Unrequited Sexual Tension! William Murdoch is doing it right!

[rabid1st]

You've all heard me go on about UST with very little encouragement. Rest assured this is not one of those posts.

Yes, it is true that every two-handed show on television seems compelled to make us endure this stale device. I could say a few things in this space about the recent season of Bones and how they are forcing me to stop watching due to the constant triggering of my gag reflex.

But, instead, I'm going to discuss a show you've probably never heard of...

...Murdoch Mysteries.

Someone called it CSI: Steampunk and they weren't far off the mark. This unassuming little Canadian show caught my attention when it was recommended to me by Amazon dot com as "another title I might be interested in purchasing." Apparently, people who bought what I bought, also bought Murdoch. Those were pretty smart people as it turns out.

Follow me behind this link to learn about UST done right...on a show I am betting you will really enjoy once I show and tell a little...

William Murdoch is a Toronto detective in the late 19th Century, back when being a policeman wasn't considered a "respectable" vocation. He is a Catholic (the horror) from the wrong side of the tracks, which makes him socially inferior and awkward. A poor, but remarkable earnest young man with a gifted mind, he lives in his head and is constantly pursuing new knowledge to foil the cleverest criminals. Think Sherlock Holmes meets MacGuyver.

Over the course of Season 1, socially inept William falls in love with the socially adept Dr. Julia Ogden. An heiress and gifted doctor, Julia has found employment as a coroner, in a time when living people perfered not to be treated by female doctors. Unfortunately, William and Julia must part. Julia is a fallen woman of sorts...no priest would approve of her. She has affairs and is forward thinking in many of her views. She's not Catholic, not poor, not willing to give up her hard fought for career to become a wife and mother, even assuming William could afford to head a household on his pittance of a salary. And yet, William and Julia are remarkably well suited in wit and passion.

Here we have UST done right. First, the two people involved are not overtly dysfunctional; they are only victims of circumstance. Second, unrequited sexual tension was the norm in the Victorian era. You didn't just have casual sex. Interactions were more circumspect and people were tied to their social circles. Third, William and Julia would work as a couple. They do not dance around the perfectly normal idea of romance, but they are both very much aware of their social realities. They are dealing with fundamental issues that any real life couple might face in their time.

Can love surmount all of these obstacles? Different values? Different backgrounds? Will Julia willingly trade her elevated social standing, her career, and her freedom for the man she clearly loves? Could William tolerate her wild streak, her snobbish friends, her career or (horrors) her not being Catholic? Can they work together without giving in to the passion they most definitely share? Can they share that passion sans wedlock and still respect one another and remain employed? This is the 19th Century after all...you didn't just have office affairs willy nilly. Can they part...yet still be friends and coworkers? Can either of them be loyal to new partners?

Honestly, I am starting S3 and they have me on the edge of my seat with these two. I have no idea how it will all turn out in the end.

And the UST is the thing on this show, for me. The stories are engaging but not particularly brilliant. The acting is stiff...though Yannick (the fellow who plays Murdoch) does have very compelling eyes...as you will see.

Those eyes are what inspired me to make this vid. There are spoilers in it for S2, but if you aren't already watching, I believe you will only be enticed to do so...rather than spoiled for what actually happens.

I truly believe you do not need to be a fan of this show to appreciate this vid...because it is a self-contained story of star-crossed lovers.

Light In Your Eyes
by Rabid1st
Murdoch Mysteries
William/Julia
ARTIST: Blessid Union of Souls
SPOILERS: S2 and episode 1 of S3
WARNING: Some slightly graphic images of a forensic nature
FORMAT: .WMM 20MB streaming and downloadable

SUMMARY: My aim is for this vid to be a self-contained story of star-crossed Victorian lovers parted by social circumstance, yet still longing for one another. No need to even watch the show, I think, to get the basic idea here. If your job, your religion and your morals demanded you give up the woman you love would you do it? Can William Murdoch find solace with a "good Catholic girl" when his heart (and the rest of his anatomy) yearns to pursue his alluring coworker, Dr. Julia Ogden?

