Review: Murdoch Mysteries “Murdoch and the Undetectable Man”

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Warning: Minor spoilers below

CBC hit series “Murdoch Mysteries” season 12 episode 13 “Murdoch and the Undetectable Man” offers some of the show’s wittiest and most charming moments yet. A man views a strange movie at the penny arcade, then rushes off looking worried. Shortly thereafter, he winds up dead, with Constable George Crabtree (Jonny Harris) and Det. William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) examining his lifeless body. While inspecting the crime scene, Nikola Tesla (Dimitry Chepovetsky) returns. Upon showing up, Tesla reveals that the deceased is Joseph Bosworth, an inventor. Tesla and Boswell were collaborating on an experiment with invisibility. “Mr. Bosworth was working on an object to render objects invisible,” Tesla explains.
Back at Station House No. 4, Inspector Brackenreid (Thomas Craig) returns from New York City. Unfortunately, while Brackenreid is back in Toronto, he’s not yet reunited with his wife, Margaret. Instead, Brackenreid finds residence in an apartment. And that’s not the only change. Verna Jones, an old acquaintance shows up with a meat pie, though it’s clear from her coy “you require…a woman’s touch,” that Verna doesn’t merely plan to give the apartment her woman’s touch.

Meanwhile, Murdoch and his wife, Dr. Julia Ogden (Helene Joy) continue their work on the revamped police investigative handbook. During “Murdoch Mysteries” season 12 episode 11 “Annabella Cinderella,” Ogden and Murdoch expressed extreme disapproval of The Police Investigative Handbook, complaining that its techniques are beyond outdated. However, the current version suffers from William’s dry tone. Therefore, Dr. Ogden enlists Constable Crabtree’s assistance in spicing up their writing. The published author that he is, George agrees.

Observations: 

“Murdoch Mysteries” episode “Murdoch and the Undetectable Man,” is ripe with hilarity, wit, and the clever trappings of top “Murdoch Mysteries” entries. Again, fate connects Det. Murdoch with a historical figure in Nikola Tesla who returns for a fantastic guest spot. In a comedic dinner moment, Tesla refers to Einstein, mispronouncing his name and commenting, that Einstein’s theory of relativity has no practical value. In true “Murdoch Mysteries” fashion, Tesla and Murdoch collaborate on an invention: the television. Their device, capable of broadcasting and recording a video signal, proves instrumental in catching the criminal.

“Murdoch and the Undetectable Man,” is inspired by H.G. Wells renowned sci-fi novel The Invisible Man, and it’s evident in the video clips which reference the Universal Monster 1933 film of the same name. Later, there’s what appears to be an “Alvin and the Chipmunks” reference when characters Simon Alvin and Theodore Alvin show up. It’s an engaging episode with a neat twist at the end.

However, “Murdoch Mysteries” S12E13 highlights are largely story-arc centric. Det. Murdoch and Dr. Ogden’s continued book progress results in a manuscript that’s more boring than a phone book. As Crabtree exclaims to Murdoch, “[Dr. Ogden’s] jokes are terrible, sir! Your writing makes me want to fall asleep. Hers makes me want to light this on fire for the good of humanity.” Inspector Brackenreid struggles to cope without his wife and children. Though he’s moved out, it’s obvious the inspector isn’t ready to fully abandon hope of reconciliation.

I love how throughout “Murdoch Mysteries” Det. Murdoch continually invents cutting-edge technology, and George derives names for future items. In a particularly meta moment, Tesla questions the value of television wondering “what is to patent? It would be of limited interest to the public.” The final scene of “Murdoch and the Undetectable Man,” George hammers out the title Murdoch Mysteries on his typewriter, the name for the Murdoch’s forthcoming book. Campy, quirky, and simply fun, this is a destined “Murdoch Mystery” classic episode.