Perfect Strangers

Season 3
Episode 150

Original broadcast information:

Written by David Cole
Directed by Frances Danberger

Guest Stars
CONSTABLE TURNBULL - Dean McDermott; GENERAL BOWMAN - Scott Hylands; CHAD - Shawn; Alex Thompson

Also starring: Cedric Smith; Kenneth McGregor; Mackenzie Gray; SONNY DUNLAP - Marqus Bobesich;
SHELLEY - Tracey Hway; BUSINESSMAN #1 - Frank Nakashima; BUSINESSMAN #2 - Brett Heard

Featured music:
HEROIC DOSES, performed by Glueleg
MEMORARE, performed by The Benedictine Monks of Saint-Benoit-du-Lac
WATCHING THE APPLES GROW, written and Performed by Stan Rogers

Official Synopsis:

Fraser and Kowalski investigate two deaths--a flight attendant's murder in Toronto and the killing of a small-time hood (and Ray's long-time informant) in Chicago--that are mysteriously linked. In both cases they have suspects with strong motives and airtight
alibis.

Unofficial Review:

Perfect Strangers provides an interesting contrast to the preceding episode, Asylum. It is unusual, in Season 3, in that it is a plot driven episode and the relationship between Ray and Fraser is pushed very much into the background. I think the episode suffers somewhat as a result.

Perfect Strangers is much more about police work than anything else. Partly that is because the episode pays homage to classic thriller/crime noir, and more specifically to Hitchcock's "Stranger on a Train", which was written by Raymond Chandler. As such it has a very set-piece feel about it and it could take place at almost any point in their relationship, prior to Mountie on the Bounty. Indeed, I wish this came before Asylum because the dynamic between Ray and Fraser would work better for me. And I wonder if it was placed in the running order to counter the slashy nature of Asylum, and perhaps because Dead Guy Running could be has certain parallels with Asylum. It evidently wasn't filmed at anything like the same time because it is at least Spring judging by the clothing
they are wearing and there was snow on the ground in Asylum. I believe, although I have no evidence to back up my claim, that it was filmed around the same time as Mountie on the Bounty, judging by the tans both PG and CKR have and haircuts etc.

While this episode is by no means essential viewing I have a sneaking fondness for it in the same way I do for an Agatha Christie novel, tea and toast on rainy afternoon. Also I believe it clarifies certain things for Fraser but more on that later.

I think that this was one of episodes originally written for DM and later partially re-written to account for the presence of CKR, (for example I would imagine the character of the informant changed somewhat - I can't see Vecchio having an informant like Sonny). Therefore the relationship dynamic between Ray and Fraser is very different, and indeed between Thatcher and Fraser. It very much has the feel of a second season episode and it really doesn't hold up that well when compared to other episodes in Season 3/4. Despite that there are some very nice moments between Ray and Fraser.

The episode begins in Ray's car as Fraser accompanies Ray to a meeting with an informant, Sonny Dunlap. It is obvious that Ray has known Sonny for a while, prior
to him going undercover as Ray Vecchio, and that he must be a good source of information. And we get another glimpse of Ray's somewhat impetuous driving
style. The snarking between Ray and Fraser has an edge to it that isn't normally there and it is the only time in the episode that it appears. CKR does his best with
dialogue that would have seemed more natural coming from Ray Vecchio than Ray Kowalski but it still sounds off to me. There are a few things that irk me about
the teaser for this episode; I will come to them later on.

Ray leaves Fraser in the car while he goes to meet Sonny in a run down bar, pretty much your cliche dive. Much to Ray's befuddlement Fraser is carrying the score of a Mahler symphony, which he proceeds to read whilst "listening" to the music in his head. This made me smile mainly because of the look on Ray's face, and because it does seem very Frasereque to me. As does his exasperation with Dief, when he has to get out of
the car to let Dief take care of business.

