Chicago_Jake

Seemingly random ex-cons are dying in seemingly random unexpected ways. Murphy investigates. Meanwhile, Harry, feeling guilty, wonders if he should stop helping Murphy solve crimes, since his help usually gets her into more trouble that his help is worth. He wonders if he should stop getting involved in her cases, despite the loss of income that it would cost him.

Meanwhile, Murphy's ex-Chicago-cop father Joe Murphy is visiting from his retirement home in Florida, and he has nothing but suspicion about Harry and his relationship with his daughter. I loved watching Murphy standing up to her Dad! You could tell that she loved him, but she also didn't want to put up with his nonsense! (and by nonsense, I mean a word that rhymes with SPIT.)

The title (Second City), aside from being Chicago's nickname, is also quite apropos, as the victims are all people who have been given a "second chance" at life, finding redemption after some life-threatening situation. Someone apparently is stealing those second chances to extend their own life! Talk about underhanded!

Guest characters include a celebrity detective who is great at gathering headlines, and his opportunistic biographer, both of which are considered quite suspect by Harry and Murphy.

At one point, Harry needs Murphy to slap him in order to enhance his detecting sensitivies. She refuses, so he kisses her, eliciting the slap that he needs. But, the very final line of the episode is Murphy telling him "It won't happen again." Which to me, kind of implies an upcoming romance. Of course it never happened, as this was the final episode of the series. But we can dream, right?

If you've seen "The Thing," or any of the other movies based on the same John W. Campbell story, you might understand where this episode got its title. Harry and Murphy are quietly discussing things in his office when Morgan, Ancient Mai, and some other minor functionaries from the High Council come bursting in, running from some evil they don't understand and needing refuge. Soon the entire building is cloaked in the black fog of DEATH!

The wizarding folk discuss the situation, despite Murphy the civilian being there to hear them. Hallucinations abound, including Harry's father, trying to get them to leave the building and die in the darkness, but most of them are able to resist. Bob is sent out on a recon mission, on the theory that, being dead, he is the only one that isn't in danger of being killed. He makes it back, but just barely, and reports that the darkness is not just a barrier; they are literally in hell! They begin to suspect that there is a traitor among them (there was), but don't know who it could possibly be.

All this occurs in the early parts of the episode, so I don't think it counts as a spoiler. The bulk of the episode revolved around figuring out exactly what was going on, who were the perpetrators, and who was the traitor. And of course what to do about them.

Nice taut gripping episode with good effects and great dialog. A solid 9 out of 10.

Bob's skull (with Bob in it) is stolen, by a "copy" of Uncle Justin, so that he can get Bob to use his special talents to resurrect the real (albeit dead) Uncle Justin. This requires not only Bob's expertise, but also bribing Bob to betray Harry in order to escape his eternal punishment as a ghost in his own skull.

Meanwhile, an anonymous tipster has Murphy and the CPD thinking that Harry actually killed his uncle five years ago (which of course he did). Justin's body is exhumed, and evidence is discovered that is not at all good for our hero Harry.

We get more scenes from Harry's past, explaining the backstory of his Dad, his Mom, and his Uncle, along with his entire family history. The entire episode feels like a "very special" event that ties the entire series together.

Will Bob betray Harry to win his release? Will Murphy figure out what Harry actually is? Sorry, no spoilers here. But this is one of my favorite episodes, albeit one that requires you've seen most of the previous ones to understand it. 9 out of 10 on the IMDb scale.