time for the subtle performances to shine – the kind of unhurried moments that make Reid’s sudden transformation back to his old self believable.

“They knew that all that was out there was savage,” he says, of a village in his dreams. “They saw that threat and felt the urge to strike out, to find food and bring it home. To survive. The necessity of struggle.”

It’s a beautifully delivered monologue, one that takes is right back the start of Reid’s journey: the need to fight against the evils that others glorify. But things have changed since then. When he calls upon Drake to perform his trademark interrogation skills, there is a sense that Bennett is only going through the motions; just like the rich types under suspicion, Whitechapel is a sea of masks and false appearances. The most surprising mask, though, belongs to Reid. And where once those still waters might have seemed shallow, now, they run deep. The simple act of sitting back in a chair has never seemed so significant. Reid is back, it seems, and he’s not going anywhere.

You can watch Ripper Street Season 3 online in the UK on Amazon Prime Instant Video, as part of a £5.99 monthly subscription. Or, if you want unlimited free delivery in the UK, as part of a £79 annual Amazon Prime membership. Seasons 1 and 2 of Ripper Street are available too.