"Stroll on the Wild Side (Part 1)" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of the Murdoch Mysteries and the fifty-ninth episode of the series. It first aired on April 10, 2012 (UK).
Summary[]
Murdoch tries to solve the death of a quiet librarian, who gets killed alone in a library and dragged to a forest. The other librarian co-worker is William's ‘might-have-been’ love, Anna. After getting many details from friends and companions, it seems the young lady was engaged and very quiet. However, Dr.Grace discovers a tattoo of a rose.
Murdoch is told Dr. Ogden is at the Station House, arrested for illegally teaching women about contraception. He tries to talk Julia into going home but Julia is determined to have her say as a doctor concerned for women’s health. She is visited by Crabtree and Dr. Grace. Dr. Grace is ready to plan a rally to shine light on the injustice. Then Darcy talks her into coming home by promising to join the fight together. She relents but states she hasn’t given up.
Both Anna and William try to discover why a peaceful, quiet, young bride-to-be would have a tattoo on her ankle. They finally discover the girl has been seducing a man at a local pub and bar. According to the man, they met and she undressed for him.
Dr. Garland is warned by his superior that he has a spirited wife and a “handful”. Garland asks Julia to curb her campaigning for women’s health because of his possible promotion to head of hospital. Darcy promises Julia that they will accomplish so much together. Julia succumbs to Darcy’s request to compromise and disappoints Dr. Grace.
Crabtree and Higgins practice their pitch for the baseball challenge Brackenreid has accepted and after breaking glass, Crabtree is made their pitcher by the Inspector. They later spy on the other team’s practice.
When Anna is alone at work in the library, she hears creaking floorboards. Scared she phones William, however George picks up saying William has gone out. Anna tells him to tell William to come to the library as soon as he can. Meanwhile, Anna confronts the man in the library. She is chased around the shelves, and hides, like a hide and seek game. When she finally is reluctant to take a look at where the man is, he is seen pointing his gun at her. William arrives at the library and the doors are locked. The episode ends with a struggling William trying to open the door, and a black screen comes on, with a loud gunshot.
Character Revelations[]
- Anna and William share a kiss, but it is not explicit that it went any further and it is debatable if the Catholic William, a man of honor, would let it. However, William's coworkers are surprised to see him arrive at work ten minutes late the next morning.
- George explains his pitching skills: his Aunt Nettle's farm in Haileybury was set upon by a plague of vermin of biblical proportions. Being a young lad at the time and not yet entrusted with firearms, he took to eradicating the little beasts by hurling stones at them.
Continuity[]
- Dr. Ogden returns to Station House No. 4, arrested for teaching contraception in her practice.
- Brackenreid and Crabtree employ the Scrutiny Camera to spy on the other Station House's practice.
- The Black Hand is indeed still a threat to Anna.
- The conclusion to this episode is in Stroll on the Wild Side (Part 2).
Historical References[]
- This episode takes place in Toronto 1899 – the Victorian Era (1837-1901) when Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, rules the British Empire.
- The Toronto Public Library started as a private subscription library, founded on 9 December 1810. In 1882, the Free Libraries Act is passed by the Ontario Legislature and, in 1883, Free Library By-Law is approved by a huge majority of Toronto voters, Jan. 1. Toronto and Guelph are the first municipalities in Ontario to create free public libraries.
- As Dr. Ogden points out, "tattooing has become something of a fad in England among the aristocracy." Soon after Japan was opened to western merchants and travelers, European royals revealed their tattoos, thus a lively fad called the "tattoo rage" began. It encouraged inventors, like Thomas Edison, to patent electric stencil pen devices and tattoo machines.
- Murdoch's investigation leads back to The Ward.
Trivia[]
- The first official pairing of episodes with Part 1 and 2 in the Murdoch Mysteries' titles.
Errors[]
- The man stalking Anna Fulford uses the two-handed grip on his pistol. But this technique was unknown at the time. It was first developed by Jeff Cooper in the 1950s.
- The light of the bike when Murdoch is rushing to the library stays brightly on with him running up the stairs. With a dynamo the light would quickly lose strength as the wheels stopped (which they did in the scene). Electric bike lights weren't invented at that time.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
Yannick Bisson as William Murdoch
Hélène Joy as Julia Ogden
Thomas Craig as Thomas Brackenreid
Jonny Harris as George Crabtree
Georgina Reilly as Emily Grace
Recurring Cast[]
Lachlan Murdoch as Henry Higgins
Lisa Faulkner as Anna Fulford
Jonathan Watton as Darcy Garland
Guest Cast[]
Eli Ham as Inspector O'Kelly
Tori Anderson as Lucille Messing
Amos Crawley as Geoffrey Coville
Stephen Park as Leonard Carling
Cliff Saunders as Stanley Faber
Peter Kosaka as Mr. Sato
Shawn Wright as Andrew Trevor
Derek Keurvorst as Franklin Lamott
Noah Davis as Mr. Wilson
Jenny Hall as Barmaid
Nick Spencer as Jake
Kristian Bruun as Constable Slugger Jackson
Michael A. Miranda as Falcone
Joey Kippax as Assassin
Non-Credited Cast[]
Byron Rouse as Pop Smith
Gallery[]
| Murdoch Mysteries Season 5 |
|---|
| "Murdoch of the Klondike" • "Back and to the Left" • "Evil Eye of Egypt" • "War on Terror" • "Murdoch at the Opera" • "Who Killed the Electric Carriage?" • "Stroll on the Wild Side (Part 1)" • "Stroll on the Wild Side (Part 2)" • "Invention Convention" • "Staircase to Heaven" • "Murdoch in Toyland" • "Murdoch Night in Canada" • "Twentieth Century Murdoch" Web-Series: The Murdoch Effect Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Season 4 • Season 6 • Season 7• Season 8 • Season 9 • Season 10 |