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Warning: Post contains major spoilers
“Murdoch Mysteries” season 13 episode 17 “Things Left Behind” finds the tragedy taking Toronto. “Still working?” the titular Det. William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) asks his wife, Dr. Julia Ogden (Hélène Joy). “Almost finished,” Dr. Ogden replies. “Can it wait?” William counters, adding “Sometimes there are more important things than work.” Pausing and looking up from her notebook, Julia wonders “What did you have in mind?” Coyly, Murdoch reveals “Well, I was headed to bed but the sheets are terribly cold.” And judging from their stilted conversation, it’s not just the sheets that are cold.
At the morgue, Toronto coroner Miss Violet Hart (Shanice Banton) is paid a visit from a suspicious acquaintance who warns that “he” is back in town before threatening “the sad truth is the things you do in life come back and when they do you have to deal with them. That is, unless you don’t mind everyone finding out who you really are.”
Exiting a pub, Detective Llewellyn Watts (Daniel Maslany) and his partner Jack Walker (Jesse LaVercombe) stumble down an alley where the pair stumble upon a freshly deceased corpse. Watts sends Jack home before phoning the murder in. Det. Murdoch and Constable Henry Higgins (Lachlan Murdoch) arrive on scene. Higgins reveals that a nearby household has suffered a robbery, a stolen painting. This reveals a spat of portraits from the same artist that have been snatched.
The deceased, it turns out, was a Boston-based con man, Walter Kingman. town in search of Miss Hart. He wanted 5 grand that Violet supposedly owed him from a scam in Boston. “That was my cut,” Miss Hart protests. But her past acquaintance murders him to protect Miss Hart. He blackmails Hart into tampering with evidence. What’s more, Special Constable Robert Parker (Marc Senior) recognizes Miss Hart’s acquaintance as a con man, Lincoln (Ryan Hollyman).
On his book tour, Constable George Crabtree (Jonny Harris) meets his self-described biggest fan, Amelia (Sarah Swire). However, it turns out she’s convinced that one of the characters from George’s book is her mother. This prompts a “Misery”-style kidnapping, replete with Kathy Bates-level obsession.
Julia and her co-worker, Dr. Dixon (Sebastian Pigott) are sent to a seminar at the London Medical College. Although Ogden protests on the grounds that the students may not accept a female instructor, she ultimately joins.
Observations:
A lot happens on “Murdoch Mysteries” S13E17 “Things Left Behind.” Several plots and subplots come to a head. The conniving Miss Hart masks some sort of secret. And her antics in the morgue continue. Oddly, while Murdoch expresses concern, Julia dismisses his suspicion. Especially since Julia witnessed Violet covering up evidence earlier, it’s curious why she defends Miss Hart in the face of Murdoch’s disbelief.
To cover up her crimes, Miss Hart lures Robert Parker to dinner where she murders him. It’s a shocking moment, and while I appreciate the way that, 13 seasons in, “Murdoch Mysteries” succeeds in surprising still, I do miss the character of Robert Parker. Brought to the series, Parker exits sadly underdeveloped. The sexual tension between Dr. Odgen and Dr. Dixon reaches an all-time high. This simply feels stale, as the series has explored the relationship turmoil of Murdoch and Julia extensively. I don’t mind some repeats, but it’s rather trite at this point.
There’s a tragic moment where Parker is forced to resign his post as special constable. Unfortunately, Det. Murdoch and Inspector Thomas Brackenreid don’t feel free to keep him on when the Chief Constable insists that Parker be let go. “It’s unjust,” Murdoch protests. “It’s the way of the world,” Brackenreid shrugs. “Well, it’s wrong,” Murdoch concludes. While neither Brackenreid or Murdoch agree with the decision, the show does a marvelous job in not sugarcoating the situation, and portraying society as it, unfortunately, was historically at the time. A bittersweet moment finds Watts and Jack stealthily smooching. If “Things Left Behind” is any indication, their relationship is headed for doom.
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