A ghost ship prowling the Great Lakes? Fraser and Kowalski's partnership may be on the rocks, but they'll put aside their differences to solve one last case, that of a murdered 'pirate.'

Detailed Overview

A ghost ship prowling the Great Lakes? Seems that way in this ambitious two-part episode.

Fraser and Stan are in a pickle. Pursued by three armed men who don't mind using their weapons prolifically, the two cops are forced to jump from a great height into the water below. Stan's an unwilling participant in that action as he can't swim.

Minutes later, the cops arrive, the bad guys are busted, and Stan is very upset. He's tired of Fraser correcting him all the time, 'niggling' at him, and more. If Fraser doesn't stop it, Stan threatens to punch him. Unfortunately Fraser keeps trying to explain his actions -- and Stan punches him smack in the jaw. Deadly silence ensues, and the two men walk off -- in different directions.

When Stan comes back to the station, he finds a transfer waiting for him. If he wants, he can go back to his old life and his old name. It's totally up to him. Meanwhile, Fraser finds a similarly difficult situation at the Consulate; he's been offered a transfer to Ottawa.

Fraser and Stan meet on the same docks that evening, in order to set things right. Stan insists that Fraser punch him, which the Mountie does, if just to accommodate the detective's odd sense of finality. Both men seemingly decide to accept their transfers and part ways. However, before they can leave the dark and foggy docks, a man falls smack onto the hood of Stan's car. Since the man has a knife in his back and is dead, it seems they have to solve this one last case together.

Mort's examination of the corpse show's a map of some sort carved into the man's chest. Stan assumes it's a pirate's map as the guy did say 'treasure chest' before expiring, and had an eye patch, hook on hand, and dressed a pirate. Ergo, the guy's a dead pirate.

Frannie pulls up the 'pirate's' identity, one Billy Butler, who has three prior convictions. When Fraser and Stan go back to the docks to interrogate some sailors, they get nowhere fast when talk erupts about a ghost ship, the Robert Mackenzie, plying the lakes. But a lead points them toward the cellar, where they find a gold bar -- treasure -- in a chest.

At the police station, Frannie accidentally finds out the Fraser is leaving, and is understandably depressed. Meanwhile, Stan and Fraser now have new leads to pursue and Stan is certain that another sailor (Vic Hester) from the Wailing Yankee (which Billy Butler worked on) is the killer.

Nobody at the docks recognizes Hester's snapshot, except for Blind Lew, a supposedly blind man who knows a lot more than he lets on, but to avoid charges of impersonating a blind person, he spills what he knows to the cops.

Frannie's dug up more info: virtually all the crew on the Wailing Yankee have criminal records. The president, Gilbert Wallace, doesn't particularly care as they all do their work. More leads take Fraser and Stan to the union hall, where they discover Hester is on the Henry Allen, due to depart the next morning. When they head back to the car, the cops are jumped by some thugs who warn them off the case. Stan is inclined to due just that, but when Fraser relates the story of the Robert Mackenzie, the cop relents and they speed off to the Henry Allen.

The next morning they find themselves aboard that very freighter, and soon, undercover as crew themselves (Fraser finds it enlightening, Stan finds it hellish).

Meanwhile, back at the station, Thatcher is organizing a search party to find Fraser (who failed to fill out a daily report and is apparently missing, since he told no one of his plans). The search party consists of herself, Turnbull -- and the wolf. Welsh will join in as well.

It doesn't take long for Stan and Fraser to unearth some nefarious activities board the Henry Allen, but it goes awry when the bad guys capture Stan, knock him out, and handcuff him below decks. Fraser, however, manages to convince the captain and the crew of what is really going on -- that one of the crew killed another man (which all relates to the gold bar Fraser and Stan found, which Frannie discovers belongs to a $10 million heist of a year ago).

Trouble arrives in the form of the ghost ship, the Robert Mackenzie, but Fraser knows it's nothing more than the Wailing Yankee made up to look like the ghost ship and that the ghosts are criminals. Alas, this ghost ship shoots real cannonballs, which hit the Henry Allen. Panic ensues as the ship begins sinking, and Fraser has no choice but to remain on board because he has to find Stan, whom the bad guys locked up below.

Fraser finds Stan, but the cop is handcuffed to solid steel and has no keys. Eventually, as water rapidly fills the room, Fraser uses Stan's back-up gun to blow off the cuffs. Despite being saved, Stan is still upset over their communication problem because it shouldn't have taken that long to rescue him. They shouldn't have to communicate; it should be done on instinct. So... when Stan decides to use his instinct to open a door above them, Fraser (a bit miffed himself at Stan's behavior) lets him do just that ... and both men are hit by a huge wall of water!

Music

THE ROBERT MACKENZIE *
Written by Paul Gross & Jay Semko
Performed by Paul Gross and Captain Tractor
Produced by Jack Lenz for Lenz Entertainment
Heard in snatches, at end of one act while Fraser and Stan are at car.

SOPHIA'S PIPES *
Traditional
Arranged by Ashley MacIsaac and Peter Prilesnik
Performed by Ashley MacIsaac
Courtesy of PolyGram Special Projects
Where the Robert MacKenzie opens fire on the Henry Allen.

BARRETT'S PRIVATEERS
Stan Rogers, "Fogarty's Cove"
(c) 1977 Fogarty's Cove & Red Beaver Music
Fraser sings it in galley of ship to distract sailors while Stan investigates below.

* - This song is part of the Second due South Soundtrack.

Interesting Trivia

• Some of the episode was filmed on Lake Ontario, and certain scenes were filmed in London, Ontario, at the Robarts School for the Deaf, which has a pool equipped with a hydraulic floor that can be lowered to a depth of zero to 1.5 meters and tilted 13 degrees -- perfect for simulating a sinking freighter which has been damaged by a ghost ship's cannonball.
• Series lead Gross was required to take scuba diving lessons (on the weekend of August 16, 1997) for his part in this story, which requires rescuing Kowalski from certain death.
• From a technical standpoint, this is the most challenging episode ever filmed, said Marcel Saumure, the second assistant director. This two-parter cost over $4 million [Cdn] and features a naval battle "in the middle of Lake Ontario between a freighter and a squad of Mounties on a three-masted frigate" - the very same one used by Marlon Brando in "Mutiny on the Bounty." (Maclean's, Oct. 13, 1997)

Original Broadcast Information

• Australia: May 27, 1998
• Canada: March 15, 1998
• South Africa: January 21, 1998
• Sweden: October 24, 1998
• Switzerland: April 19, 1998
• United Kingdom: December 18, 1998
• United States: January 5-11, 1998

Other Cool Links

• The DueSies Project
• Episode Title Origins
• Fan Episode Reviews
• Filming Locations