"Love or Money" is the fifth episode of the fifteenth season of Murdoch Mysteries and the two hundred twentieth episode of the series (not including the three stand-alone holiday specials). It first aired on October 18, 2021.
Summary
When a con man that preys on wealthy, older women is found dead in a hotel room, Murdoch and Crabtree investigate. To Crabtree's surprise, the woman standing beside the lifeless body of Juan De Léon is his Aunt Zinnia. Though Murdoch is dubious, Crabtree vouches for her integrity. But it soon becomes evident that she may have been an accomplice and is now the prime suspect. Crabtree enlists Effie to handle her defense.
Character Revelations
- Station House No. 4 Constable Paul's first name is Irving.
- A new flower is added to the list of The Flower Girls of Flower Hill: Zinnia.
Continuity
- Effie Newsome continues to question her calling as a lawyer...
- George is supportive of Effie as she processes the aftermath of her ordeal...
- At Toronto Mercy Hospital, Dr. Julia Ogden challenges another doctor's diagnosis– once again...this time with career consequences.
- Murdoch's miniaturization (ep.306) of his tracking device is a precursor to electronic monitoring: the ankle monitor.
- A Murdoch ruse has the team go undercover...
Historical References
- This episode takes place in Toronto 1909 – Edward VII (Albert Edward;1841-1910) is King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas.
- Gibraltar Point Lighthouse is the oldest one left on the Great Lakes and the second oldest in Canada, built in 1808. Hexagonal in shape, the Lighthouse was built of limestone from the Queenston Quarry near Niagara River and originally stood sixteen metres (fifty-two feet) tall, until it was raised nine metres (thirty-feet) in 1832 to a total height of twenty-five metres (eight-two feet). A staple of spooky local lore since 1908 when its story was printed in the Landmarks of Toronto.
- In the 1960s, the original location monitoring system included a combination of surplus missile tracking equipment, portable transceivers, battery packs, and stationary radio-frequency relay stations; The portable equipment was quite cumbersome. The transceivers that could record the location of volunteers were first developed by a group of researchers at Harvard University in the early 1960s. An office was established in a vacated corner storefront in Cambridge, MA, where at-risk youth, parolees, psychiatric patients, and student research volunteers participated in various behaviorally oriented research projects. The head of this research was Ralph Kirkland Schwitzgebel and his twin brother collaborator, Robert Schwitzgebel (family name later shortened to Gable).
- Coffee mentioned as a bad influence - once believed as sinful, the devil's cup, and the 17th-century 'Viagra'.
Trivia
- This is only the fifth episode to mention 'coffee'.
- Veteran actress Debra McGrath, a master of comic timing, is married to Colin Mochrie.
- Director Sharon Lewis and Director of Photography Yuri Yakubiw establish close-ups (with wide angle lens) to create a warped view in this episode, accenting the storyline and comedy visually.
- Costumer Designer Joanna Syrokomla purchased Zinnia's green satin black polka-dot turn-of-the-century style dress originally made in the 1960s for Bonnie Roberts, a stage and television performer who sang 'olde time' tunes from the 1890s through the 1920.
- Constable Irving Paul (the reverse of the actor's name Paul Irving) was first credited as Constable Duncan and the Inspector called him Sergeant (ep.1307), note the stripes on his upper sleeves.
Error
- Aunt Zinnia mentions, "You know, we probably shouldn't have given George all that coffee when he was a young man", but Crabtree mentions 'coffee' in Season 1 (ep.108) for the first time as if it were new to him, "It's the damnedest stuff."
Cast
Main Cast
Yannick Bisson as Detective William Murdoch
Hélène Joy as Dr. Julia Ogden
Thomas Craig as Inspector Thomas Brackenreid
Jonny Harris as Constable George Crabtree
Recurring Cast
Daniel Maslany as Detective Llewellyn Watts
Shanice Banton as Violet Hart
Lachlan Murdoch as Constable Henry Higgins
Clare McConnell as Effie Newsome
James McGowan as Dr. Forbes
Paul Irving as Constable Paul
Guest Cast
Kelly Penner as Dr. Deakins
Deb McGrath as Zinnia Hobson
Shaun Benson as Anthony Quivell/Owen McCall
Eve Crawford as Flora McCall
Samora Smallwood as Viola Treatly
Valerie Boyle as Alberta Binchey
Amelia Sargisson as Nancy Robinson
Subhash Santosh as Hotel Bartender
Kyla Musselman as Nurse
Non-Credited Cast
Gallery
| Murdoch Mysteries Season 15 |
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| The Things We Do for Love Part 1 • The Things We Do for Love Part 2 • Manhunt • Blood on the Tracks • Love or Money • I Know What You Did Last Autumn • The Incorrigible Dr. Ogden• Murdoch Knows Best • The Lady Vanishes • Drawn in Blood • The Night Before Christmas •There's Something About Mary • Murdoch on the Couch • The Witches of East York • Rawhide Ralph • It's a Wonderful Game • Bloodlines • Patriot Games• Brother Can You Spare a Crime • Pendrick's Planetary Parlour • Devil Music • Sweet Amelia • Pay the Piper • Close Encounters
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