05. Murdoch Au Naturel

[iheartmurdoch]

Did most people not like this episode? There are barely any comments! I'd be curious to hear if people were offended/put off by the nudity. It certainly was not done in bad taste, and not titillating or sexy at all.... quite the opposite!

[hannikan]

I do know a couple of people who were offended or embarrassed by the nudity actually.

[barbarama]

I think this forum has mostly UK members and they haven't seen this episode yet so that might be one of the reason. I don't know personally anybody that was offended by it, because as you mentioned Iheartmurdoch it was done in good taste. They are a lot of shows that are way worse in terms of nudity and violence, this episode was just very well done overall.

[CosmicCavalcade]

I was surprised that they were able to get away with as much nudity as they did but I didn't have a problem with it. I think it's like Barb says.

[sunshinelover]

I very much enjoyed this episode, and I'm a cranky old granny. I've lived in the US and Canada, and, in my experience, there is much more likely to be criticism of such episodes from certain types of viewers in the US. I'm a Canadian citizen now, and I find Canadians much more tolerant, accepting, flexible of mind, and have a better sense of humor. We just don't get our knickers in a knot, as they say, about religious conflicts, sexual identity, and so on.

In some ways, I wish Julia and Murdoch would get it on together already - she must be awfully frustrated. Yet I fear a "Moonlighting" effect once the sexual tension is gone. (For those of you old enough to remember that show!)

[petunia]

Yes Sunshine lover, Castle fans have been agonizing over the Moonlighting curse all season now that Becket and Castle are together. I would have no clue if this could happen here. I have enjoyed all of S6 so far. The only complaint I have is the limited exposure Julia has had. We hardly see her. When we do, she is always wearing the same blue outfit.!!!! Do you think perhaps again this year she was unavailable, but the writers got around it by having her film all her scenes for the first few episodes all on the same day; hence the same outfit? I just rewatched Back and to the left... she several different outfits in just one episode....

[CosmicCavalcade]

Really? I've been liking Castle this season. I haven't noticed the curse once. Last season was terrible though, almost gave up watching it.

Well, if I'm completely honest, I must say that Jilliam was a little boring in the third season when they were finally together. Without the drama or sexual tension, it was a bit dull. So there was a bit of the curse going on there. I don't know how I'd feel this time around and let's face it, we're not likely to find out this season. :/

YES! SOMEONE ELSE WHO IS JUST AS ANNOYED WITH THAT OUTFIT AS ME! But I kind of doubt that she could have filmed all her scenes in just a day or two. It might possibly have to do with CBC getting budget cuts and they slashed the wardrobe budget. But Emily has more than one outfit...

[barbarama]

To sunshinelover, you sound more funny than crancky I have to admit that you have a point though about Americans, not in general but sometimes (I live in New York which is a different experience than living in other states) I am French and even if I don't consider us loose, sometimes when I hear some Americans talk I wonder if we're living in the same century. Because I'm on FB when I see some of the comments on the official Murdoch page about "Murdoch au Naturel" being of bad taste or people that don't like Julia because she has no morals strangely enough when you look where these people live you have state like Michigan, Utah etc... I wonder what's going on there but i agree that Canadians are much more relaxed about these things and let's not start about my home country

The same as you, I found that dress very pretty for the first 3 episodes but now it's getting ridiculous, we see it every episode (I know it's trivial because the show is so much more than that but it is annoying). I don't think either that Helene Joy was unavailalble to film this season, on the contrary she did a radio interview few months ago saying that we will see her more in the 6th season than the previous ones and she seems to get longer air time as the episodes go on.

