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Warning: Post contains spoilers
“Murdoch Mysteries” dropped a brilliant Halloween episode in season 12’s “Sir. Sir? Sir!!” which created quite a stir. The comedic romp was non-canon, proving divisive among Murdochians with its campy, out-of-this-world sci-fi riff on “Invasion of the Bodysnatchers.” Season 15, episode six “I Know What You Did Last Autumn” is a spooky, silly, seasonal Halloween special, finding “Murdoch Mysteries” at its finest.
It’s Halloween, and a killer clown is terrorizing young couples in Toronto. 17-year-old Irene Robbins receives a strange phone call with strange carnival music while spending an evening in with her beau, Perry Balfour. Moments later, there’s a knock on the door and a clown shows up, then proceeds to stab Robbins to death. Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson), Constable George Crabtree (Jonny Harris), and Coroner Violet Hart arrive on-scene. Hart explains that Irene was stabbed several times, “Suggesting she was killed in anger,” Murdoch hypothesizes. Balfour warns, “It’s him. The clown. He’s back.”
Students at Jarvis Collegiate were terrorized by a clown. As it turned out, the clown scared Jarvis students the Halloween before. When Donovan Kent, another teenager is murdered by the clown while spending the evening in with his girlfriend Leigh Iverson, it becomes apparent that the carnival-themed killer is targeting young romantic couples. Of course, this fits with Randy’s three basic rules to survive horror films: “You can never have sex, you can never drink or do drugs, and never (ever, under any circumstances) say ‘I’ll be right back’.”
Reporter Louise Cherry (Bea Santos) receives an anonymous tip about the clown killer. The previous Halloween, Cherry authored an article about a clown stalking “teeners” at Jarvis Collegiate. “That’s a silly word,” Crabtree scoffs. “It should be…teen-aged-sters.” A swing and a miss, George. Thus sets up a teeners (or teen-aged-sters) slasher much like “Halloween,” “Scream,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” and tons of other spooky cinema.
Back at Station House No. 4, Det. Llewellyn Watts (Daniel Maslany) throws a jack ‘o lantern carving contest. Unfortunately, despite his enthusiasm, Watts exhibits a distinct lack of dexterity with a knife. Inspector Thomas Brackenreid (Thomas Craig) asks Watts to save the pumpkin seeds since his wife, Margaret (Arwen Humpheries) likes to roast them. Constable Henry Higgins (Lachlan Murdoch) takes his son Jordan trick or treating, with young (and troublesome) baby Jordan.
There’s a Halloween party that Dr. Julia Ogden (Helene Joy) appears particularly excited about. However, her husband, Det. Murdoch, does not share her enthusiasm. Dr. Ogden dons a seductive witch outfit, and a confused Murdoch wonders aloud “You’re wearing that to the party tonight…It’s just that…aren’t costumes meant to be frightening?” After a break in the killer clown case, Murdoch informs George, “It seems we’ll be working late tonight, George. I’ll have to notify Julia that I won’t be able to attend the neighbors’ fancy costume party.” Constable Crabtree astutely points out, “You hardly seem disappointed, sir.” Murdoch matter-of-factly replies, “I am not.” Murdoch’s costume? A seductive detective. When Julia suggests that the good detective put it on, William quips, “Oh, but Doctor, I’m already wearing that costume.”
Throughout its 15 (and counting) season run, “Murdoch Mysteries” features several running gags, including a hilarious bit where George Crabtree names things and Det. Murdoch comes up with inventions (some of Murdoch’s past concoctions include fingerprinting, or taking fingermarks). However, that’s subverted in “I Know What You Did Last Autumn.” Crabtree doesn’t quite get to teenagers, instead landing on teen-aged-sters. But George does discover the magic of pumpkin spice. When Margaret Crabtree accidentally spills pumpkin spice on a batch of roasted pumpkin seeds, Crabtree tries a handful. Taking a sip of Inspector Brackenreid’s tea, contaminated by pumpkin spice, Crabtree grimaces before sprinkling some in his coffee for a pleasant surprise.
From the onset, with its eerie, theramin-laden remix of the “Murdoch Mysteries” main theme song, “I Know What You Did Last Autumn” pays homage to a bevy of horror movies. The title references 1997’s Jim Gillespie-directed “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Even the plot of “I Know What You Did Last Autumn” loosely follows “Last Summer” as a revenge-driven teen slasher.
Outside of the obvious, “Last Autumn” features throwbacks to a slew of other scary movies: “Scream’s” menacing phone calls, “It” with a killer clown, “Black Christmas” with the calls coming from within the house (or station house) trope, and more. One scene even finds a shot from peering out of the slats in a closet door similar to a moment when Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) hides from Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s 1978 “Halloween.” Playing marvelously upon horror movie tropes with plenty of specific nods to genre classics and cult classics, “I Know What You Did Last Autumn” offers fun, fantastic fan service.
Overall, “I Know What You Did Last Autumn” is spooktacular Halloween episode. Unlike “Sir. Sir? Sir!!” it’s canon. Jam-packed with horror movie tropes and throwbacks to a variety of well-known and cult classic genre fare, it’s a superb seasonal special. With a bit of murder mystery, a hearty helping of camp, a sprinkle of romance, and plenty of Halloween spirit, “I Know What You Did Last Autumn” is “Murdoch” at its best. In fact, I’ve only got one minor critique: No Arwen Humpheries as Margaret Brackenreid with her spectacular screaming abilities.
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