Murdoch Mysteries opens on a University Quad, where two boys watch a female coed undress. Suddenly, a gunshot cuts through the stillness. A man falls over dead inside a near-by dormitory.
Later, Detective Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) plays with a cross-bow in his office. However, his experiment is cut short by the arrival of Inspector Brackenried (Thomas Craig). The team is needed at the University. There has been a murder.
It turns out, the victim is Samuel Bennett, a Professor of Physics. As Murdoch scans the crime scene, Constable Crabtree (Jonny Harris) rattles off information about the victim. The Professor was a recent arrival, hired specifically to head the Physics Department. Suddenly, an awkward silence falls over the room as Dr. Ogden (Helene Joy) arrives to examine the body. William and Julia have yet make-up after her abortion revelation in the last episode.
Searching for clues, Detective Murdoch later visits Professor Godfrey’s (Ted Atherton) class. Fellow members of the physics department, Godfrey and Bennett were talking on the phone at the time of the murder. When asked about the abrupt end to their conversation, Godfrey freely admits his stormy relationship with the victim.
While Detective Murdoch moves through the campus, two students hurry to talk with him. James Gillies (Michael Seater) and Robert Perry (Marc Bendavid) are two of the school’s best and brightest. According to the students, Godfrey was passed up for department chair in favor of Professor Bennett.
Meanwhile, Murdoch returns to the Station House, where George is anxious to talk with him. The young Constable is contemplating reaching out to his family. It turns out, he was a foundling left on the doorstep of a church, and he’s hoping to learn the identity of his mother.
Later, Detective Murdoch visits the morgue where Dr. Ogden has results for him. Their conversation is awkward as she verifies his suspicion that the killing shot came from the University Quad. However, she vanishes quickly, leaving Detective Murdoch alone with his thoughts.
The next day, Constable Crabtree and Detective Murdoch return to the University. With Perry and Gillies observing, they set to work determining the location of the shooter. Most notably, they discover a pile of sand near the spot of interest. Could they have discovered a vital clue?
George later receives a visitor at the station. A woman sits on a bench waiting for him. It turns out she read the advertisement he posted to find his mother. While they talk, she becomes emotional, “You’re the spitting image of my brother!”. However, as the two excitedly continue, Detective Murdoch enters, they must return to the crime scene.
While they walk through the darkened campus, George and William discuss their options. Constable Crabtree wonders aloud if the killer hid inside something. It must have been something no one found suspicious. Like clockwork, a supply wagon arrives. Furthermore, it pauses on the very spot of the shooting for 30 minutes, before once again moving off.
Later, Detective Murdoch returns to visit Julia. While he talks, he sounds convinced that the killer mounted a gun to the wagon. Julia sits near-by, bent over her work. She is tired, stressed and far from ready to answer his questions. However, as Julia produces an egg timer, William has an idea and suddenly runs off.
In fact, Murdoch required only that small hint. While he questions Professor Godfrey, he demonstrates a timing mechanism. The killer could have commuted the murder without even being present. However, while everything about Murdoch’s plan works, Professor Godfrey maintains his innocence.
Meanwhile, George is stunned when yet another mother tracks him down.
Later, they return to the University. There’s one fact Murdoch and Crabtree still need to figure out. While Godfrey’s alibi hinges on Professor Bennett looking at comets the night of his murder, they discover that it was cloudy that night. What could the man have been looking at?
Standing at the window, George quickly discovers that Bennett was looking at another “heavenly body”. In fact, the Professor’s window looks out onto a girl’s dormitory, with a clear view of changing co-eds.
While they speak with one of the girls, she hands Murdoch a note. The letter appears to be from Bennett, offering to pay the girl to undress in front of her window nightly. The student, sensing an opportunity to pay her way through school, happily obliged.
However, Murdoch quickly learns that the note wasn’t from Bennett. It didn’t match the Professor’s handwriting. While Murdoch chats with Godfrey, the Professor directs them to Perry. It turns out it was he who copied the note as a prank.
The team launches into an elaborate plan to catch Perry in a lie. However, George collapses as he stands in front of a window. He’s been shot.
While Murdoch interviews Perry, the Detective has an epiphany. The bullet was not meant for George. Rather, it was for Perry. What is going on between Gillies and Perry?
Meanwhile, George’s injury finally gives the team what they need to determine George’s real mother. With Julia’s assistance, as well as a carefully crafted fib about the Constable being paralyzed, the team is finally able to whittle George’s mothers down to one.
Later, Detective Murdoch has an idea. In a final strategic move, he goes to lecture to Professor Godfrey’s class. Gillies and Perry sit nervously in the balcony as the Detective launches into a spiel on the physics of hanging. As Murdoch continues to talk, Perry becomes increasingly uncomfortable. At the same time, Gillies struggles to keep control of the situation.
Mouths around the room drop as George comes to the center of the room. It turns out, when the Constable was shot, he wore a bullet-proof vest. The plan was, in fact, an elaborately planned charade. The scene concludes with the smooth arrest of Gillies and Perry.
As the episode comes to a close, Detective Murdoch returns to see Dr. Ogden. Detective Murdoch nervously invites her to a battery exhibit, which she quietly declines. However, as he slowly walks away, Dr. Ogden sadly watches him leave.
Murdoch Mysteries airs news episodes Monday nights on CBC. Previous seasons are available on Netflix as well as iTunes. Viewers in the United States can watch new episodes on Ovation under the name The Artful Detective.
A Few Notes:
- The episode features the Murdoch Mysteries debut of the brilliant Michael Seater as James Gillies. The character returns repeatedly, and develops into quite a foe for the Station House 4 team.
- Jonny Harris gives a stellar performance in this episode, which begins to lay notable groundwork for George’s character.
- FAN EXPO DENVER 2025: Day One of Fun - July 6, 2025
- Movie Review: JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH - July 3, 2025
- Movie Review: M3GAN 2.0 - June 27, 2025
