Murdoch Mysteries - Victor, Victorian, S03E03

Three episodes so far this season, three killer scripts and performances. Murdoch Mysteries is taking everything that was great in the first 2 season and making it happen every time, and I could not be more pleased.

Certainly, between the title of the episode and the fact that the Mason's pledge had a very high squeaky voice, it was obvious that the man who was murdered was not, in fact, a man, but a woman. And what a great choice too, as most men of the period would have been considered to have a motive if they discovered a woman had entered into their secret club in the guise of a man. Most men would have been more than angry.

The fact that George Crabtree (Jonny Harris) and Inspector Brackenreid (Thomas Craig) were part of the Masonic order, and present when Victor (our female victim) was murdered, gave the scene the humour needed to prevent Murdoch Mysteries from becoming more serious than I want it. Particularly when we discovered that George ranked higher than Brackenreid in the Masons. Hilarious.

But, despite the moments that really made me smile, the episode was more emotionally potent than usual. Victor was living her life as a man because she wanted to freedoms afforded to men that she could not have as a woman. She was part of a group of women who dressed as men on a regular basis to be able to go out without drawing gossip, though she had a job and was joining the Masons as a man as well, while the others only did so on occasions. She befriended a couple, the man was a good friend, but the woman was a better one. They both took advantages of male appearance, though sometimes Victor met up with Miriam while one was a man, and the other a woman.

Miriam's husband became suspicious, and suspected that Victor and Miriam were having an affair. He killed Victor, not knowing she was a woman, believing in fact quite the opposite. And that's what made this episode brilliant. When Murdoch (Yannik Bisson) discovered that the victim was a woman, all the motives that would have existed had she been a man disappeared. Had not another murder taken place - that of a private detective who had been following Victor and Miriam - the truth of the affair might never have come out.

I can't wait to see next week's episode.