Sonny is involved in a dispute over money that he has lost playing pool when Ray arrives in the bar. Sonny gives Ray some information on a theft at a warehouse and Ray slips him some money. The man (George) that Sonny lost the game of pool to tries to grab the money and he and Sonny start fighting. Ray breaks it up and Sonny heads to the can. George follows him a little while later. Ray goes in search of Sonny and bumps
into George who is running out in a panic, covered in blood. Ray finds Sonny's body - he's been stabbed. George knocks Fraser over as leaves the bar. Fraser lands on Dief, injuring his paw before giving chase to George and eventually capturing him. He hands George over to Ray who manhandles him into the car, bashing him into a dumpster etc on the way.

A couple of things niggle at me about this sequence, the first one is why does Fraser give chase to George so instantly? Someone running out of a bar is fairly suspicious but not exactly cause for arrest, and yes he does have blood all over his shirt and hands but he bumps into Fraser knocking him over, injuring Dief as a result. Would even someone as observant as Fraser notice the blood on the front of a person who knocks him over essentially from behind? Also Fraser doesn't protest Ray's rough treatment of George. At that point he has no idea what this man has done, and even if he did know it does seem out character for him not to have said something. It also bothers me that Ray
treats George like that. Ray does some fairly aggressive posturing in his interactions with various bad guys but his treatment of George strikes me as over the top and perhaps slightly out of character.

Back at the station we discover that Frannie is taking a psychology course and that Dief is playing his injured paw for all the sympathy he can get. A pin commemorating flights over the North Pole was found on Sonny's body, the pin seems to have been issued by a
Canadian airline. It is the first indication that Sonny's murder might not be as straightforward as it appears. Ray is interrogating George (who is protesting his innocence) about Sonny's murder when he is called into Lieutenant Welsh's office.

Ray's interrogation of George while aggressive and "in his face" seems far away from the rough treatment he dished out to him in the alley. And on a purely shallow note the lighting in this scene does lovely things to Callum's bone structure, and I'm very fond
of the tan pants and white T-shirt he is wearing. Lieutenant Welsh wants Ray to watch a RCMP reconstruction of the murder of a flight attendant in Toronto. Ray is reluctant and restless, itching to get back to interrogating George. The pin found on Sonny's
body belonged to the dead flight attendant, Chantal Bowman. Ray is charged with investigating the American connection on that crime as the RCMP is convinced that
her murderer came from Chicago. The interaction between Welsh and Ray is excellent in this scene; they are obviously on very familiar terms. And there is a nice little dialogue run between Ray and Fraser. "Stewardess". "Flight attendant" "Waitress in the
Sky."

They also found time to insert a little commentary on the impact of the American film and TV industry on Canada. Indulgent perhaps, but considering the chequered funding history of due South itself it seems apt.

Ray and Fraser go to Toronto to check out the Canadian side of the investigation. The scene at the airport is one of my favourites, not least because the two of
them are obviously having fun even about something as dry as the official languages of Canada. The interaction between Ray and Fraser is back on form (despite the fact that Ray is disconcerted by Toronto and Canadians in general) and it has echoes of the
fingerprint scene in BDTH to me. The main reason, however, is purely shallow, Callum looks sizzling in sunglasses, that beautiful black leather blazer teamed the tan pants (which are probably the tightest trousers he ever wears in the whole series). The green
sweater is just the icing on the cake or maybe that is the barking chuckle that Ray gives in the cab after his discussion with the guy selling hockey tickets. "The mothership" line outside the RCMP building strikes me as an ad-lib on Callum's part but I may be wrong.

They discover that Chantal Bowman was the daughter of a prominent Canadian general, who is likely to prove problematic as he is not content to leave the investigation to the police.

Chantal's roommate, Shelley, reveals that Chantal was having an affair with a married man, a rich married man. She also tells them that Chantal was threatening to reveal their affair to the man's wife, giving them the probable motive for Chantal's murder. Fraser
picks up a photograph of Chantal and, in a move that reveals just how much the naive Mountie act is a front, asks Shelley if it was taken at Chantal's apartment in Chicago. Further questioning from Ray reveals that although Shelley doesn't know the address
for the apartment she does have the key. I won’t say anything about the fact she still has this in her possession despite, presumably, being questioned by the RCMP.

