'Houdini & Doyle' recap episode 103: 'In Manus Dei’

On Houdini & Doyle, the main characters investigate paranormal cases despite their very differing views on the subject. What will they make of the faith healer on this week's episode?

A man preaches in a revival tent. He claims he saved his sister’s life through God’s healing. A man, Fred, in the audience rolls his eyes as the preacher lays on hands. Fred claims the sick woman is an actress. The preacher says God will punish him for his lack of faith. Suddenly Fred collapses and coughs up blood. Does the preacher truly have the power to destroy as well as heal?

Doyle remembers a special night with his wife. He packs up her clothes. His daughter tells him to stop – that her mother will come home.

Houdini claims the preacher, Downey, is endangering lives. He wants to prove he’s a fraud.

Fred’s wife says they were having trouble conceiving. Downey appears at the funeral and offers condolences. Houdini distracts him by taunting his power. Doyle and Stratton examine the body. They find a rash and think he may have died of natural causes.

Stratton says Fred wasn’t the first non-believer to get struck down. Houdini says it sounds like foul play. Does the preacher kill those that don’t agree with him?

Doyle, Stratton and Houdini go to another faith healing. Downey’s sister seats them.

A man near Houdini complains of stomach pain. Houdini uses sleight of hand to pull out what is supposed to be a tumor. The man is healed and runs off. Afterwards, Houdini collapses on the floor and throws up on Stratton’s shoes. He says it’s food poisoning.

When Downey convincingly heals a woman that Stratton knows, Doyle is impressed and asks to speak to the preacher.

Downey lays hands on Doyle’s wife, but nothing happens. He tells Doyle he needs faith. Doyle prays. When nothing happens, he feels like a fool, but suddenly she awakes. Is it truly a miracle?

Stratton goes behind her boss’s back to get an autopsy on Fred’s body. Doyle will perform it.

Doyle examines Houdini’s back, and it’s covered in boils. He sees a doctor who says it’s caused by clogged sweat glands, and the vomiting is caused by fever. He’ll treat it. Stratton is less convinced that it’s a coincidence.

When Doyle cuts into Fred’s abdomen at the autopsy, the body releases a gas that knocks Doyle unconscious. What is happening?

Houdini and Stratton wake Doyle, and they all flee the room. Doyle says Fred was poisoned with cyanide. It reacted with gastric acid and caused the poisonous gas.

The police constable wants to dismiss Stratton, but Doyle reminds him that she found evidence of murder when he didn’t even want to investigate. He suggests they look into Fred’s wife.

Stratton accuses the wife of killing Fred. There was discord in their marriage because they couldn’t conceive. They often fought. Doyle finds a list including apples and thinks that the wife created cyanide from the seeds. Stratton says it’s a recipe for fritters.

Stratton says Fred’s wife isn’t acting like a bereaved widow. Doyle says there was a pencil from the local hotel in the wife’s bedroom.

Houdini holds a show with his water tank. He can’t escape. His assistant has to break the glass.

Doyle brings his kids to see their mother. A nurse hands Doyle a letter. Houdini is in the hospital. Doyle suggests he go to Downey.

Stratton says Fred’s wife was at the hotel the night before he died. She was visiting Downey. They pay him a visit.

Downey remarks on Houdini’s illness. Is he the murderer? They ask him about Fred’s wife. He claims she came to ask for prayer and to warn him that her husband may be unruly. Houdini holds out a vial of supposed cyanide and asks Downey to drink it to prove he’s a vessel of God. To all of their surprise, he swallows it. Will he die?

Houdini & Doyle S01E03 cyanide drink
Credit: FOX. © 2016 FOX Broadcasting Co.

Houdini tells Doyle and Stratton that the cyanide was fake and just a test. Downey’s crazy enough to think poison wouldn’t kill him. Stratton says she’ll check with pharmacists to find out who recently purchased cyanide.

Doyle’s wife wants to come home, but the doctor says she should remain under his care. Doyle suggests bringing dinner to her the next night. She wants to wear her evening gown. He admits to packing away her things. She tells him not to feel guilty – his faith brought her back.

Houdini’s fever is untamed. He’s hallucinating. His mother feeds him soup and tells him he’s not going to leave her. Will her faith be enough?

Stratton finds a pharmacy near Downey’s hotel was robbed of cyanide before Fred’s death. A long dark hair was found at the window, proving it wasn’t Fred’s wife, who is blonde. By looking at the other stolen item, Doyle knows who the killer is, but we’re still in the dark. You have to love how this show keeps you guessing.

Doyle and Stratton approach Downey’s sister. They say she has psoriasis, treated by the powder that disappeared at the pharmacy. They ask her to remove her scarf, but she refuses. Doyle suggests she simply healed on her own as a child and Downey’s cures were all in people who believed – a placebo effect. His sister killed the non-believers. Downey is horrified and pulls a gun on her. He says if his powers are real, he can heal her. She says she would die. He removes her scarf and sees her rash. She tells him his faith made people better.

Houdini enters with a cane. Why is he there? He tells Downey if he shoots his sister, he’s no better than she is, then collapses. When he wakes, Stratton and Doyle tell him his fever has broken and his boils have disappeared. Houdini says it was his mother’s soup. Doyle suggests he went to the tent to be healed, but Houdini denies it.

Doyle arrives for dinner with his wife only to find her unresponsive again. He breaks down at home, and his daughter unpacks Mrs. Doyle’s dresses. He helps her put them back in the closet.

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