The House Of Misfit Dolls – The episode begins at Salem’s Doll where Arthur Salem (Richard Durden) says goodbye to his final customer of the day while also reminding her to return on Saturday for a peek at Eliza Rose’s new state-of-the-art sister. As soon as the shop closes, it becomes clear that Arthur’s employees are none too pleased with the insane demands he’s now set for them. Octavia Hemlock (Debbie Chazen) suggests they try to talk some sense into their old boss while Merlin Crowe (Alex Macqueen) and Gideon Glove (Andre Flynn) can be overheard saying that words will never be enough to convince Arthur. It is merely seconds later that Peggy Button (Ami Metcalf) takes Arthur’s frantic call for help.
Shortly after this, Peggy and Sam Gillespie (Max Brown) discover Arthur stabbed in the back, with Harmony clutching what appears to be the murder weapon. It isn’t until Sister Boniface (Lorna Watson) that the potential murder weapon is discovered but at the same time, inadvertently reveals her fear of dolls.
Elsewhere, Felix Livingstone (Jerry Iwu) is regaling Victoria Braithwaite (Ayesha Griffiths) with stories of how he narrowly escaped the clutches of her mother when Peggy interrupts. Victoria attempts a joke that goes over Peggy’s head before she excuses herself to the guesthouse to finish unpacking.
Upon arriving at the murder scene, Felix immediately learns from Sister Boniface that Arthur locked himself in the room before being stabbed. Despite this strange discovery, Sam ensures Arthur’s staff that it was most certainly a human who killed him. While arranging for the employees to be questioned, Peggy recognizes Beth Moody’s (Alexandra O’Neill) voice from Arthur’s frantic call. Beth immediately denies the allegation but the discovery of her packed suitcase suggests different. Beth explains the suitcase by claiming that she had just been dismissed by Arthur because he was losing so much money trying to launch Harmony. As for her voice in the background, Beth voices one of the dolls.
Felix and Victoria have an awkward breakfast with Mrs. Clam (Belinda Lang) until Peggy shows up to take his place. Before returning to the investigation, he just happens to catch the paper’s headline story, ‘Killer Doll In Great Slaughter.’ At nearly the same time, Arthur’s staff has made the discovery but Beth assures them there is no such thing as bad publicity. It soon becomes clear that Arthur’s staff plans on going ahead with Saturday’s launch.
Felix and Sam are discussing the backgrounds of Arthur’s employees when Sister Boniface interrupts with the results from Harmony’s post-mortem. As it turns out, Harmony shares a wound from the same knife that killed Arthur. Despite this, the wound did not contain Arthur’s blood, meaning the doll was stabbed first. The wound, however, did contain surgical disinfectant.
As Peggy is showing Victoria around Great Slaughter, it becomes clear that the stories in the papers about killer dolls are having an adverse reaction in the public. Even one of the paper’s journalists, Norman Whalley (Jack Gouldbourne), gets a scare. Peggy just happens to be stopping by for a word with him just as he discovers a hanging doll in the office.
While Peggy and Victoria meet with Norman, Felix, and Sam question Gideon about the disinfectant. He quickly explains this away by admitting to stabbing Harmony. He claims to have done so in anger after Arthur told him that it was no longer economically feasible to repair dolls when their customers could purchase new ones for close to the same price. The questioning is soon interrupted by a distant stirring that leads Felix to discover Beth and Octavia in the process of what appears to be destroying evidence.
With Sister Boniface now on scene at the paper’s offices, Norman explains to Peggy how an anonymous tip led him to the doll story. At the same time, Felix and Sam learn that Octavia was trying to burn what appears to be thousands of drawings and poems about Eliza Rose as well as the missing ledger. It doesn’t take Sam long to deduce that Octavia’s childless existence has led to her focusing most of her energies and love on Eliza Rose.
Victoria and Felix’s relationship grows more estranged and awkward when she voices her concerns about his talents being wasted in front of his coworkers. Sam inadvertently makes matters worse when he points out what a great addition Felix is to the force. Before the storm knocks out the power, a frenzied Mrs. Clam interrupts, Victoria hints about her and Felix’s return to Bermuda. Mrs. Clam’s frenzied state sends Sam and Felix on a search in the dark for Mrs. Thimble (Sarah Crowden). Before she finds them, they discover another Harmony doll hanging by its neck with a pair of scissors tied to its hand, with the words, ‘you’re next,’ spray painted below. Before Sam or Felix can begin to question Mrs. Thimble, Norman shows up with a gang of locals, demanding to know what is going on with the killer dolls.
In an attempt to impress Victoria, Sister Boniface invites her and Peggy to her lab where she runs tests on the spray paint discovered at the crime scene. After she ultimately discovers that Harmony is full of defects, she, Felix, and Sam return to question Merlin. Merlin openly admits to the defects but blames them on Arthur for rushing the doll into production. Returning to the ledger, they learn that despite his money issues, Arthur was adamant about donating to the local charities. Sister Boniface also learns how the knife discovered in Harmony’s hand was used to anchor the doll to the shelf. This allowed the killer to attach the drawstring to the lock and lock Arthur inside. At nearly the same time, she also finds black hair on the doll.
Victoria’s frustration reaches a tipping point when she finds him doing door-to-door visits to the foundations in Arthur’s ledger. She eventually walks off and leaves him after he tells her that he’s not yet ready to leave Great Slaughter. Felix’s work appears to pay off when he discovers that one of the charities Arthur is a fake and leads to Beth’s bank account. When Beth is brought in for questioning, she maintains her innocence and says she would have never even come to Great Slaughter if not for receiving a written invitation. Despite all the links, they appear to believe her.
While Felix and Sam finish questioning Beth, Victoria discovers Octavia wandering around town in a stupor. Being a nurse and not knowing who she is, Victoria immediately tries to help. Lucky for Victoria, Felix, and Sam have already linked the hair to Octavia. It turns out that Beth was Octavia’s daughter but Arthur forced her to give her up, which broke her heart. This explains the bank account and Beth’s invitation. As for the doll’s name, it was Merlin’s dedication to Octavia, who knew how much she was suffering. When Arthur fired Beth, it was as if Octavia was experiencing the loss all over again, which caused her to lash out and kill him. Just as Octavia is about to be arrested, Victoria realizes that Octavia’s clammy skin and loss of consciousness likely indicate internal bleeding from a rib puncture. During the hysteria and confusion, Octavia manages to escape and lock herself in an adjunct room. It is Felix who ultimately coaxes her out by talking about how strangers in a strange place can become your family. Victoria appears extremely touched by his sentiment and realizes he is talking about himself as much as her.
At Eliza Rose’s 20th anniversary party, Gideon delivers a rousing speech before Merlin unveils Harmony. Elsewhere, Felix apologizes for not making time for Victoria during her visit. It appears that he is about to tell her once again that he wants to stay in Great Slaughter but she interrupts him first to say that she is willing to marry and stay with him, under the condition that he takes the position at Scotland Yard.
Sister Boniface Review
I did enjoy the doll theme of the episode and Octavia’s simple mind was interesting, but despite the 44-minute runtime, the episode felt entirely too long. As is typical of Sister Boniface, everything felt much longer winded than it needed to be. The plot was somewhat intriguing and the bit with the doll’s voice was clever. It was cheesy but I also enjoyed how Felix and Victoria’s conflict resolved itself.
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