Back in Chicago, much to Ray’s obvious relief, and in the Squad room Dewey gives Ray an old wanted poster, for someone named Chad Maxwell from St Louis, they'd found in Sonny's room. Chad Maxwell is evidently familiar to everyone who sees the poster except Ray.

Meanwhile back at the Consulate we get the first clues that children are on Inspector Thatcher's mind. Apart from saying that it seems like a very old style Fraser/Thatcher dialogue I'm not going to say anything else about this story thread at the moment.

General Bowman arrives in Chicago, and at the 27th it seems that very little progress is being made in the investigation, Ray and Fraser are butting heads amicably over the case.
While Fraser is on the phone to Turnbull someone turns the TV on and Fraser realises that a local sports reporter, Chad Percy is in fact Chad Maxwell.

Callum plays the following scene beautifully, where Ray questions Chad. Ray is very quiet, lets Chad talk and waits for him to reveal information. He is totally unsurprised by Chad's revelation that Sonny was blackmailing him. Chad had robbed a liquor store 17
years previously. Ray has done good solid police work, we discover that Chad had pleaded guilty to a common assault charge three months earlier, but it seems that
Chad has an unshakeable alibi - he was "butchering a game of golf in Buffalo" the night Sonny was murdered.

Ray is obviously suspicious of Chad but he can't do anything further at that point.

Another rather out of season 3 scene at the Consulate follows with Thatcher bungling matters with General Bowman. Fraser is very smooth, firing on all cylinders until his father intervenes suggesting that Inspector Thatcher is interested in Fraser sexually. This comes rather out of left field for both Fraser and the viewer, in my opinion. Thatcher and Fraser have history but their relationship has been on a far more professional level so far this season. I suppose part of this maybe put down to the fact this script was possibly originally designed for an older era. It is clumsy and rather irritating, for me at least.

One fruitful thing does come out of Fraser's dialogue with his father; he locates Chantal's apartment. A man attacks Fraser when he enters the apartment, who turns
out to be Chantal's lover, Evers. After a brief skirmish, involving the arrest of General Bowman who has been following the investigation and has followed them to the apartment, both Evers and Bowman are taken to 27th. Evers, surprise, surprise, has an airtight alibi for the night of the murder, he was “addressing 2,000 members of the Chicago Booksellers Association at the Plaza Hotel”.

Fraser breaks the news of General Bowman's arrest to a flustered Thatcher and they make their way to the station. En route, Thatcher tells an uncomfortable Fraser that she is considering having a child and that she wants him "to be part of the process". Fraser is very unnerved by the whole conversation, and they arrive at the station much to his relief before he has to tell her whether he is "up for this" or not.

General Bowman is released into Thatcher's custody and Fraser returns to working the case with Ray. Thanks to a classic optical illusion (vase/two faces) illustration in Francesa's psychology textbook Fraser has an "epiphany" and suggests to Ray that the two men traded victims. There is a nice bit of work by PG and CKR when they lean over the desk during this scene; they are mirroring the faces aspect of the illustration.

Ray and Fraser tell Welsh of their "working hypothesis" and he suggests they find the evidence to back up their idea. Ray and Fraser are in step the whole time they are talking to Welsh and the duet is evidently on song. It is quite a contrast to Fraser's scenes with Thatcher.

Fraser is very much part of the team at the 27th now and he has an integral role in trying to pin down Evers and Percy. Ray has managed to dig up a connection between the two men, Percy had attended some anger management seminars as part of his sentencing on the assault charge and Evers had also been there. The CPD have taps on both suspects' phones but they aren't having any luck and so have worked out a way to force contact. Francesa calls Evers to ask him come into discuss Sonny's murder. The trick works and Evers contacts Percy, who hangs up on him.

