Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 13 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 5, 2020

Though they’re closer to us geographically speaking, some may feel that Canadians may resemble their British cousins across the pond considerably more strongely than they do we Americans, with regard to being reserved, polite and generally well behaved. What’s so odd about that thesis, at least in terms of a generally "proper" populace, is that murder mysteries have long been a staple of British literature and of course films and television outings courtesy of such redolent characters as Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot and/or Miss Marple. And in that regard, the reserved, polite and generally well behaved Canadians have their own expert sleuth who is often tasked with solving some pretty grisly killings, a Toronto detective named William Murdoch (portrayed by Yannick Bisson in the series), who was the creation of novelist Maureen Jennings. Murdoch Mysteries has been a long running series in Canada and across various cable channels, and it offers a fun blend of kinda fact (courtesy of its historical milieu and various supposedly real life characters who waft in and out of various episodes) and outright fiction (in terms of some of its more outlandish and even whimsical elements). The mysteries here may not always reach the giddy heights of some of Christie’s best work, but they’re frequently well constructed, and the show continues to be very handsomely produced now well into its second decade.

For reviews of the previous seasons of Murdoch Mysteries, please click on the following links:

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 1 Blu-ray review

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 2 Blu-ray review

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 3 Blu-ray review

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 4 Blu-ray review

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 5 Blu-ray review

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 6 Blu-ray review

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 7 Blu-ray review

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 8 Blu-ray review

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 9 Blu-ray review

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 10 Blu-ray review

Additionally, we have listings for both Murdoch Mysteries: Season 11 and Murdoch Mysteries: Season 12 which as of the writing of this review have not yet received official reviews.

While Murdoch Mysteries features standalone episodes for the most part, each with its own self contained conundrum to solve (usually involving murder, of course), the series is also notable for how it has at least attempted to provide so-called character “arcs” across its now many seasons. There’s quite a bit of that on display throughout this thirteenth season, though perhaps due to the series’ very longevity, some of these plotlines may have more than a whiff of déjà vu for longtime fans of the show. To cite just a couple of examples, the show has commendably featured Murdoch’s wife Julia Ogden (Hélène Joy), a distinguished doctor and surgeon, but the series’ emphasis on Ogden as an underappreciated female in a largely male dominated work environment struggles to find any truly new traction here, even with one episode devoted to the Suffragette movement. Another frequent supporting character, the often buffoonish Constable George Crabtree (Jonny Harris), also is utilized as both comic foil and at least occasionally ham handed acolyte to Murdoch in what some viewers may perceive as one too many trips to that particular well. This season at least attempts to establish Crabtree as a nascent author.

There’s also a disconnect, or at least a case of the show wanting to have its cake and eat it, too, with regard to certain overall depictions in the show which some may feel are not entirely era appropriate. One of those involves the roles of women at the turn of the century, as alluded to above as it involves and/or includes Mrs. Murdoch (who goes by her maiden name, it should be pointed out), just one of several women in the show with really successful careers (were there actual famous female surgeons in Toronto back at the turn of the century?) who still struggle with sexism, but there’s also a rather interesting if dichotomous depiction of black characters in the show.

Now, I’m certainly no expert on Canada’s history with its black citizens, though my assumption is that nation may have treated black people at least somewhat more equitably than many other nations, including the United States (slavery was abolished across the British Empire in 1834, to cite just one example). But, that said, there’s a certain “color blindness” in this show at certain junctures which is inarguably totally commendable but which may not pass the historical accuracy sniff test. For example, Murdoch’s coroner is a black woman named Violet Hart (Shanice Banton), and Crabtree has a black landlady, with both characters suggesting at least the semblance of upward mobility which I’m not entirely sure is completely in line with what black people actually experienced during this time period.

That is contrasted with some other characters, as in an “is he or isn’t he a suspect?” black man whom Crabtree arrests because Crabtree sees the guy beating up a white man, though it turns out the white man may have just murdered another guy and the black character was simply trying to catch him. This black character has a rather pointed interchange with Murdoch where he states overtly that the only reason he was arrested is because he was black. That said, even this character turns out to be a relatively upwardly mobile ex-Pinkerton agent named Robert Parker (Marc Senior), who becomes a Special Constable. All of this brings a refreshing diversity to Murdoch Mysteries, but I'm not entirely certain that some of these competing elements always jibe perfectly with each other, let alone accurately represent what society was really like during this era. But perhaps that arguably makes the show more realistic (real life very rarely has clear cut issues in black and white, pun definitely intended).

The mysteries in this thirteenth season aren't always that hard to solve for armchair detectives, but this season is at least notable for offering the 200th episode, which "reunites" a whole host of "real life" characters who have appeared in previous seasons. This season also had a kind of funny little bit of synchronicity for me personally, since one of the many character subplots involves Inspector Brackenreid (Thomas Craig), who is perhaps hiding a bit of a "skeleton in the closet" involving a character with the unusual name of Nomi (evidently introduced more formally in Season 12), which unavoidably reminded me of the recently reviewed You Don't Nomi.

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 13 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 13 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Acorn Media and RLJ Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. My colleague Michael Reuben has mentioned Arri Alexas as having digitally captured previous seasons, and while I was able to see only Season Six technical data listed on IMDb, I'm assuming that things continued apace for this season. This is an often strikingly sharp and well detailed presentation, especially impressive in terms of some of the finely patterned costumes that both women and men wear. Things like fabrics or even some of the props have palpable seeming textures which typically resolve very well. I found the palette a little underwhelming, frankly. It is never unnatural looking, but it just doesn't look very vividly suffused, which may have been a stylistic choice. A few passing moments of CGI can look soft in comparison to the bulk of the presentation.

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 13 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 13 features an intermittently immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that nonetheless sports excellent fidelity even if it doesn't consistently engage the surrounds. Score frequently does waft into the side and rear channels (the series' theme kind of reminded me of the bass line to Henry Mancini's inimitable "Baby Elephant Walk" from Hatari! combined with an overall ambience somewhat like the theme to The X-Files. Some episodes, like one featuring our heroes out on a camping expedition gone awry, do offer nice placement of ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout all episodes.

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 13 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Unlike some previous releases of this series on Blu-ray which had some relatively bounteous bonus features, this thirteenth season offers only one lone supplement which can be found on Disc Four of the four disc set:

• Q & A with Yannick Bisson and David Maslany (1080p; 21:59) is culled from a livestream for Acorn TV moderated by Rebecca Hearn, though there's also kind of comically an offscreen voice that also contributes.

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 13 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I'm coming to my reviewing duties of Murdoch Mysteries "cold", so to speak, with all the previous reviews here having been done either by Michael (as mentioned above) or Casey Broadwater. I have watched individual episodes of this series at various times through the years (decades?), and it was fun to reacquaint myself with these characters, though even after not having really religiously followed the series, I still felt like I was seeing some elements in this season that I had seen before. Technical merits are solid, though supplemental features are a little slim this time. Recommended.