DISCLAIMER: This was made solely for my own amusement. Though I would like to tempt people into watching this overlooked, but very entertaining, show on DVD.
STREAMING: http://bamvidvault.ning.com/video/lightmurdoch-1
DOWNLOAD LINK: www.megaupload.com/?d=F42VG6PG

Comments

[sunnytyler001.livejournal.com]

It looks great! :D

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

YAY! Someone was enticed. ;->

It is good.

And I hope my little vid gets a few viewings, because I would very much recommend this show for its UST.

Rae

[athenesolon.livejournal.com]

Hm.... Intriguing. I just got done reading a number of courtship letters between "Missouri's Betsy Ross" (I work at a history museum and she was a local resident) and her (later) husband and their friendship into romance was three plus years and their courtship was another two so I know exactly what you mean (and that was between someone who was the roommate of her brother at college and therefore probably someone respectable by societal standards).

It's interesting to see how things like online dating plays out. I almost wonder if some day we're going to get the equivalent of those old courtship rituals again. Of course the ideal of love at first sight still is the ideal.

(and yes, I had to choose my icon for Reeve's compelling eyes here)

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Yannick is most definitely cut from the Christopher Reeve mold of good-looking and quite earnest actor. Seldom spectacular, he is still compelling to watch and he lingers in the memory. Especially, if you give him time to grow into the role.

The believable nature of the characters in this show...which has a largely unbelievable premise: Victorian Forensics...is definitely a large part of the appeal. And I quite enjoy the formality of the courting. The very fact that they have to hold back on their passion makes for some erotically evocative moments. The show makes a habit, so far, of springing the sexual tension on us at unexpected moments. We will be discussing a victims stomach contents and suddenly William will imagine he's kissing Julia. Or we will get used to imaginings and find that suddenly they've both given in to their passions for real. It is a very heated business this Victorian courtship. :grin:

Rae

[athenesolon.livejournal.com]

LOL. I kind of wish there was some way to translate the victorian UST into modern UST but I think it might be near impossible to translate it to a show in the modern era without triangles being pushed into it's midst (probably why Superman and the like are very intriguing to me these days... you have a triangle that's not ACTUALLY a triangle).

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

This is another issue...which I think they deal with well, given the device of the viewer frequently going into Murdoch's head and getting his POV on crimes or testimony. They also use the letter and journal approach, as I show in the video. Over all I think they do a great job of heating up situations. Take that moment where Murdoch slips and grabs Dr. Ogden's behind...I love their expressions...and the accompanying stiffness between them as they try to learn to dance without showing any attraction. Eventually, sparked by other events in the story, they discover the joy of holding one another close in this acceptable fashion.

Rae

[np-complete.livejournal.com]

Is this something my (fairly conservative) 70-something parents would enjoy? They like historicals, and they like mysteries.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Hmmm! It is difficult to say, but I think they would like it. The show deals with some very liberal ideas in their Victorian (or really Edwardian) setting. And there are the forensic images (though those are mild by American CSI standards). Basically, the show takes some issue...like abortion or homosexuality or prostitution or civil rights...and deals with it during a case. It is rather a balanced show as different characters take different positions...nobody is all for things.

A simple example or two...on abortion...Murdoch is against it, but Julia believes it is inhumane because of what happens to the young women. In another place, Constable Crabtree discovers a love of coffee, but the forward thinking Murdoch believes it will never catch on because "We already have tea."

Rae

[np-complete.livejournal.com]

"Conservative" isn't the right word for them, although my Dad might disagree. "Old-fashioned" might be better. They were children of the forties, after all. But they're aware they now live in the 21st century. As long as the show isn't set up to prove the conservative and Catholic characters (my Dad is Catholic) always wrong, corrupt, or unfeeling, they should be fine with it.

It sounds like something they might like! I'll recommend it.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

No, I would say that it is very respectful toward the Catholic or Conservative views. Even the steps Murdoch takes toward the "good Catholic girl" aren't easily dismissed. She doesn't turn out to be less of a temptation than Julia...which makes it much harder to reach a "This is the right thing to do" stand about things. Obviously, we are meant to be pulling for certain ideals...true love winning out and all that. But I rather admire the show for not taking the easy way out of a lot of their issues. There are very few magic solutions, even if there are a few magical scientific devices. It is Steampunk after all.

