When you think about it, unearthing the past is pretty hard to do. Sure, Constable Teddy Roberts (Kataem O’Connor) can stumble upon the shallow grave of one of his childhood friends and proceed to solve his murder, but like our resident philosopher Llewellyn Watts (Daniel Maslany) says, we can’t help but see things through the veil of our emotions. I would add that we also can’t help but see history through a distorted lens — or, as director Elsbeth McCall quite literally frames it in this episode, through a ring or a bullet hole in a skull.

We often treat the people of the past as caricatures — less clever, less self-aware — when in truth they were as complex and conflicted as we are. C. S. Lewis called this bias chronological snobbery: the assumption that the ideas, attitudes, and people of the past are inherently inferior simply because they are older. But period storytelling like Murdoch Mysteries works against that bias. By giving its characters rich inner lives, sharp wit, and the same blend of brilliance and blind spots we recognize in ourselves, the show reminds us that the past was once someone’s present.

Going Home

In Unearthing the Past, Teddy Roberts travels back to his hometown, Chatham, for the first time since joining Station House No. 4 and Murdoch Mysteries in last year’s Welcome to Paradise. The episode is a vehicle to get to know him better, flesh out his character, and give him some backstory. As we meet his mother — played with genuine warmth by the wonderful Olunike Adeliyi — and some of his childhood friends, it’s not hard to see why he’s developed into such a fine young man and why proud Mrs. Roberts is so keen for folks to know that my son is a Toronto police officer. We also learn that Chatham at the time had a steady undercurrent of racism, something so pervasive that it’s shown but hardly remarked upon. Unfortunately, the only thing we do not learn is why young Teddy decided to become a constable and why he moved to Toronto — although Constable Gaines (James Cade) gives us a fair idea of the local constabulary’s calibre.

Keri Ferencz is a great dialogue writer, and it’s mainly through her dialogue that we learn about plot points and are introduced to new characters. And speaking of new characters: the episodic cast is excellent. I already mentioned Mrs. Roberts — immensely proud of her son, not above doing a bit of snooping at her boss’s office, and taking everything in her stride. I loved her exchange with Watts over her flowers: messing around with my flowers can result in a swat. Her boss, Mr. Finley (John Bourgeois), has nothing to hide but doesn’t want to cooperate with Watts and Roberts as a matter of principle. He’d probably win the award for least likable Chatham resident, if it weren’t for Noah you don’t look like most folks Jackson (Michael Dyson).

Directing the Past

Ferencz’s script is elevated by some excellent locations and sets, and, of course, by McCall’s assured direction. She not only deploys striking visual metaphors for limited perspective — rings, bullet holes, mirrors — but her handling of the flashbacks to Roberts’s teenage years is remarkably convincing, especially considering the characters are meant to be roughly eight years younger in those scenes. That effect is aided enormously by design: costuming, lighting, and hair bridge the eight-year gap. Simpler outfits, darker, more kinetic staging, and the contrast between young Minnie’s (Andi Hubick) braids and older Minnie’s updo all subtly but persuasively sell the passage of time.

Meanwhile, back in 1913, Detective Watts rushes over to Constable Roberts’s aid — probably out of the goodness of his heart, though possibly to escape young Harry Murdoch’s (Etienne Kellici) barrage of paper planes. Oh, did I forget to mention that Detective Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) is also in this episode? Not that he does any detecting, or that there’s a mystery for him to solve. Unless it’s the disappearance of Harry’s good manners…

Watts Has Moves

Anyway — back to Watts. Daniel Maslany dials back his physical comedy but still gets the biggest laughs. Watts may not have children, but he’s got a dad joke or two nevertheless: I see you have an axe to grind, Mr. Jackson, and Alas, poor Manford. Well, that last joke had to be made — you can’t have someone holding up a skull and not make it. And while we see that Roberts has learned a lot from Murdoch (forensics, ballistics, deduction), Watts has some of his own wisdom to dispense and counsels Roberts to take the time to mourn his friend. Plus, he’s got moves! In what could quite possibly be the most Watts-like thing he has ever done, he has picked up some self-defense Hapkido moves… from a booklet!

Having written all of this, I ask myself: if the main story was so well executed, why did I come away from this episode slightly unsatisfied? I suppose I can’t help judging this episode through the veil of my expectations, and having two completely unrelated stories, with Murdoch relegated to the B-story, is not what I’ve come to expect from Murdoch Mysteries. Sure, it was nice to see Harry again, and it’s quintessential Murdoch to design a bunk bed with soundproof curtains rather than tell Harry to turn down the volume, and Yannick Bisson did a reliably good job conveying how much he misses his family, but in the end I just want him to put that brilliant mind of his toward solving crimes.