"Murdoch Mysteries" The Devil Inside (TV Episode 2017) Poster

(TV Series)

(2017)

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8/10
Devilishly Clever
pensman1 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
A rather gruesome opening with two dead bodies, throats slit, and the murderer, Mr. Foley, claims the devil entered him through his chest and is inside him and made him do it. And the devil has a name, James Gillies, a murderer well known to Murdoch and Julia; but a man who is supposed to be dead.

When Murdoch "talks" to Gillies through Foley, "Gillies" says it was fun to bury Julia alive and frame her for the murder of her husband. But when "Foley" brings up the first meeting Murdoch had with Gillies and Perry, and is told that Gillies intends to take Murdoch to Hell, and uses the phrase we are going to have so much fun, Murdoch begins to wonder just what is happening.

But to be convinced of demonic possession, Foley has say something that only he or Julia would know, and when he says to Julia "I'm not done with you yet" then Julia begins to believe James Gillies may still be alive, that he survived a jump from a bridge, and the body that was found wasn't that of Gillies.

Julia is shaken but Murdoch believes Foley is a tool of Gillies. So, Murdoch has to go back to the crime that opened the episode. Why were the two men Wilcox and Berkley killed? And when Murdoch returns to question Foley, Foley is able to take a gun from an officer and then kill himself.

When Julia and her assistant examine the body, they discover Foley's spleen had been removed and in the chest cavity they find a device had been implanted. A device with a microphone that was attached near Foley's ear. A device that allows for transmission of voices. A device commissioned to be built by Gillian James. An anagram for James Gillies.

But as the device could only transmit a voice over a short distance, Murdoch realizes the interview room had to be bugged in order to have Foley respond to questions. So, Gillies is alive but where is he. "Foley-Gillies" said Murdoch has all the clues.

Murdoch follows an almost impossible trail, but in the end we find who was responsible for all the deaths in this rather ugly episode. I don't want to give away the finale as you really want to watch this if you are a fan of the series. But it does END in the morgue.
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9/10
Darkest episode to date
tiggerjillm3 March 2017
This episode flashes back to older episodes with the "mystical return" of an old foe. Most of these episodes are light-hearted and interesting but this one was, by far, the darkest and most unsettling episode. It is my opinion that it may not be for all of Murdoch's fans. If you are a fan suspense/thrillers that are a little darker, this one is for you.
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Return to the dark side.
francespen9 April 2019
Warning: Spoilers
That was indeed a dark episode after episodes that had in comparison been so light hearted, and explains the 'excerpts' listing in the credits. Gilles had a brilliant mind so sad he put it to such an evil use. One thing puzzled me how did he know about Roland and how did he get him from his dad?
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6/10
Tired of anything gillies....
tert7222 December 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Gillies was a subpar criminal when he got caught the first time....... Just leave that thread cut from now on... Please. Writers come up with something original.
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6/10
Definitely dark, but flawed
crazymanmichael3 January 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Okay yes, the writers certainly achieved what they clearly set out to do, which was create likely the darkest Gillies episode to date, and Mark Rendall turns in an excellent performance as the beaten-down victim, Jacob Foley.

Nevertheless, there are a number of issues for me. First, much of what Gillies did to set up this "game" of his is implausible, if not outright impossible. I won't go into too much detail as that would obviously give away some important plot points; suffice to say that... well, it's unlikely, is all.

However the most important thing that troubles me about this episode is that clearly Foley is very much the victim here, and undergoes tremendous suffering which Murdoch, and to a lesser extent Julia as well, unwittingly participate in. Yet throughout the entire second half of the episode (where they unravel the plot and discover what was really going on) they never once express any compassion or empathy for Foley, or feel any regret for their part in increasing his suffering.

** MILD SPOILER ** Heck, Murdoch even punches the guy a couple of times and roughs him up. Yet Foley was clearly, as Murdoch himself says at one point, "Just a broken down man". About as close as anyone comes to expressing any compassion is when Julia, upon discovering what had been done to Foley, says, "Little wonder it drove him mad."

** SIGNIFICANT SPOILER ** Gillies tortures this poor guy to suicide, yet that doesn't seem to have any impact at all on any of the principals, here. Sorry, but that really bugs me.
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3/10
Oh pahleese
This is so stupid. Enough of Gilles coming back. Come on man. I watched 10 seasons mostly all good but Gilles again. That guy has more lives than my cat!
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1/10
Definitely not an 8.2
larrydearing17 July 2021
I agree with the reviewer who panned this episode & said it may be the episode that jumped the shark. It's full of flashbacks & ridiculous real time events. Bringing up Gillies again is nothing more than beating a dead shark. It seems like the writers were desperate for a story, and they came up with the worst Murdoch episode to date. Many recent episodes dating back to the end of last season have been disappointing. I didn't think it could get any worse than Murdoch being kidnapped and chained to the bed by a deranged woman, but this show proved me wrong. This has been one of my favorite shows. I hope it's not running on fumes like Happy Days did for so long.

Semi-spoiler: the next episode is not much better.
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3/10
Who wrote this tripe?
gjw9 January 2021
For a down-to-earth show that has always been based (more or less) in the reality of the late Victorian age, this was an absolutely preposterous episode, that took the show close to "jumping the shark". The absurd plot defies belief.

And it also features a particularly sick/sadistic ending that seems more appropriate to a gruesome horror movie than to a family TV show, a revenge fantasy which, in my opinion, lessens the honor of both of the two main characters.

The only good thing about it was that they finally got rid of the Gillies character once and for all, who was always nothing more than a blatant attempt to mimic the Sherlock Holmes nemesis Moriarty. We had seen far too much of that "evil mastermind" nonsense.

Beyond that, this episode is a blemish on an otherwise admirable show. The writers should be ashamed of themselves.
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