Toronto 1895 - Steampunk Town
Jun. 25th, 2010 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sergebroomI recently discovered detective show "The Murdoch Mysteries". Based on the characters ot author Maureen Jennings, it is set in Toronto circa 1895, which also happens to be the same year as the Adventures of Brisco County Jr. But I digress. Or maybe not.
William Murdoch is a young member of Toronto's police dept. His boss has an old-fashionned approach to police work, but even he recognizes that Murdoch's interest in the newfangled modern methods of criminology work better than beating the crap out of people. He asks questions. He questions the obvious. When a woman becomes the prime suspect in the shooting of her husband, the detective concludes that the blood stains on her dress were from holding her husband in her lap because firing the gun at close range would have sprayed blood all over her chest. That leads to an interesting scene that shows some of the ugly things of the past: the woman, who is black, expects little justice from the police and when Murdoch asks for her dress to use as evidence, he is horrified when she starts taking it off, thinking he's asking for sex in exchange for a more favorable treatment. Earlier in the series, Murdoch applies for transfer to a another position, he is turned down in spite of his exemplary record because "…Toronto is a Protestant city…"
I liked the series's first 4 episodes well enough that I'll seek out further stories from NetFlix. My wife thinks that Murdoch, played by Yannick Bisson, is too much the average good-looking French-Canadian. ("Snort!") I heard that. That being said, the character is a quiet man who'd make Lt Columbo look arrogant. I rather like that myself. While the station's coroner, Dr. Julia Ogden, examines the corpse of a boxer who'd been quite the favorite of ladies, Murdoch asks why women are so attracted to such brutes, and she launches into a clinical explanation of how it ensures that the male will be very good at protecting the female and her offspring. She then sees his crestfallen expression, and she clumsily points out that some women are also drawn to Intelligence, to which he comments "Oh, intelligent thugs."
If I'd aim a real criticism at the series, it's that it began with its best episode. I mean, the story starts with a death by electrocution during a demonstration of the 'dangers' of alternating current by Edison's lying cronies. It then drags Nikola Tesla into the inquiry, in the course of which he builds for Murdoch a secret listening device the size of a suitcase. It was rather disturbing to have Tesla speak with a North-American accent when it was obvious they'd done their research elsewhere, with a reference to his ability to build machines in his head before doing it in the physical world, and his always wearing gloves. But that's a minor quibble. At the end, Murdoch, a lover of Science, looks up at the sky and, a bit worried, reflects upon Things to Come and says:
"What a Future it shall be."
William Murdoch is a young member of Toronto's police dept. His boss has an old-fashionned approach to police work, but even he recognizes that Murdoch's interest in the newfangled modern methods of criminology work better than beating the crap out of people. He asks questions. He questions the obvious. When a woman becomes the prime suspect in the shooting of her husband, the detective concludes that the blood stains on her dress were from holding her husband in her lap because firing the gun at close range would have sprayed blood all over her chest. That leads to an interesting scene that shows some of the ugly things of the past: the woman, who is black, expects little justice from the police and when Murdoch asks for her dress to use as evidence, he is horrified when she starts taking it off, thinking he's asking for sex in exchange for a more favorable treatment. Earlier in the series, Murdoch applies for transfer to a another position, he is turned down in spite of his exemplary record because "…Toronto is a Protestant city…"
I liked the series's first 4 episodes well enough that I'll seek out further stories from NetFlix. My wife thinks that Murdoch, played by Yannick Bisson, is too much the average good-looking French-Canadian. ("Snort!") I heard that. That being said, the character is a quiet man who'd make Lt Columbo look arrogant. I rather like that myself. While the station's coroner, Dr. Julia Ogden, examines the corpse of a boxer who'd been quite the favorite of ladies, Murdoch asks why women are so attracted to such brutes, and she launches into a clinical explanation of how it ensures that the male will be very good at protecting the female and her offspring. She then sees his crestfallen expression, and she clumsily points out that some women are also drawn to Intelligence, to which he comments "Oh, intelligent thugs."
If I'd aim a real criticism at the series, it's that it began with its best episode. I mean, the story starts with a death by electrocution during a demonstration of the 'dangers' of alternating current by Edison's lying cronies. It then drags Nikola Tesla into the inquiry, in the course of which he builds for Murdoch a secret listening device the size of a suitcase. It was rather disturbing to have Tesla speak with a North-American accent when it was obvious they'd done their research elsewhere, with a reference to his ability to build machines in his head before doing it in the physical world, and his always wearing gloves. But that's a minor quibble. At the end, Murdoch, a lover of Science, looks up at the sky and, a bit worried, reflects upon Things to Come and says:
"What a Future it shall be."
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Date: Jun. 26th, 2010 01:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Jun. 26th, 2010 01:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Jun. 27th, 2010 04:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Jun. 28th, 2010 10:15 pm (UTC)Not a good combination.
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Date: Jul. 6th, 2010 09:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Jul. 6th, 2010 01:48 pm (UTC)