The Great Wall

"The Great Wall"
Season	3
Episode	2
Airdate	March 21, 2010
Writer	Alexandra Zarowny
Director	Harvey Crossland
Guests	Gabriel Hogan as Constable Randall Townsend Jo Chim as Ling Allan Royal as Chief Constable Stockton Richard Clarkin as Inspector Davis
Recurring	Lachlan Murdoch as Henry Higgins
Previous	"The Murdoch Identity"
Next	"Victor, Victorian"

"The Great Wall" is the second episode of the third season of the Murdoch Mysteries and the twenty-eighth episode of the series.

Summary

Just when Station 5 and Station 4 are looking forward to the police contest finals, which Brackenreid thinks they'll lose. Suddenly, Crabtree comes with an unusual call.

Det. Murdoch is called in to investigate the murder of Constable Cooper, attached to Station 5 which includes Toronto's Chinatown district. He appears to have been beaten and bled to death, owing to his femoral artery having been cut. His fellow officers, Constables Holder and Townsend, are racists and bigots, and they quickly attach themselves to Murdoch's investigation.

Crabtree brings news that Constable Cooper had fought with one Edward Chan, a coolie who makes a profit by transporting people from China to Canada. Mr. Chan is less than impressed by Murdoch's questions, but quickly directs him to Feng Choy's shop, as they had recently argued as well, about someone named Mai-Li. Unbeknownst to him, he's being followed by Townsend and Holder.

Murdoch enters the store and first meets Ling, Feng Choy's niece and fellow shopkeeper. When she goes to the back to get her uncle, the two constables enter as well, making their presence known. As Murdoch tries to question Feng Choy peacefully, the two constables threaten Feng Choy, who quickly offers them a great deal of money for them to go away. Murdoch refuses the money and buys some ginseng, then leaves.

Suddenly, while Murdoch's at the station, he hears word that the murderer's been apprehended. He arrives in Chinatown to find Feng Choy being beaten and arrested by two constables, and Townsend quickly reveals that Cooper's watch had been found in the shop. Murdoch takes Feng Choy away, asserting his authority as head of the investigation, and into police custody.

Inside police headquarters, Feng Choy refuses to talk about Mai-Li. Ling tries to make excuses, explaing that as her grandfather, he felt it was her duty to protect her. However, Murdoch still wants to know from what...

When Murdoch and Brackenreid go to Station 5 to pay their respects for Constable Cooper's death, they're met with hostility. However, when Chief Stockton tries to confront them, Murdoch simply states that they're there for Cooper, not to make a scene.

Edward Chan also shows up at the station and starts barraging Murdoch about questions involving money. Murdoch denies that the constabulary was extorting money from the Chinatown residents, but Mr. Chan tells him that Cooper had hit him because he refused to pay. Feng Choy had refused to pay too, but because of Mai-Li.

As Murdoch begins to focus on the possibility that a fellow policeman is responsible, he faces the wrath of the men from Station 5 and that of the Chief Constable who want nothing more than for him to just go away.

Character Revelations

• Station 5's policemen apparently would take money from the Chinese as "protection." Edward Chan told Murdoch that one of the officers hit him when he tried not to pay, and would trash the Chinese's possessions if they also refused.

Trivia

• Russell Yuen, who played Edward Chan, would return in the episode Kung Fu Crabtree as a different character.

Errors

• At the Chinese herbal shop, Murdoch uses a 5¢ piece the size of a modern day nickel. But that style of coinage wasn't adopted until 1921. Before that, 5¢ pieces were smaller than the modern day dime.

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

Allan Royal as Chief Constable Stockton
Lachlan Murdoch as Henry Higgins
Richard Clarkin as Inspector Davis

Guest Cast

Gabriel Hogan as Constable Randall Townsend
Jo Chim as Ling
Simon Sinn as Feng Choy
Lee Rumohr as Constable Pete Holder
Martin Happer as Constable Curtis Cooper

Other Cast

Russell Yuen as Edward Chan
Andrea So as Mai-Li
Brian Bisson as Referee