Rae

[np-complete.livejournal.com]

I was intrigued that there seemed to be a lot of kissing, even from the character I infer is the "good Catholic girl". That seems out of period: I've read my grandmother's diary (she married in the mid-nineteen twenties) and she confessed that she and my grandfather had kissed *before they were engaged*, and hoped that wouldn't shock the intended reader (my mother, not yet born at the time the diary was written.) I would assume that doing so would have been even more taboo forty years earlier.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

As I said...the kissing in this is deceptive. As is all of the sex.

Though, it is possible that pre-marital sex may, yet, happen...that part is not a given, given Murdoch's earnest nature and conservative religion. I believe, from some of his fantasies and interactions with women, that he is not a virgin. But there is definitely a line he is not prepared to cross with a "respectable" woman. The question, of course, is just how "respectable" is Julia?

There is also, apparently, some understanding...perhaps due to the "frontier" nature of Canada...that you can put the cart before the horse with your intended when it comes to passionate embraces and semi-public kissing. But, it does, apparently, signal that you intend to marry the woman...unless you are a cad.

Rae

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

I should also add that so far, William and Julia have had good reasons for letting their formality slip. Strong emotion rarely gets the better of them...though it can. For example, he is suffering from a raging fever in those clips in the bathrobe. And most of the interaction occurs in his hallucinations. Julia is acting as his doctor...and his "good Catholic girl" is providing respectable bedside attendance...with the door open and an elderly dragon of a landlady keeping watch.

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Not "bathrobe"...pajamas...the red ones. Sheesh! I am tired.

[celtae.livejournal.com]

You had me at CSI: Steampunk

Did you know I interviewed William Petersen from CSI a few years back? Lovely man!

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

I did not know that. But I love William Petersen. And if you love Grissom, you will enjoy Murdoch.

I don't rightly remember, did you follow me here from my CSI postings? Or is this purely a happy coincidence?

Rae

[myemmie.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, the promo video makes it look like Numb3rs with the flashy jedi-mind things...but yeah, I echo the sentiments of those before me. You had me at CSI: Steampunk.
This looks so good! And I love your vid, too - was that the coked out on laudnum wifey from Tombstone, as well?

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

I am happy that you loved my vid. I do not know about the wifey, but it is possible. And the jedi-mind trick business is cool. The show is rather derivitive of many others, but it has its own appeal as well. At first I wasn't sure about it...because the acting was stiff and I'd seen most of the tricks before, but it grew on me. And by S2 I was completely captivated by William and Julia and their UST, as well as being quite fond of the other characters...like Constable Crabtree with his humorous attempts to be helpful while swimming along in the wake of Murdoch genius.

Rae

[keswindhover.livejournal.com]

We get this show over here. My friend C is a fan, but so far I haven't picked up on it. Perhaps you can convert me.

I shall endeavor to convert you

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

And in other news...

June 14th?!?

However shall I manage without chatting for so long?

:goes immediately to library for stacks of Murdoch DVDs and cheap romance novels to tide me through the lull:

Perhaps I really will take up meditation now. Lord knows I must do something to control my stress levels as you gad about the badlands in your slicker (with your little dog in the lead, apparently).

OHmmmmmm!

Re: I shall endeavor to convert you

[athenesolon.livejournal.com]

Have you read any of the mystery book by Elizabeth Peters? if you like the Victorian era romances and such you might like her Amelia Peabody series. Elizabeth Peters (Aka Barbara Mertz Ph.D) sets the series in Egypt circa late 1800s-early 1900s. It's really neat to read if you like the Gothic romances of the era. www.ameliapeabody.com/ (http://www.ameliapeabody.com/)

From the Wiki on Barbara Mertz:
As of 2010, this series contains 19 books; the most recent, A River in the Sky, was published in April 2010. The heroine is an Egyptologist and is married with one child of her body, Ramses, and two others of her heart: Nefret Forth (3 years older than Ramses) and, later, Sennia (ca. 25 years younger). The stories all relate to the "Golden Age" of Egyptology and nearly all are set in Egypt, the excavations providing the backdrop for the mystery/adventure plots.

The timeline begins in the 1880s with Amelia's decision to see the world as an unexpectedly-wealthy, feminist spinster, and ends with the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. (Additional books in the series will "fill in the blanks" in the chronology—e.g. River is set in 1910)

I will say however there is a constant undercurrent of romance as well even though they are indeed an old married couple.

