Toronto's Girl Problem

"Toronto's Girl Problem"
Season	8
Episode	14
Airdate	February 16, 2015
Writer	Michelle Ricci
Director	Peter Mitchell
Guests	Charlie Clements as Charlie Brackenreid
Previous	The Incurables
Next	Shipwreck

"Toronto's Girl Problem" is the fourteenth episode of the eighth season of the Murdoch Mysteries and the one hundred-tenth episode of the series. It first aired on February 16, 2015.

Summary

Working with Brackenreid’s nephew, Murdoch and the team discover a murdered woman may be connected to a gang of female jewel thieves.

Detective Murdoch investigates the murder of Diana White who is found stabbed in the chest in an alleyway. As it happens, Emily Grace and her friend Lillian Moss had been at a party the evening before, where White seemed to be working as a hostess. A mix-up results in Lillian leaving with someone else's coat and she finds expensive jewelry hidden in a series of small pockets. It doesn't take long for the police to realize they are dealing with a gang of young women who have proven themselves to be quite adept at shoplifting expensive jewelry. Emily and Lillian go undercover at the next party and there meet the gangs new leader, Beatrice Crawford. Their plan to go undercover doesn't go very well.

Meanwhile, Inspector Brackenreid's nephew Charlie has joined the force making both Crabtree and Higgins wonder what the future might hold for them. He also seems all too eager to please and make a name for himself.

Character Revelations

• Brackenreid introduces his nephew, Charlie Brackenreid, to the Station House, "He's just arrived from London and has passed his training day with flying colours. Make him feel at home but don't go too easy on him."
• Emily has very deep feelings for Lillian Moss, revealing she is bisexual.
• Emily kisses Lillian, who is a sapphic (lesbian), and tells her she is ready for a relationship.

Continuity

• Julia's broken wrist is still healing in its cast from The Devil Wears Whalebone.
• This episode introduces Eddie Crawford and his pawnshop; Brackenreid has had previous dealings with Eddie.

Historical References

• This episode takes place in Toronto 1902 - also, the Belle Époque era, conventionally dated from the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914.
• Paris’ criminal underworld subculture of early 20th-century and their weapon of choice the “Apache Pistol ”: a pinfire cartridge revolver with no barrel, a set of foldover brass knuckles for a handgrip, and a folding knife mounted right underneath the revolver drum for use as a stabbing weapon.

Trivia

• Portions of the episode was filmed in the Town of St. Marys which stands in for Murdoch's Toronto.
• The title of this episode is a possible allusion to the 1990s book Toronto's Girl Problem: The Perils and Pleasures of the City, 1880-1930, published by University of Toronto Press.
• The Apache revolver used in the episode was made by the props department. No collectors in Toronto were willing to lend out their Apache, so the department made one using a letter opener as the blade, the trigger and barrel were from a real 8mm penfire gun, and the frame and brass knuckles were 3D printed.

Errors

• "That's A-Plenty for Me" is played in the flashback, the song was not composed until 1914.
• "Puttin' On the Ritz" written by Irving Berlin in 1927.

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
Sara Mitich as Lillian Moss
Craig Brown as Eddie Crawford

Guest Cast

Charlie Clements as Charlie Brackenreid
Laura Carswell as Beatrice Crawford
Alliaon Dawn Doiron as Elaine Henshaw
Karen Knox as Helen Conroy
Kaitlyn Riordan as Mary Puddle
Janice Kingsley as Diana White
Hal Eisen as Mr. Jamieson
Paul Amato as Frank Tipman
Francois Klanfer as Shop Owner

Non-Credited Cast

Sean Harraher as Constable Worseley
Nathan Hoppe as Constable McNabb