01. The Murdoch Identity

[Lucy]

Murdoch finds himself unshaven, dishevelled, battered and bruised, and running for his life through the streets of Bristol, a long way from home. Someone is in hot pursuit, trying to kill him. Managing to give his pursuers the slip, he takes refuge in a pub where a beautiful, vivacious barmaid, Anna Fulford (Lisa Faulkner) works. Instantly drawn to this handsome stranger, Anna asks Murdoch who he is, where he's from and why someone is trying to kill him. Murdoch shakes his head – he has no idea. All he knows is that he was pulled from a train in Montreal with a ticket to Bristol. He doesn't even know his own name.

[susie]

This was my favourite episode of S3 and such a fabulous start to the series. Murdoch as "Harry" was not quite himself and while I wanted him to work it out and recover his memory, there is part of me that wanted "Harry" to carry on, have a relationship with Anna, see where he may end up. As a Brit it was also great to see him in Bristol, although the mix of accents is always good in MM.

I liked him with Anna, but of course that was "Harry" - I cannot imagine William starting to undress a woman he'd only recently met, but Harry seemed quite comfortable with it!

It was lovely to see Murdoch return to Toronto once he'd regained his memory. How everyone was so pleased to see him - how worried they'd all been when he was missing - and kissing Julia, showing they had got back together at the end of S2.

[Lucy]

I'm surprised that nobody mentioned that Murdoch's father is called Harry, I thought it was an amusing coincidence!

[CosmicCavalcade]

I didn't notice. i'm not as well versed in the show as you are i guess. but i do have to say that i liked this episode very much except i was really hoping nothing happened between him and Anna. sorry, but i didn't like her very much. i wonder if they actually had guns like that back then. it was pretty freaking awesome.

[shangas]

This episode is one of my favourites. It's got everything.

Action.
Adventure.
Mystery.
Espionage.
Intrigue.
Crimefighting.
Travel.

I love it for so many reasons.

[CosmicCavalcade]

I was rewatching this today and noticed something rather odd. It took them an entire week to find the body of Dawson. Surely they should have found it earlier? I mean, they had traced Murdoch's movements previously and knew that the last place he had gone to was his church. Crabtree even said they had checked the area twice. So why did it take them a week to find the body if it was only a short ways from the church?
To me, it simply seems like a convenient way to have Murdoch already in Bristol before the team managed to put any clues together about his whereabouts. I still love this episode but this is going to bother me now.

[hannikan]

Yeah, I love this episode, too, but there are some things about it that don't make sense to me. I don't really understand the motivation behind the men who were after Treadstone. The wanted a more militaristic government? Why? Were they a wing that wanted to take over/colonize more land/people? Did they want to have a military dictatorship of England? And why did that make them antagonistic to Lord Treadstone specifically? Some things about it don't seem very fleshed out to me.

[CosmicCavalcade]

Hmm, you're bringing up a lot of valid points. I don't have any more answers than you do. Now i feel like this should have been a two parter episode so they could have explained things better.

and there's another thing about finding Murdoch's whereabouts earlier. Why didn't they bring in Jimmy from S2's werewolves to track his movements from the church? or someone else with this ability? or the dog? Again, it seems like if they HAD done this, they would have figured out what happened to him much sooner than when he arrived in Bristol. so again, something of convenience for the writers. Don't get me wrong, they're great writers and I'm all for taking some creative liberties, but i still like things to make sense. The story can be incredibly fantastical but it still needs to follow a certain logic, or at least, i think so.
All this being said, i'll still always love this episode, even if they took a lot of liberties with the logic.

[hannikan]

Yeah, that's a good point, too! I think they were a little lazy with certain details in this one. And that's not like how they usually are. I know it borrows heavily from the Bourne Identity, which I've actually never seen. There's a Treadstone Operation in that. So perhaps that where the name came from for this fictional Lord Treadstone. I'm also not a huge fan of "I've been hit on the head and now I don't remember who I am" plots that the industry likes to use. They aren't medically credible. When someone has a bad concussion (or even goes into a coma) they don't forget their name. It's extremely unlikely. It's far more likely that he would have forgotten that he had been a detective or from Toronto, but not his own name. And it's more likely that his memory during the episode would have been impacted. He would still have trouble remembering short term memory things, like where he and Anna had been, etc... His memory, if it came back fully, would have come back more slowly not just for things before his fall but for things that happened afterward, as well. So, I do have to ignore a lot of things to enjoy this one. It helps that the pace is quick and there's a lot of action.

[CosmicCavalcade]

I know it borrows heavily from the Bourne Identity, which I've actually never seen. There's a Treadstone Operation in that. So perhaps that where the name came from for this fictional Lord Treadstone.

I have seen the entire trilogy, albeit quite awhile ago, and i really don't remember the details at all (maybe i got hit on the head). ;D

I'm also not a huge fan of "I've been hit on the head and now I don't remember who I am" plots that the industry likes to use.

ugh, i know, it's everywhere!

They aren't medically credible. When someone has a bad concussion (or even goes into a coma) they don't forget their name. It's extremely unlikely. It's far more likely that he would have forgotten that he had been a detective or from Toronto, but not his own name. And it's more likely that his memory during the episode would have been impacted. He would still have trouble remembering short term memory things, like where he and Anna had been, etc... His memory, if it came back fully, would have come back more slowly not just for things before his fall but for things that happened afterward, as well.

yeah, the industry is a big fan of the temporary amnesia plot line. And then at the end of one episode or the length of a movie which only spans maybe a few days of time, they are completely back to normal again and it's as if nothing ever happened. Yes, the human brain is remarkably resilient but it's not THAT resilient.

It helps that the pace is quick and there's a lot of action.

you're right about lots of action making one forget or not care too much about whether or not the details make sense. Take the bourne identity movies for example.

[hannikan]

Yeah, I can speak from experience with the brain trauma because my husband was actually in a coma for 6 weeks after having brain stem viral encephalitis and being pronounced dead twice. He was 22 and they still don't know why/how he got sick. I have read about amnesia/brain traumas as well and I know it is not likely at all to forget your own name. My husband actually had no memory loss or brain damage (which is rare in cases such as his). He was left unable to walk like a spinal cord injury though.

[CosmicCavalcade]

that's horrible. i'm very sorry to hear that.

[hannikan]

It was quite awhile ago now. We met 3 years after he was sick (after he'd done lots of physical therapy to be able to do all but walk. When he was first out of the coma he couldn't move anything below his neck). We got married 5 years after we met. Last July we celebrated our 5th anniversary. He's pretty independent. We have a car he can drive alone, for example. He does "stand up" comedy, too.

[CosmicCavalcade]

sounds like quite the guy. lucky you!

[hannikan]

Yep, he is! I was sick today and he went to the store for soup and stuff. He's a keeper!