I appreciate the suggestion...but...

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Disabled librarian here.

So, of course, I am familiar with the Amelia Peabody Mysteries. I read them very happily until they began to wander into the lives of the children rather than the principle PoV character.

I confess I loath all of the gushing about her precious Ramses and Nefret. I never quite made it to Sennia. Oddly, I didn't mind her gushing about the prowess of her beloved nearly as much. :grin: His thighs like iron, his chest glistening in the sun as his full head of thick ebony hair and kingly bearing lend him the commanding attitude of an Egyptian Pharoah surveying his subjects.

PSHAW! :snicker:

I am reminded more of the Thomas Pitt novels with Murdoch and his Julia. Or the series of novels by Robin Paige that begins with "Death at Bishop's Keep." Those stories are even more in the line with Murdoch.

I should also note that the Murdoch Mysteries are actually from a series of novels by Maureen Jennings. The first of these is called, "Except the Dying."

Rae

Re: I appreciate the suggestion...but...

[athenesolon.livejournal.com]

I understand. :D I have to concur on the gushing over said husband. Goodness do I sometimes miss that (although as I started with the series with "Ape who guards the Balance" and then went back to the beginning of the series I have a different view of things. i.e. the courtship of Nefret by Ramses was in the early stages... he wasn't the moony-eyed little boy in that one so I was interested in both of the romances) (i.e. Peabody/Emerson AND the Ramses/Nefret romances).

Yes, different perspectives change matters

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

It is interesting how you can get used to something and then balk when it changes. This is affecting Doctor Who at the moment and also affected it when it came back...I remember being appalled at the very idea of a romance with a companion. And many of my old school peers kept on being appalled and took great joy in Rose being set aside while the Doctor went on having adventures.

I suppose the difference for me...is that I like a series to give me just enough of something...rather than one thing all the time. Like in the case of sexual tension...I don't feel that giving it up is the kiss of death...unless you have your whole story wrapped up in sexual tension. The proof of this is in soap operas. They have been rotating sexual tension between certain couples for decades...and yet...they also manage to have consummation. It makes me LOL when someone in prime time television scorns the idea of "soap opera" and then creates some outlandish melodrama to continue UST well beyond where it entertains.

It isn't that UST is that compelling, actually, it is that these shows forget to give us any other reason to watch. So when the sexual tension is gone...we are done. And in the Peabody series...when we moved on to Ramses/Nefret I simply wasn't interested. But, I can see if you started with them...you might enjoy the romances of it.

[asahifirsa.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of this show, but it looks just like my cup of tea. I'll see if I can find an episode or two to watch :)

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

If you are in America, I understand it is broadcasting on Bravo. S1 and S2 are available in DVD from Amazon. And you can sample it on YouTube...just put in Murdoch Mysteries + The Knock Down. That's a fairly good episode. If you watch them on YouTube...do try to follow along with the episode list from Wikipedia...as you don't want to stumble around in the Julia/William arc...or you could be quite confused by things.

Rae

[asahifirsa.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I'll be on vacation starting next week, but I'll check it out during the summer (no new series running then anyway). I just checked international airings, but nothing yet that I can see (I'm in the center of Europe)

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Actually...here...let me get you started...with The Knockdown part 1 of 5...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MgZmz2uyhE

[awkwardduckling.livejournal.com]

i've gotten 8 episodes in... i like it so far! it's kind of a nice cop-with-ahead-of-his-time-techniques comedown after ashes to ashes ended last week. thanks for the recommendation!
and, feel better soon!

[rabid1st.livejournal.com]

Thanks...and I can confidently say that you will like S2 even better than S1. And it is possible you will like S3 even better still.

S2 is my fave so far...but only because the UST went just a little wobbly in S3. Still, S3 is tremendous when it comes to the stories...I think that I loved all but 2 of them. And yes, it is rather like the opposite of Life on Mars or something...though, of course, Murdoch as a lot of failings particular to his time...especially those grounded in his religion as you will see in S2 and S3...the S3 finale is especially painful due to this failing. But you have to love a show being so brave at the same time.

Rae'
thanking you for the good wishes as well.