The Tesla Effect

"The Tesla Effect"
Season	3
Episode	13
Airdate	June 13, 2010 (Canada)
Writer	Cal Coons
Director	Steve Wright
Recurring	James Pendrick Sally Pendrick Nikola Tesla Terrence Meyers
Previous	In the Altogether
Next	All Tattered and Torn

"The Tesla Effect" is the thirteenth episode of the third season of the Murdoch Mysteries and the thirty-ninth episode of the series. It first aired on May 11, 2010 (UK).

Summary

Detective Murdoch investigates the death by electrocution of Morris Garbutt, a former research associate of the famous Nikola Tesla.

Tesla arrives at the crime scene looking for his protégé who had sent him a telegram on an urgent matter. Murdoch deduces that Tesla's recent experiment with a new form of energy that is transmitted through the air, called microwaves, may have been weaponized by another missing protégé, Josef Karnaki. But Tesla points out for the weapon to be made portable, it would require advancements in miniaturisation and metallurgy which is far outside Mr. Karnaki's areas of expertise – not to mention the money needed to finance such a project. The Inspector reminds the Detective that they know a man who specialises in miniaturisation, metallurgy and money, but there's just one small problem: James Pendrick is in prison.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ogden tells Murdoch she is seriously considering an offer to be the head of pediatric surgery at a new children's hospital in Buffalo, New York. Murdoch is somewhat taken aback and is convinced there is something else that is driving her away.

Back at the Station House, Canadian government agent Terrance Meyers greets Murdoch and Brackenreid from behind the Inspector's desk. His sources have information that international rogues - "arms dealers" - are gathering in Toronto because a weapon with incredible destructive powers is about to be sold, adding "Gentlemen, the winds of war never truly die down."

Now, they must find Karnaki's death ray weapon before it is sold. Crabtree is assigned to Tesla to locate where the specialised materials were purchased. The Inspector bets the weapon is in a Pendrick building. Murdoch visits Sally Pendrick seeking a list of Pendrick's holdings, even as she is forced to deal with business matters since James' situation, she kindly agrees to help.

Murdoch’s plan is to deploy compasses around the city to map the direction of the compasses when they are drawn off magnetic north by the weapon’s charge – all intersecting at the location of the weapon. He confronts Meyers to arrange for the firing of the weapon at precisely six o’clock as the reason Meyers knows so much about this affair is because one of these “arms dealers” is a Canadian government operative who is attempting to purchase the weapon. With the location revealed, all five men arrive at Pendrick's livery only to realise it’s a trap and find themselves scalded in troughs of water to survive the death ray.

Murdoch soon realises he has been a fool, about many things, and sets his sights on the perpetrator of this and several other crimes.

Character Revelations

• Inspector Brackenreid reveals his middle name, "If you're not Queen bloody Victoria, then you'll not be ordering Thomas Charles Brackenreid around."
• Sally Pendrick is revealed to be a confidence woman and the mind behind all the crimes Murdoch thought James Pendrick had committed.
• Murdoch and Mr. Pendrick make amends, James Pendrick is not seen again until Season 5.
• Julia tells William that she is accepting the new position as head of Pediatric Surgery at a Children's hospital in Buffalo, New York.
• When confronted by William, Julia reveals to William that her abortion left her sterile.
• William buys a ring and plans to propose to Julia before she leaves.

Continuity

• Nikola Tesla returns.
• Prior to being called to the crime scene, William and Julia have just attended the play The Importance of Being Earnest at Shaftesbury Theatre where they had been walking by before in Love and Human Remains when discussing the importance of family.
• William and Julia are at another crossroad in their relationship and still can't seem to find the time to talk without being interrupted by a murder.
• George comes up with yet another prescient idea – micro-waved potatoes or yams, "one in every home in the future". (see ep.1201)

Historical References

• This episode takes place in Toronto 1897 – Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 1819 - 1901) is Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and Empress of India.
• The Tesla Effect (named in honor of Nikola Tesla) is now an archaic term for the application of a kind of electrical conduction (a movement of energy through matter – not just the production of voltage across a conductor); An operator can use the Tesla Effect in the wireless transfer of energy to a receiving device.
• The microwave technology was first experimented in the 1890s.
• The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, first performed in 1895 in London, England.

Trivia

• There was an alternate ending filmed; It is likely that if the Murdoch Mysteries had not been renewed, this ending would have been aired instead: William bikes to the train station and Julia is at the station, looking around for William. She is seen boarding the train as William arrives at the station and desperately looks around for Julia. As the train leaves, he finds her as the train leaves; They share a passionate kiss and hold each other in their embrace. The alternate ending is available as a bonus feature on the Season Three DVD.
• Some executives at Citytv thought it was time the series made changes which included writing out Dr. Ogden – until the quiet steadfast fandom (at the time) expressed their displeasure with that idea. Eventually, Citytv will decide to end the series after Season 5's finale, but not before adding Peter Mitchell as showrunner on Season 4.
• The second time a character other than Murdoch has had their name in an episode's title. This time it is also a historical character's name.
• In Fall of 2015, the Detective Hercule Poirot star David Suchet plays the formidable Lady Bracknell in the much loved masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest in London, England.
• "The Canadian Government would never get rid of a super-weapon and destroy all of the blueprints" --- reference to the Avro Arrow.
• Crabtree's "potato cooking room" line was ad-libbed by Jonny Harris.

Errors

• The flag in the office is on the staff upside down.
• The cartridges from a revolver are magnetically attracted to Sally Pendricks' purse. Since both casing and bullets are made of non-magnetic metal, this should not happen.
• The train Julia Ogden departs on has a caboose, which would not have been used on a passenger train; furthermore, none of the other coaches would have been used in the 1890s.
• The proposal ring Murdoch was going to give Julia is purple in this episode but it is red when it reappears in Murdoch in Wonderland.
• Julia's revelation that she is sterile seems contradictory to her request that William use "protection" during their absinthe-fueled passion scene in The Green Muse (ep.205). While it may be plausible that she is referring to protection against venereal diseases, it is highly unlikely given that she is asking pious William Murdoch.

Cast

Main Cast

Yannick Bisson as William Murdoch
Hélène Joy as Julia Ogden
Thomas Craig as Thomas Brackenreid
Jonny Harris as George Crabtree

Recurring Cast

Lachlan Murdoch as Henry Higgins
Peter Stebbings as James Pendrick
Kate Greenhouse as Sally Pendrick
Dmitry Chepovetsky as Nikola Tesla
Peter Keleghan as Terrence Meyers

Guest Cast

Christopher Stanton as Morris Garbutt
Robin Kasyanov as Josef Karnaki
Bernard Behrens as New Pathologist
Alex Broughton as Theatre Page

Gallery

Leaving the theatre

Talking about the future

Interrupted yet again

Be careful, William.

Tesla at the Blackboard