How many times have you seen that someone committed a crime and thought "they deserve the same thing"? Whether it was Casey Anthony or Brock Turner or anyone in between, we've all heard people have extremely harsh reactions to those who commit heinous crimes. However, this is simply a misconstrued idea of fairness. "Fair" is defined as "in accordance with the rules or standards" and the cruel and unusual punishment we witnessed in White Bear is definitely not in accordance with the rules or standards set in the United States, or in Europe. "[A]rticle 3 of the European convention on human rights, now part of our law by virtue of the Human Rights Act. . . states: 'No one shall be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.'" In our anger and disgust with criminals, it's easy to let ourselves think that they should get what they gave out, but letting our minds stoop to their level doesn't make us better people. Thinking badly of others, even if they are bad people, does nothing to strengthen our character; it only allows for negativity and hate to come into our lives. Watching White Bear, I couldn't help but think that if we all know that what Victoria Skillane did was wrong, why would anyone think it's okay to do it back to her? Just because Victoria may be a terrible person and just because she has done absolutely terrible things, it doesn't mean that she should undergo the torture and confusion and hurt that Jemima underwent. Regardless of who it was happening to, it all seemed to be wrong. 

In addition to this kind of punishment being unfair because of the laws against it, we have to decide if this kind of punishment is unfair because of the circumstances surrounding Victoria Skillane's involvement with the kidnapping and murder of young Jemima. Toward the end of the episode, while Victoria is being told who she is and what is happening, Baxter mentions that Victoria claimed to have been "under the spell" of her fiance, Iain Rannoch. Because we, as viewers, are unsure of the nature of relationship between Iain and Victoria, we can't say that this is untrue. It is impossible for us to say that Victoria was lying about this. Iain could have been abusive toward Victoria, Victoria could have been mentally unstable, Iain could have convinced her that they were doing something good, Iain could have been threatening her or someone she loved if she didn't comply; there are plenty of possibilities for why she said she was "under his spell" and what that meant as far as her going along with what he was doing. If this is the case, and she was coerced into this life of crime with Iain Rannoch, then it is hard to hold her accountable for the crimes. It is difficult for me to figure out where I stand on the situation we saw in White Bear because I don't feel like I know all of the facts of Victoria's life, her relationship with Iain, or the way the justice system worked in this episode.