The teaser for this episode shows a woman in some physical distress leaving a building, and her naked body is subsequently found in a ditch, apparently drained of blood. Dr Ogden fails to identify the cause of death, though as the story unfolds she makes progress and eventually she discovers the combination of factors which killed the woman.
Early on, it is discovered that the woman had miscarried at an early stage of pregnancy, so the investigation naturally explores the question of whether the woman had died as the result of an abortion, which would have been illegal (as, it seems would have been any artificial means of birth control). However, everyone who might have been in a position to provide the abortion, whether by chemical or surgical means, denies doing so in this case, even though, under pressure from Detective Murdoch, they each admit to having "helped" other women in the past, thus placing their fates in Murdoch's hands.
Murdoch becomes increasingly frustrated through the story due to the lack of progress with the investigation, and even suspects Dr Ogden of withholding information, bringing their developing romance under pressure. Indeed, his questioning of her professionalism spurs her to perform one last examination of the evidence, which leads to the Identification of a substance which she consumed, hoping that it would make her lose the baby she was carrying, but without knowing that because of a medical condition she had, it would prove fatal.
At the end of all this, Detective Murdoch is subdued, and still has several dilemmas to resolve, both of a legal nature as regards what to do with those who confessed past criminal behaviour, and of an ethical nature as regards his own values when confronted by the situation of the young woman. As we are given an insight into his thinking in a flashback/reconstruction, we see him picturing himself holding her hand as her life ebbs away, and signing himself with the cross.
There is just one matter left outstanding for Murdoch - the need to repair his relationship with Dr Ogden, and she herself needs to clarify in her own mind why she might have been less thorough than usual while conducting the post-mortem.In a conversation that brings things between them out into the open, everything appears to be smoothed out. But then Dr Ogden confesses that when she was younger, she found herself pregnant, but could not face bringing the child into the world; Murdoch is stunned and asks if she regrets having an abortion, which she doesn't. She asks if this changes things between them, and we, as eavesdroppers to this intimate conversation, are left wondering, just like the two of them.
This is a tense episode for most of the time, but it ends tenderly with many questions being implicitly posed to the audience about our attitudes to these issues and to the characters in the story who have found their own solutions to their own dilemmas. These are the "shades of gray" of the title, and the writers present both the gains and losses that result from the choices people make.
I thought long and hard before adding this final paragraph, and probably wouldn't have written it, but for comments left by an alternative reviewer. I was born to a single mother who told me that I was conceived in a moment of youthful passion that got out of hand. She also told me that when she told the young man, he gave her some money to get rid of it, and abandoned her. I am the fortunate beneficiary of her decision to continue with the pregnancy, and of the decision of others to adopt and raise me. Even so, I recognise that many young women can feel like their world is collapsing around them when they find themselves pregnant and unsupported. It is true that many young men also find themselves in seemingly impossible situations. I would agree with the other reviewer that too many pregnancies end in abortion, and too many young lives end in suicide or in accidental overdose (just like the young woman in this episode), but as a Christian minister (now retired) I would have to say that society has very little to do with it, in the moment that someone is faced with the terrible decision, and nobody can know someone else's pain, or their reaction to it. I don't believe that there is any absolute moral code that can operate without the grace that forgives transgressions, lifts broken people back to their feet and helps them rebuild with whatever support they need.
One of my own aphorisms is that some people see the world in black and white, while others perceive shades of grey, but God's gift to us all is a rainbow, if only we will permit ourselves to see it.
Early on, it is discovered that the woman had miscarried at an early stage of pregnancy, so the investigation naturally explores the question of whether the woman had died as the result of an abortion, which would have been illegal (as, it seems would have been any artificial means of birth control). However, everyone who might have been in a position to provide the abortion, whether by chemical or surgical means, denies doing so in this case, even though, under pressure from Detective Murdoch, they each admit to having "helped" other women in the past, thus placing their fates in Murdoch's hands.
Murdoch becomes increasingly frustrated through the story due to the lack of progress with the investigation, and even suspects Dr Ogden of withholding information, bringing their developing romance under pressure. Indeed, his questioning of her professionalism spurs her to perform one last examination of the evidence, which leads to the Identification of a substance which she consumed, hoping that it would make her lose the baby she was carrying, but without knowing that because of a medical condition she had, it would prove fatal.
At the end of all this, Detective Murdoch is subdued, and still has several dilemmas to resolve, both of a legal nature as regards what to do with those who confessed past criminal behaviour, and of an ethical nature as regards his own values when confronted by the situation of the young woman. As we are given an insight into his thinking in a flashback/reconstruction, we see him picturing himself holding her hand as her life ebbs away, and signing himself with the cross.
There is just one matter left outstanding for Murdoch - the need to repair his relationship with Dr Ogden, and she herself needs to clarify in her own mind why she might have been less thorough than usual while conducting the post-mortem.In a conversation that brings things between them out into the open, everything appears to be smoothed out. But then Dr Ogden confesses that when she was younger, she found herself pregnant, but could not face bringing the child into the world; Murdoch is stunned and asks if she regrets having an abortion, which she doesn't. She asks if this changes things between them, and we, as eavesdroppers to this intimate conversation, are left wondering, just like the two of them.
This is a tense episode for most of the time, but it ends tenderly with many questions being implicitly posed to the audience about our attitudes to these issues and to the characters in the story who have found their own solutions to their own dilemmas. These are the "shades of gray" of the title, and the writers present both the gains and losses that result from the choices people make.
I thought long and hard before adding this final paragraph, and probably wouldn't have written it, but for comments left by an alternative reviewer. I was born to a single mother who told me that I was conceived in a moment of youthful passion that got out of hand. She also told me that when she told the young man, he gave her some money to get rid of it, and abandoned her. I am the fortunate beneficiary of her decision to continue with the pregnancy, and of the decision of others to adopt and raise me. Even so, I recognise that many young women can feel like their world is collapsing around them when they find themselves pregnant and unsupported. It is true that many young men also find themselves in seemingly impossible situations. I would agree with the other reviewer that too many pregnancies end in abortion, and too many young lives end in suicide or in accidental overdose (just like the young woman in this episode), but as a Christian minister (now retired) I would have to say that society has very little to do with it, in the moment that someone is faced with the terrible decision, and nobody can know someone else's pain, or their reaction to it. I don't believe that there is any absolute moral code that can operate without the grace that forgives transgressions, lifts broken people back to their feet and helps them rebuild with whatever support they need.
One of my own aphorisms is that some people see the world in black and white, while others perceive shades of grey, but God's gift to us all is a rainbow, if only we will permit ourselves to see it.
