Murdoch Mysteries (TV Series) Marked Twain (2015) User Reviews

Educational but not the best mystery

[mike-thomas-4 · 7/10 · 15 October 2015]

It was great to see William Shatner in this episode, playing a man who was far from popular with the gentry of Victorian era Toronto. It was good to learn some facts about Mark Twain that I didn't know, but overall this was not as successful as some of the 'Murdoch meets an historically significant figure' episodes. Perhaps the writers were not sure what to do with the character, but the mystery was a bit simple for Murdoch to solve.

On the plus side, there were some good interactions, particularly those involving George Crabtree. While not back to his all time best, it was good to see him sparing with Henry and he had a great moment with Mark Twain.

Grace is shockingly underused so far this season. I hope this will change in the near future.

Twain almost meets Samuel Langhorne

[pensman · 8/10 · 5 May 2016]

In this episode fellow Canadian William Shatner gets to do a guest appearance as Mark Twain. Inspector Thomas Brackenreid is hoping to please his wife Margaret as he has been proposed for membership in the exclusive Empire Club. But things don't quite go as expected as not only has his sponsor angered fellow club members by inviting Twain to address them, but someone shoots at Twain. And while attempting a second speech in front of one of Dr. Ogden's groups, a second shot at Twain misses him but kills his local manager. George does his best to assist Murdoch but now he is a lowly constable third class (don't forget he was in prison and even though proved innocent was demoted) and his "friend" Constable Henry Higgins is quick to accept the accolades for the work George has actually done. The chief suspects are all members of the Empire Club and Higgins is sent in undercover but discovers nothing. It it the ever resourceful George who really helps by going in to the Empire Club unofficially who turns up important clues. In the end Brackenreid loses his chance at membership, George gets encouragement from Twain to continue writing, and Murdoch uncovers the killer. All of this and the cause for women's rights and equality gets highlighted.

The Empire Strikes Back... (or does it?)

[miles-33108 · 8/10 · 27 November 2016]

Toronto 's exclusive Empire Club is hosting a guest speaker, and Inspector Brackenreid has gone along with his wife Margaret. She fervently hopes that her husband will be granted membership in a few days' time, as she sees the Empire Club as the gateway to High Society. The important thing about membership of the Empire Club is that members should be seen to uphold the values of the British Empire. In light of this, it is remarkably strange that the invited speaker should be Samuel L Clemens, otherwise known as the notorious anti-imperialist, Mark Twain. A great commotion breaks out at the Empire Club when he is announced, and someone shoots at him, killing a nearby drinks glass.

Some senior members of the Empire Club hint to inspector Brackenreid that it would be good if Mark Twain were to leave Toronto, so Brackenreid puts this proposal to Murdoch. Meanwhile Dr Ogden has found out about Mark Twain's precarious financial position and has suggested that he could undertake a series of paid lectures for the women's suffrage movement.

Murdoch compiles a long list of suspects, many of whom have lost money taking Mark Twain's advice. He allocates the task of interviewing these people to Constables Higgins and Crabtree. Now that Higgins is a Constable First Class, he lords it over Crabtree, who has been demoted to Constable Third Class. The most immediate result of this is that the work is not done to the standard it would have been done before, and Higgins doesn't miss an opportunity to accept the credit which is due to George for work that he did.

Mark Twain is to speak on behalf of the women's movement, but members of the Empire Club gather in the street outside the hall to try to prevent the audience assembling. Inspector Brackenreid arrives to break up the demonstration so that the lecture may proceed. During the lecture, Mark Twain invites his assistant Benson up on stage, but Benson is shot at Mark Twain's side.

So, who is trying to kill Mark Twain? Or is someone else the intended target? If so, who? Will Margaret Brackenreid gain access to High Society? How far will Constable Crabtree permit Constable Higgins to go before doing something to get back at him?

This has the feeling of a transitional episode, moving things forward to a new point of equilibrium before launching out on something special.

Twain shorter

[ahepburn-80052 · 7/10 · 27 January 2022]

The reviewer who said Shatner was mis-cast as Twain was somewhat mistaken. Shatner is an inch taller than Twain though Twain was much slimmer. It was great to see Shatner in this very Canadian show.

Mis-casted.

[valstone52 · 2/10 · 7 March 2021]

Talk about using the wrong actor. Mark twain was tall and kind of slim. Instead they use porky pig William shanter, what a crock. Yes he's from Canada, but there are way more better actors than him. He's what's known as a ham, overacting.