The Murdoch Appreciation Society (episode)

This article could also be referring to Murdoch Appreciation Society

"The Murdoch Appreciation Society (episode)"
Season	8
Episode	6
Airdate	November 18, 2014
Writer	Carol Hay
Director	Deborah Chow
Recurring	Lachlan Murdoch as Henry Higgins Nicole Underhay as Margaret Haile Patricia Fagan as Clara Brett Martin
Previous	"Murdoch Takes Manhattan"
Next	"What Lies Buried"

"The Murdoch Appreciation Society" is the sixth episode of the eighth season of the Murdoch Mysteries and the one hundred-second episode of the series.

Summary

Detective Murdoch investigates the death of a man found dead on a park bench. Dr. Grace initially determines that he was stabbed in the abdomen but subsequently concludes he was actually suffocated. He also has dried blood on his index finger and three pages from a Mark Twain novel on him. When he returns to the station Murdoch meets Owen Hume who reports that his employer, lawyer Randolph Sampson, has been missing for two days and subsequently identifies him as the man in the park. Meanwhile, Constable Crabtree investigates the disappearance of a corpse, that of Prof. Andrew Richardson, from the medical school. His brain was the object of a medical study by Dr. Dempsy who is researching the brains of highly intelligent people. When it turns out that Sampson and Richardson are the same person Murdoch learns that he's dealing with a group of admirers who wanted to see him in action so to speak. He admonishes them for their interference in his investigation. Dr. Grace later reports that Richardson was poisoned with arsenic, slowly killing him until the smothering finished him off. Murdoch investigates Richardson's life, in the process learning that Hume, along with his compatriots, Annie Craston and Ruby Rosevear, were interfering in the investigation, forcing him to arrest them. But their assistance points towards Mrs. Richardson, who was attempting to frame her sister, whom Andrew would frequent engage in philosophical debates, by planting the arsenic in her house. When brought to the station house, Mrs. Richardson admits that her husband would insult her over being less intelligent than he, so she poisoned him out of spite, but she denies having smothered him. Murdoch then suspects Dempsy of murdering Richardson to acquire his cadaver sooner, but lacks the evidence to prove it. Nigel Barnes later comes by, explaining that he and Mrs. Dewar were discussing plans to smoke out Dempsy and the latter decided to enter into Dempsy's ad to donate her brain and he fears he will smother her. The two of them go to Mrs. Dewar's store, where they find her and Dempsy together and the doctor has poison in his bag, to which he denies ownership. Murdoch then turns to Barnes and tells him he's under arrest. Though Barnes insists that he knew that Dempsy would smother Mrs. Dewar, the woman points out that Murdoch told the club that Richardson was murdered, not how he was murdered and admonishes him for thinking that he could fool the great Detective Murdoch.

Later, Murdoch gathers his fan club in his office, explaining that Barnes wanted revenge against Dempsy for expelling him, so he murdered Richardson and used the club as part of his plan to pin Richardson's death on Dempsy. Mrs. Dewar adds that his overeagerness was his undoing, as one slip of the tongue gave himself away. The fan club then share a photograph with Murdoch.

Meanwhile, Julia continues her suffrage activities and lawyer Clara Brett Martin confirms that it's possible for a woman to run for elected office.

Character Revelations

• Cut-up brains in jars remind George of my Aunt Rose's pickled cauliflower.

Continuity

• Murdoch uses his UV Day Light In a Box to reveal the blood drops.

Historical References

• Mark Twain is the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835 – 1910) who was an adventurer and wily intellectual. Mark Twain wrote the classic American novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He will make an appearance in Season 9.

Trivia

• Mikaela Bisson who plays Annie Cranston is the daughter of Yannick Bisson.

Errors

• Murdoch uses an ultraviolet lamp to detect drops of blood. The ultraviolet lamp, more commonly known as a black light, was invented by William H. Byler in 1935, some 30 years after the time of this episode.
• Robert W Woods developed Woods Glass in 1903 which allowed only Ultraviolet and Infrared light to pass through, he used this specifically for photography. He was the first to photograph these spectrum's intentionally. Murdoch early in the series develops a similar glass to use for the purpose of seeing blood. However Blood alone does not react to Black Light. Black light in Modern Forensics uses a chemical that latches/mixes/reacts on/with to Blood which then makes Blood react to Black Light.

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
Nicole Underhay as Margaret Haile
Patricia Fagan as Clara Brett Martin

Guest Cast

Damien Atkins as Owen Hume
Michael Hanrahan as Dr. Hollis Dempsey
Will Bowes as Nigel Barnes
Katherine Barrell as Ruby Rosevear
Mikaela Bisson as Annie Cranston
Lynne Griffin as Mrs. Dewar
Nicole Robert as Mrs. Richardson