Not much enjoyable about this episode, unfortunately. The futuristic science fiction of the episode's title provided the return of a truly enjoyable character from past seasons, but even he could not pull this installment out of its B-movie feel. The guest characters that filled out the story were far too stereotypical and pedestrian to bring any additional shine or fun. Even the Murdoch and Julia subplot was a bit uncomfortable to witness. With so many good episodes of Murdoch available to spend one's evening, this one need not be watched again.
3 Reviews
PC and corniness ad-nauseum
jeffreylroutledge18 February 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I really think Murdoch has outlived it's lifespan. The show is getting more and more politically correct each season to the point of being absolutely ridiculous. Sure we all celebrate and expect diversity presently but over 100 years ago it would be absurd to see a female medical examiner, let alone a female black one. When Julia's first assistant Rebbeca James left the show it seemed like they had to make sure they found another f/b character to replace her which just increased the level of historical absurdity. In this particular episode; F.L.A.S.H. (which was like a really cheesy Dr. Who episode from the 60's) of course we had to (of course) have a gay character and when Pendrick was told the other guy was in love with him, Pendrick's reaction was not in line whatsoever with what any straight man would even say today, let alone over 100 years ago. Rather than having a cringe-worthy reaction that would have been the norm of that time, he instead longingly lamented about being straight and wondering if a person can change. Really?? Sorry but that's just not believable considering the time-period. Even today, are there really straight persons who wished they could be gay? Murdoch started out being very good but after 10 seasons, I think they are running out of ideas and trying too hard to be "progressive".
Oh my goodness...
crazymanmichael24 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Shall we dip into just a FEW of the reasons this episode makes no sense whatsoever?
1. Sorry, but you can't remove the air from a room using fans. It just doesn't work. Once the pressure begins to drop the blades will cavitate, and that'll be that, no vacuum, not even close.
2. To generate a wind strong enough to bodily pick up a man and throw him against a wall (that's roughly EF3 tornado intensity) requires a HUGE volume of air. Yet the room in which this happens is about the size of a large living room, AND it's supposedly airtight. So where's all that air coming from???
3. Bonnie Clement, the switchboard operator, is apparently (using early-1900s telephone technology, at that) able to distinguish between sound "draining away" and someone getting farther from the microphone. Sorry, but they would sound exactly the same, and in any case, the guy DID get farther from the microphone. That was just a lame plot device that didn't work. Like most of the other items on this list.
4. Random aside: why do William and Julia need a code word to have sex? Why don't they just pick up the phone and say, "Let's have sex"?
5. Pendrick's scheme is nothing short of insane. Even if the technology existed to sink an evacuated tube thousands of miles long to the bottom of the ocean (it probably doesn't even exist today, not affordably, anyway) the fact is that even the tiniest leak anywhere along its length would be catastrophic. The oceanic pressure, combined with the vacuum inside, would fill the entire tube with seawater in a short time, dooming anyone in it at the time. It would also be impossible to repair the tube once that happened.
6. An amplified film soundtrack, not to mention suit-to-suit intercoms, require technology that wasn't available at the time.
7. EGREGIOUS ERRORS: The timings throughout the episode are completely wrong. The guy who dies at the beginning supposedly made the journey from Toronto Island to the mainland in "15 seconds". Pendrick does the same journey in less than "20 seconds", yet when he and Murdoch do the same, their trip takes close to a minute. Heck, once inside they "sled" they don't even start MOVING for at least 10 seconds, let alone make the whole trip! When Pendrick (on his film soundtrack) says that he'll be there in "30 seconds", he then invites people to look for him. They move to the telescopes, look out across Toronto Harbour, they see him, he waves, then disappears inside and hops aboard his "sled", all in under 10 seconds. Yeah, right.
I realize that most of the Pendrick episodes are science-fiction, emphasis on the "fiction", and not terribly credible at the best of times (Pendrick builds a rocket, Pendrick builds a microwave weapon, Pendrick invents the internet...) but this one - IMHO - really takes the cake.
1. Sorry, but you can't remove the air from a room using fans. It just doesn't work. Once the pressure begins to drop the blades will cavitate, and that'll be that, no vacuum, not even close.
2. To generate a wind strong enough to bodily pick up a man and throw him against a wall (that's roughly EF3 tornado intensity) requires a HUGE volume of air. Yet the room in which this happens is about the size of a large living room, AND it's supposedly airtight. So where's all that air coming from???
3. Bonnie Clement, the switchboard operator, is apparently (using early-1900s telephone technology, at that) able to distinguish between sound "draining away" and someone getting farther from the microphone. Sorry, but they would sound exactly the same, and in any case, the guy DID get farther from the microphone. That was just a lame plot device that didn't work. Like most of the other items on this list.
4. Random aside: why do William and Julia need a code word to have sex? Why don't they just pick up the phone and say, "Let's have sex"?
5. Pendrick's scheme is nothing short of insane. Even if the technology existed to sink an evacuated tube thousands of miles long to the bottom of the ocean (it probably doesn't even exist today, not affordably, anyway) the fact is that even the tiniest leak anywhere along its length would be catastrophic. The oceanic pressure, combined with the vacuum inside, would fill the entire tube with seawater in a short time, dooming anyone in it at the time. It would also be impossible to repair the tube once that happened.
6. An amplified film soundtrack, not to mention suit-to-suit intercoms, require technology that wasn't available at the time.
7. EGREGIOUS ERRORS: The timings throughout the episode are completely wrong. The guy who dies at the beginning supposedly made the journey from Toronto Island to the mainland in "15 seconds". Pendrick does the same journey in less than "20 seconds", yet when he and Murdoch do the same, their trip takes close to a minute. Heck, once inside they "sled" they don't even start MOVING for at least 10 seconds, let alone make the whole trip! When Pendrick (on his film soundtrack) says that he'll be there in "30 seconds", he then invites people to look for him. They move to the telescopes, look out across Toronto Harbour, they see him, he waves, then disappears inside and hops aboard his "sled", all in under 10 seconds. Yeah, right.
I realize that most of the Pendrick episodes are science-fiction, emphasis on the "fiction", and not terribly credible at the best of times (Pendrick builds a rocket, Pendrick builds a microwave weapon, Pendrick invents the internet...) but this one - IMHO - really takes the cake.
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