10. Twisted Sisters

[hannikan]

LOL, I don't know how Mark and Jonny met. But it would make sense if it was in Newfoundland. I think there are so few high profile performers from there, that they probably do all know each other.

[murdochic]

I found this episode a bit boring and mundane. It was nice to see a bit more of Emily as a character, have Julia profiling and to see Higgin's back. I laughed when he flirted with Emily. But this is my least favourite of the series so far. A very forgettable episode.

[CosmicCavalcade]

Possible Goof? In this episode George mentioned that Aunt Begonia had made his suit but in season three he said that she had died laughing. It's possible that she could have made it several years ago but I dunno how likely that is. Hmm...

[hannikan]

Perhaps when Aunt Begonia the 1st died, another assumed her name in homage. No, I have no idea. I think they are starting to run out of flower names. Although there are a lot of flowers they haven't used yet.

[CosmicCavalcade]

AHAHA! That just made me think that there is like a never ending line of Aunt clones! xD Seriously, do these people really exist? Until I see one with my own two eyes, I won't believe it! I think he's just made all these people up in his crazy mind! Think about it for a minute! It would explain sooo much! xD

[hannikan]

I think William also wonders if George makes them up. One day he'll just stumble on one of them on the street, who introduces herself to him. That would be funny. One of them has to be Penny's mother...

[shangas]

This episode was interesting, but also 'convenient'. It pointed out to the Iranian professor as being so obvious that he probably WASN'T going to be the killer. Nothing is ever that simple. The fact that it was, sent up flags, for me.

The bit with the fountain pens was interesting. As some here may know, I collect fountain pens. Parker Lucky Curves did exist ca. 1900. And they would've been very expensive. But $20.00?? I'm a little wary of that price. Even in the 1920s they didn't cost that much. Hell, even in the 1940s, they didn't! The gold nib was interesting, but rather bland. All fountain pens had gold nibs back then, (and still do), to prevent corrosion from ink. At least Crabtree got that bit right. I suppose they differed from the dip-pens of the era becuse dip-pens were all stamped steel.

I quite enjoyed the bit about Dr. Grace. That whole little side-story. I liked the whole class-friction thing between Grace, Crabtree, and snooty toffs at the Athletics Club. I thought it was really funny.

[hannikan]

I was thinking it was a really high end model, but it does seem high based on what I found here:
parkerpens.net/luckycurve.html

It sounds like in 1900, $10 would have been the price for their higher end model pens.

[shangas]

In 1900, if you owned a fountain pen, that was a BIG status symbol. They were expensive by any stretch of the imagination. They were very very expensive, and very very new. If you could afford one, you had to have serious money. $10.00 would've been a LOT to pay in 1900. So $20 seems unrealistic in my opinion, unless it's sheathed in gold.

For someone like Georgie Crabtree, buying a fountain pen like that would be far outside his salary.

Fountain pens were so new that early packaging used to come with the warning: "DO NOT REMOVE THE GOLD NIB", since people were liable to pull the nib out of the pen and throw it away, and try to replace it with another nib, as they had been used to doing, in previous decades.

I have a number of pens in my collection from the early 1900s. And they really are works of art.

The "Lucky Curve" feed in the pen, which George mentions in the episode, was a Parker innovation. The curved feed was designed to prevent leaks. Due to the curve in the feed, ink would only flow to the nib when the pen was in a very specific orientation. This stopped ink from dribbling out of the pen when it was just lying on the desktop, and so-forth.

By 1901, the first self-filling pens were coming on the market. Mark Twain was very fond of them.

[hannikan]

I guess Crabtree was only able to afford a fountain pen through the success of his book. It was a bestseller after all. So not on his constable salary. Yeah, $10 was definitely a lot of money back then and $20 was really a lot. Cool info on the curve and Mark Twain.

[shangas]

In Twain's own words, "They are a saver of profanities".

[lmcg]

I think they said the pen was "even better" than the Parker one. They probably couldn't use the Parker one for copyright reasons. And so they had to make it more expensive than the Parker to justify it being so much better. At least, that's how I understood that part.

And I really loved this ep. but as I said on the other page, I basically adore this whole season!

[hannikan]

Mar 28, 2013 1:20:25 GMT lmcg said:

I think they said the pen was "even better" than the Parker one. They probably couldn't use the Parker one for copyright reasons. And so they had to make it more expensive than the Parker to justify it being so much better. At least, that's how I understood that part.

And I really loved this ep. but as I said on the other page, I basically adore this whole season!

Sorry I hit edit instead of quote.

I just rewatched this one and I think you're right. I noticed George said that, too. I agree, there really haven't been any episode this season that wasn't at least good.

[randomkiwibirds]

When I was finally able to watch this one I found myself disappointed of who did it. For me the pieces didn't add up how I would have liked them to have done if it had been the accountant. His motive seemed weak and-the deaths really didn't add up for me. It just didn't fit.

But other than that I really did enjoy this episode. There was a nice amount of humor in it and other than who did it I found it satisfying.

[hannikan]

It would have destroyed his career if it had come out that he was living with a First Nations women and had fathered her children. He would have lost all the business of his wealthy clients and his name would have been dragged through the mud. This is why he wouldn't marry her legally because then it would be a matter of public record/out in the open. Judith (his secretary) wouldn't have stayed quiet about it once she found out and was going to expose him in the press. The entire city of Toronto and the surrounding area would have known then. It would have even been difficult to pick up, move elsewhere and start his business over since it would have been in a major urban newspaper. That doesn't justify what he did at all, but it is definitely motive for him.