Finally, for the "Moonlighting" effect (old enough to know the show but young enough not to have watched it in its 1st run ) (I wouldn't know for "Castle" I stopped watching at least 3 years ago) I don't think "Murdoch Mysteries" will have that curse and here's my reasoning. For Moonlighting the "ridiculous" investigations were not the main plots, they were just an excuse for Maddie & David to argue in the car, argue on stakeouts, argue in the office, argue in the elevator etc... (I do love that show though it was brilliant for the first 3 seasons). The leads and their developing relationship were 90% or 99% of the show. With "Murdoch Mysteries" in my opinion it is different because yes you have the romance but it's only a part of it, solving the case is the main plot and whatever it takes to solve it (historical references, inventions etc..) so even (which I hope) William and Julia would have a stable relationship (which doesn't go without its drama sometimes) I don't see why the show would suffer much from this. As for the sexual tension, this is something that has always existed but in most of the shows in the 80's and 90's writers had a tendency to stretch it out until the last moment when finally people will get together at the end of the series. It is very frustrating and I think the viewers now have less patience for a will they/won't they that last years and would rather see people either getting together and see where it goes or just go their separate way (in my opinion).

So that was my very long post reflecting on your very insightful comments Take care

[hannikan]

Well, the 2 people I know who were offended are Canadian. They're very religious conservatives. So they exist in Canada, too. I'm American. Of course, I live in California and we're all just naked hippies out here. *rolls eyes*

I don't think William and Julia were dull in S3, but I think they were not shown as a couple much. They seemed to be avoiding the topic. Writers tend to be scared to show happiness btwn couples. I find that strange personally because when you're in a marriage/committed relationship there's plenty of ups and downs. I don't think that's at all hard to make interesting.

[barbarama]

Feb 11, 2013 8:45:28 GMT hannikan said:

Well, the 2 people I know who were offended are Canadian. They're very religious conservatives. So they exist in Canada, too. I'm American. Of course, I live in California and we're all just naked hippies out here. *rolls eyes*

I don't think William and Julia were dull in S3, but I think they were not shown as a couple much. They seemed to be avoiding the topic. Writers tend to be scared to show happiness btwn couples. I find that strange personally because when you're in a marriage/committed relationship there's plenty of ups and downs. I don't think that's at all hard to make interesting.

In my opinion, I don't think the show has ever been very conservative even in the previous seasons (homosexuality, abortion, contraception etc...), the serie didn't shy away from these subjects; so that people get shocked and offended now is a bit strange to me (and for the more virulent one(s) I decided not to read anymore of their comments as you know Hannikan

I also agree with you Hannikan, being in a relationship doesn't mean being dull at all, it has its ups and downs; it might be less exciting to write than sexual tension (which can only go so far in my opinion) but it is interesting to explore nonetheless.
For example I used to watch this show "Medium" with Patricia Arquette (I did stop after 3 seasons though, not because the show wasn't interesting but I didn't find the time to watch anymore); anyway the main plot was that she was a medium helping with investigations but the way the writers wrote her family life as well as the couple relationship was incredibly well done, it felt very real and was fascinating to watch. Again these are my 2 cents on what you just said.

[hannikan]

You're thinking of a different person than I am, Barbara. And to my knowledge the person you're thinking of was not offended (and is American). I agree that it is not a politically or socially or religiously conservative show, but people see what they want to see. Since William has some conservative ideas, esp. in the early seasons, people can think that his moral compass at the beginning of the show is that of the entire show. To me, it is not. One of the central themes of the show is that clash btwn William's conservative upbringing that has created his conservative beliefs and the more modern and scientific ethics of Julia (and other smaller characters). He is in constant struggle within himself over which morality fits him now and what he truly believes. He is constantly getting an education about issues that he previously thought were simple or black and white. He is forced to see that they are not. It's not only him, but George and Thomas get this education to a lesser degree, too. And Julia is not an all-knowing goddess herself. She learns from William, too. The point is the characters develop over time, they are not static. I know that some people who were uncomfortable with the nudity were also uncomfortable with the homosexuality and abortion plots. MM hasn't ever shied away from controversial issues.

[CosmicCavalcade]

wow hannikan that was beautiful! i really mean that! you must be a teacher or something.

[hannikan]

LOL, well thank you.

[rondetto]

Nudity? What have I missed? Last night it was the Winston Churchill episode in the UK. Nothing
in that one.

[hannikan]

^ It was Murdoch Au Naturel last week in Canada. It's ep.5.