Mary Wept

"Mary Wept"
Season	11
Episode	12
Airdate	January 22, 2018
Writer	Noelle Girard
Director	Megan Follows
Guests	Sophia Walker as Josephine Beatty Harry Judge as Father McGray
Previous	Biffers and Blockers
Next	Crabtree à la Carte

"Mary Wept" is the twelfth episode of eleventh season of the Murdoch Mysteries and the one hundred sixty-second of the series. It airs on January 22, 2017.

Summary

Murdoch investigates when a statue of the Virgin Mary gifted to his church begins miraculously weeping – blood. Is it a miracle or a cover for a deadly sin? The clergy believes it to be a miracle and prohibits Murdoch from further investigation until the miracle is followed by a murder staged as a suicide.

Character Revelations

• Crabtree misses the French lifestyle, especially the cuisine, “Every meal was a feast…a long crisp baguette, ah, a work of art!”
• Henry Higgins decides he is going to ask Ruth for her hand; George tells him that he has only been courting her for a short while, “I’ve worn the same pair of socks longer.” In the end of the episode, it is Ruth that ends up proposing to Henry!
• Ruth Newsome's middle name, Alfreda, is revealed when Henry proposes to her.
• Violet Hart tells Murdoch that once she completes university that she would like to become a coroner, like Dr. Ogden, and perhaps even marry a detective. Miss Hart has secrets and perhaps an agenda of her own.

Continuity

• Julia is experiencing morning sickness.
• While Julia takes a playful poke on attending church, it is not the first time Julia and Murdoch have ruffled the feathers of the Catholic Church.
• This case examines not only the evidence, Watts ruminates with Odgen and Murdoch about religion in general and faith specifically, in the City Morgue and Murdoch's darkroom.
• George has returned from Paris and is back at Station House No. 4, yearning for a French baguette.
• Murdoch’s faith comes up against science (again).
• The Inspector can't beleive the Telegraph has stooped to reporting false news; an allusion to fake news.
• X-rays or Röntgen rays was first used by Murdoch in Dinosaur Fever.
• "Murdoch never digs." It's always Brackenreid or Crabtree, except once (ep.511) when saving Julia's life.

Historical References

• Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (1845-1923) was a German mechanical engineer and physicist, who, in 1895, produced and detected electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range known as X-rays or Röntgen rays.
• Toronto the Good's historical anti-Catholic sentiment surfaces (again).
• Inspector Brackenreid refers to Catholics as "left-footers", an informal phrase for Roman Catholics, particularly among the armed forces in the UK.
• Julia recognizes "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go", from Psalms, telling William, "I'm not a complete heathen". She's read the bible.
• In 2016, a statue of the Virgin Mary in Fresno, CA reportedly cries oily tears that smell like roses. This is not the first nor is it the last of such sightings reported.

Trivia

• The first time the Orangemen were introduced on Murdoch Mysteries was in Still Waters .
• Actor Harry Judge, who last appeared in Kommando as Matthew Larson, returns as Father McGray.
• The MM Art Department created graves stones with the names of the past seasons' victims for the church's graveyard.
• While a new MM writer, loyal and longtime MM fans appreciate how Noelle Girard's episode harkens back to previous ones.

Errors

• Murdoch mentions the St Francis Church in Kitchener during an interrogation: Kichener was still named Berlin in 1906, the name wasn't changed until 1916; Additionally, St. Francis Church actually wasn't opened in Kitchener until 1960.

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
Lachlan Murdoch as Constable Henry Higgins
Shanice Banton as Violet Hart
Siobhan Murphy as Ruth Newsome
Erin Agostino as Nina Bloom

Guest Cast

Harry Judge as Father McGray
Sophia Walker as Josephine Beatty
Philip Riccio as Father Jennings
Paul Aspland as Bishop Gorey
Hrant Alianak as Mr. Morrissey
Adam Driscoll as Orangeman

Gallery

Makes Toronto Telegraph headline