Freemasonry is at the heart of this story. They say of themselves that they are not a secret organisation but an organisation with secrets, though as this episode unfolds it is clear that these are secrets which are easy to uncover.
The method of the killing in this episode is novel, so I shan't reveal it. However, I suspect that it is a bit anachronistic, and i'm not surprised that it took a while for the forces of law and order to figure out.
The cross-dressing part of the story is subtly amusing, raising questions about whether the same thing is a secret or a lie, depending on context. The women in this episode just want to see inside the secretive world of their menfolk, but in order to see those secrets(which are a united banal and boring anyway) they have to dress as men and possibly lie about what they are doing.
I'm a bit sorry to find myself once more at odds with fellow reviewer ctyankee1 not only about the feminist aspects of the story, but also with regard to what ctyankee1 perceives as mocking the beliefs of the Bible. I suspect that a large part of the reason for the clash between us is that ctyankee1 is based in the USA, where Protestant Christianity is on average more likely to be conservative, while here in Wales it is more likely to be liberal. This is not meant as a criticism, but rather a guess that might explain our different points of view. Anyway, whilst speaking not as a Freemason, I do gather from my faint understanding of their beliefs and practices that they do have an origin in the text of the Bible, albeit the Old Testament rather than the New, though they have diverged from it in their own particular ways. Once more, I do not perceive any anti-Christian bias in this story or in the way that Murdoch's character is written. I think it may be worth keeping in mind, when assessing the behaviour of the characters, that in general the people of the 1890's would have been much more conversant with the text of the Bible than they are today, and so it would be far more common to refer to the language and culture of the Bible, as simile and metaphor in everyday conversation. Thus, I don't feel it necessary to look for subtext all the time. Having said that, there definitely is some subtext in certain of the stories, such as when Murdoch and Dr Ogden cite verses from the Song of Songs. On the other hand, when Crabtree tries to impress Murdoch with his Biblical knowledge, but ends up confusing Samson and Solomon, the only thing that is the target of the scriptwriter is Constable Crabtree.
I do agree with the other reviewer that this episode seems weaker than some others, but perhaps that is because it is dealing with things like Freemasonry, which is a foreign country to me. If I were an initiate, I expect I would have a completely different view, though whether I would be awarding a high score or a low one, I can only speculate about.
The method of the killing in this episode is novel, so I shan't reveal it. However, I suspect that it is a bit anachronistic, and i'm not surprised that it took a while for the forces of law and order to figure out.
The cross-dressing part of the story is subtly amusing, raising questions about whether the same thing is a secret or a lie, depending on context. The women in this episode just want to see inside the secretive world of their menfolk, but in order to see those secrets(which are a united banal and boring anyway) they have to dress as men and possibly lie about what they are doing.
I'm a bit sorry to find myself once more at odds with fellow reviewer ctyankee1 not only about the feminist aspects of the story, but also with regard to what ctyankee1 perceives as mocking the beliefs of the Bible. I suspect that a large part of the reason for the clash between us is that ctyankee1 is based in the USA, where Protestant Christianity is on average more likely to be conservative, while here in Wales it is more likely to be liberal. This is not meant as a criticism, but rather a guess that might explain our different points of view. Anyway, whilst speaking not as a Freemason, I do gather from my faint understanding of their beliefs and practices that they do have an origin in the text of the Bible, albeit the Old Testament rather than the New, though they have diverged from it in their own particular ways. Once more, I do not perceive any anti-Christian bias in this story or in the way that Murdoch's character is written. I think it may be worth keeping in mind, when assessing the behaviour of the characters, that in general the people of the 1890's would have been much more conversant with the text of the Bible than they are today, and so it would be far more common to refer to the language and culture of the Bible, as simile and metaphor in everyday conversation. Thus, I don't feel it necessary to look for subtext all the time. Having said that, there definitely is some subtext in certain of the stories, such as when Murdoch and Dr Ogden cite verses from the Song of Songs. On the other hand, when Crabtree tries to impress Murdoch with his Biblical knowledge, but ends up confusing Samson and Solomon, the only thing that is the target of the scriptwriter is Constable Crabtree.
I do agree with the other reviewer that this episode seems weaker than some others, but perhaps that is because it is dealing with things like Freemasonry, which is a foreign country to me. If I were an initiate, I expect I would have a completely different view, though whether I would be awarding a high score or a low one, I can only speculate about.