Evers contacts Percy again, this time from his car phone, tells him he is being followed by someone he believes is General Bowman (but we know is Fraser) and they arrange to meet under an overpass, in 20 minutes. Toronto is very thinly disguised as Chicago in this
episode and as Evers is driving you can quite clearly see the Royal York hotel and Union Station, the main Toronto railway station, in the background.

Meanwhile General Bowman loads a rifle while listening in to the police communications on a scanner of some kind.

Evers arrives at the rendezvous with Fraser close behind. Percy is already there and takes several shots at Fraser. He finally takes aim at Evers and Fraser jumps on Evers, knocking him to the ground in an effort to protect him. Ray arrives in the nick of
time. Just as Evers is about to spill the beans General Bowman arrives, armed with the rifle, and attempts to take Evers and Percy by force. Fraser talks him out of it and eventually Bowman settles for an admission of guilt from Percy.

Fraser's father of course has to have the last word and despite Fraser's obvious and deep reluctance he decides to take Thatcher up on her offer. I don't think it is by accident that Dief is growling when Fraser knocks on Thatcher's office door. After much fumbling and stumbling Fraser gets to the point and Thatcher tells him that she meant adoption.

The whole Thatcher and children thread of this episode works my last nerve because it is obvious at the beginning that Thatcher has very little knowledge of or interest in children. It comes out of left field, especially considering her attitude to Janet's brats
in Bounty Hunter. She acknowledges that she "may have been less than managerial" with General Bowman. But frankly her behaviour in what appears to be propositioning Fraser while on official business is less than professional and pretty close to harassment.
And I really wish that they had cut it from the script.

However having said all that I do think it is interesting that they left it in, if they did rework the script, it adds nothing at all to the main story line and it does seem to take Thatcher and Fraser’s relationship back several steps. Yes it probably has something to do with budget and time concerns but taking those scenes out would have been very little
work. It is also interesting that PG chose to play Fraser as so reluctant and discomfited by Thatcher's apparent offer. It seems to me that it goes beyond merely being flustered and embarrassed. Fraser is being offered both a child and a possibly relationship with a woman he has acknowledged feelings for in the past. It is what he should want, what socially we're all conditioned to want and I do think the psychology
thread is relevant here, but seems pretty clear that he doesn't want that at all. That he has moved on. He has to be bullied into taking up her offer by his father. Now if you believe that Bob Fraser is not a ghost but a figment of Fraser's sub conscious that is
very interesting. Fraser is obviously humiliated by his mistake but very relieved also. I think it clears the last piece of emotional debris out of the way for Fraser (and probably for Thatcher as well) and clarifies for him exactly what he does want.

Quotes:

Nothing particularly slashy but there are some nice lines in this episode.

Fraser: Oh no, sir. Loins? Sir? Loins? Sir-loins? Sirloins, possibly, because I have been - I have been thinking about a good piece of meat... - This makes the teenager with the dirty mind that lurks at the back of my brain giggle.

Ray: Hawks suck.
Man: You suck.
Fraser: You are bilingual, Ray.

Ray: Oooh. The mother ship.

Ray [Holding up a stuffed animal]: How old was she? Twelve?

Ray: Home again, home again, jiggity-jig.
Fraser [to driver]: We’ll be right back.
Ray: Chicago PDQ! Hey, hey, hey, hey! Break it up, break it up. Fighting on the street with roller blades, what is that? Come on!

Droolworthy moments:

Callum is pretty hot all the way through this, thanks in no small part to the presence of that black leather blazer. His legs look almost indecently long in the jeans he is wearing in the final confrontation scene. A tanned Fraser is always a good thing and that goes
some way to redeeming this episode for me.

Slashiness factor:

The slashiness factor is pretty low on the scale in this one, even given the obvious chemistry between Ray and Fraser, I can't give this one more than 2.

Erica