The ring that Henry Goodsir retrieves from William Gibson is the one he forgot to take from David Young after his death as he had promised him in Go for Broke (2018).
The famous author, Charles Dickens (played by Tristan Teller), speaks on behalf of Lady Franklin to pressure the British Navy to expedite a search and rescue mission for her husband and his crew. Dickens would be the central character in another historical fiction novel, "Drood," also by Dan Simmons.
With 0.78 million viewers, this was the least watched episode in the first season.