Let Loose the Dogs

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"Let Loose the Dogs"
Season	1
Episode	6
Airdate	February 24, 2008
Writer	Jean Greig Cal Coons
Director	Don McBrearty
Recurring	Stephen McHattie as Harry Murdoch
Previous	'Til Death Do Us Part
Next	Body Double

"Let Loose the Dogs" is the sixth episode of the first season of the Murdoch Mysteries and the sixth episode of the series. It first aired on February 24, 2008.

Summary

Harry Murdoch is drunk and betting on Rat-baiting; he loses. A short time later, the man running the betting operation is found dead and Harry is lying drunk nearby. Murdoch is quick to believe his father guilty.

As the investigation progresses, Murdoch is extremely dependent on the memories of a young man who, at the time, was thought of as an idiot savant (now savant syndrome). The young man, the son of the victim, is looked after by the wife of the kennel keeper and despised by his father.

Murdoch concludes that the victim had attacked the woman and, in a rage, the savant killed his father.

After Harry Murdoch is released, he and his son talk and Harry explains that he was—and is—a drunk but that he had never hit William or his mother. Harry says he is heading west.

Character Revelations

• This episode marks the first appearance of Stephen McHattie as Harry Murdoch.
• Murdoch's mother died by drowning after suffering a concussion (also see ep.706)
• Murdoch was taken in by nuns after his mother died.
• Murdoch blamed his father for his mother's death for years.

Continuity

• Dr. Ogden suggests to Murdoch that his father deserves the same process he gives other cases as even the evidence doesn't suggest his father was the culprit but Murdoch even shuts her out for the first time.
• William apologies to Julia for his distracted and rude behavior.
• By the end of the episode, they go for a walk on Toronto Island together.

Historical References

• This episode takes place in Toronto 1895 – Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 1819 - 1901) is Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and Empress of India.
• Murdoch introduces Julia Ogden to a chemical test to determine that a blood sample is human.

Trivia

• Excluding the Murdoch Mysteries Films, this is the only episode to be based directly on one of Maureen Jennings' Murdoch novels, Let Loose the Dogs. In early interviews, both creator Jennings and Executive Producer Christina Jennings have stated that the novels and the TV series are two separate mediums – thus the storylines character relationships differ, giving the novelist and the MM Writers' Room creative freedom.
• "Me Ol' Mucker" Count: 1

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

Stephen McHattie as Harry Murdoch

Guest Cast

Dylan Taylor as Phillip Delaney
Lindsey Connell as Jess Lacey
Shane Daly as Vincent Newcombe
Michael Rhoades as John Delaney
Billy MacLellan as Walter Lacey
Taryn Ash as Murdoch's Mother
Jacob Robert Ewaniuk as Young Murdoch
Christopher Dyson as Constable

References

• Pinkerton's
• Manchester Terrier
• Elizabeth Milner
• Toronto Gazette
• Consumption
• Toronto Island

Gallery

William Murdoch

I Did Not Kill That Man

Young William

Give Me the Gist

Blackboard work

Is That An Apology?

Blood Evidence

It's In The Timing

I Should Have Stopped Him

Your Mother Protected You

She Hit Her Head

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