This is a very puzzling episode to end season 17 with, and it poses a number of questions. Why are Thomas Brackenreid and Violet Hart nowhere to be seen? Is the former's role in the show being reduced? Why is Dr. Ogden so keen to take up the position she was offered in the U. K. when she enjoys a (presumably) rewarding one at the new Women's College Hospital in Toronto? Why is William Murdoch prepared to let her leave him on his own, taking their infant daughter with her? Is all this even remotely believable? If it is intended as a cliffhanger to keep viewers wondering what is going on until the new season begins next autumn, at least it succeeds in that respect.
Reviews
10 Reviews
A triumph
26 March 2024
I have to admit being of two minds about the prospect of a musical episode of "Murdoch Mysteries"--frankly, it wasn't something I had ever imagined watching in the seventeen seasons that I have been following the series. Having seen it tonight, however, it is clear to me that "Why Is Everybody Singing?" is one of the cleverest and best executed ones the production team have ever put together. It was a wise decision on their part to frame the musical numbers within a fairly standard mystery plot rather than creating an all-singing-all-dancing episode; that said, all the main characters--as well as one returning guest villain!--had an opportunity to display their talents in a way that fans of the show won't soon forget.
Major events lie ahead
16 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
It was most gratifying to see "Murdoch Mysteries" return to its customary standards with this episode. The final seconds, showing Margaret Brackenreid's vision of her son Bobby, in uniform, in the midst of a scene of carnage, is clearly a flash-forward to the Great War of 1914-1918. As the series progresses in time, having moved on many years now from its beginnings in the late 1800's, I am sure that many viewers, like myself, have been wondering how those events will be integrated into the show's storylines; they obviously cannot be ignored, for they reshaped world history, and had an enormous impact on this country.
Improbable in so many ways
10 January 2024
This is possibly the least impressive "Murdoch" episode in recent memory. I confess to having limited interest in stories about Scottish clans and their enduring and rather arcane rivalries, but I could have put up with this plotline had it not been for the ridiculous device of dressing up the very non-Scottish William Murdoch and Thomas Brackenreid in Scots attire and having them participate in the "Highland Games"' Toronto offshoot. The only redeeming feature of the episode, in my view, was poor Henry Higgins' disastrous and amusing attempt to compete in the caber-tossing event. Sadly, that occupied far too little time in the scheme of things...
Fly Me Away
(2021)
Quel beau film...
18 August 2023
I hadn't accorded this film a second viewing since I acquired my DVD copy of it a year or more ago, but I took it down from the shelf tonight on a whim, and was immediately reminded of what a moving experience it had provided. I looked up the Wikipedia entry concerning Christophe Barratier's film and learned with some surprise about the production difficulties it had experienced because of the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic. The credits are worth watching to the end, because the vignette that shows the young boy blowing out the birthday cake candles on his fifteenth birthday is heartwarming to say the least.
Le loup et le lion
(2021)
Worst subtitles ever?
5 December 2022
I knew nothing about this film until a friend who'd enjoyed it brought it out for a viewing recently. The storyline was engaging enough, the coached performances by the animals were impressively done, and my sole strong reaction was to the morally bankrupt circus owner trying to teach his son to lie. I have an unfortunate habit of checking out subtitles, however, and I have to report that the ones provided were frequently beyond inept; on several occasions they contradicted what the actors were saying, or left out important information. Someone ought to have taken them more seriously, especially for the benefit of viewers who needed to rely on them.
How time flies...
23 March 2022
A viewer paying the slightest attention to the timeline of "Murdoch Mysteries" would be aware that the current season is situated not in the late 1800s, as was Season 1, but in the years leading up to the Great War --I would guess about 1911-1912 by this point. I thought that this episode was, in the best "Murdoch" tradition, both an enjoyable mystery story and a dig at our contemporary society and mores. Instead of the World Wide Web, we have the PPP; as a nod to the future Facebook, we have Face Space; we even have amusing allusions to the memes of present-day social media, viz. Inspector Brackenreid's delight at the equivalent of cat videos. Maybe it needs to be pointed out as well that, at the episode's end, Pendrick abandons his new technology, leaving it to be reimagined at a much later date. Part of the charm of this series is the way it reflects its period and also ties in with our own; perhaps it would be sensible not to insist on a literal depiction of the era the show is set in...
Unconscionable
29 September 2021
I enjoyed this season opener on the whole, and appreciated the new light thrown on several key characters and relationships. However, from my position in the socialist Kingdom of Canada, the idea of a private individual being able to purchase, and presumably influence the running of, a major hospital is beyond abhorrent. As a result, I don't think I will be able to stomach any subsequent episodes in which this becomes an issue, and I will have to ration my viewing very carefully in future.
I Am Jonas
(2018 TV Movie)
A gripping film
8 May 2021
For accuracy's sake, it should be noted that the story's earlier segment is set not in 1995, but in 1997. The death of Princess Diana is referenced, and she was killed at the end of August of that year. Various French reviews have established that the later segment takes place in 2015, three years before the film's release.
Coroner
(2019–2022)
Not disappointing at all
25 January 2019
This series is turning out to be quite gripping, and I'm already hoping that a second season is in prospect. The CBC can be a little timid about renewing its drama shows (the excellent "This Life" was cancelled after just two seasons), but this one deserves better. Contrary to an earlier opinion on this site (I strongly suspect that, when a reviewer starts off a negative comment about gay characters with the phrase "I'm not homophobic, but...", he very probably is just that), it's good to see that Jenny Cooper's son is not merely your everyday moody teenager. His being gay is another thing that she has had to accept in her life (quite successfully in this case, it would seem), and I don't see how showing him in a caring relationship can be objectionable. The number of television shows down the years in which non-heterosexual characters were simply non-existent far outweighs the number, at present, in which they are shown to be part of the world. All that said, it does seem up to this point that Jenny spends more time outside of her lab than any other coroner in memory...
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