Murray in Love


Enjoyed this sixth season charmer last night, a well-written ep where Murray confesses falling in love with Mary.

However, one thing bothered me: There was not a single line of dialogue that Murray was married with kids! Even at the bar, when Murray tells Lou he's gonna divulge his feelings to Mary, neither character MENTIONS Marie!!

Pretty bad choice by the writers.

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I always had a feeling that Murray was secretly in love with Mary way before this episode! ha ha Actually I thought of it as an unrequited longing on Murray's part. He idealized Mary but he was a married man and knew nothing could come of his feelings for her.

It is bothersome that Marie's name never comes up! It seemed out of character for Murray to want to leave his wife and kids and run off with another woman.

There could've/should've been a better way to handle the revelation of Murray's feelings. I think Mary should have found out by accident, e.g., overheard some remark by Murray. When confronted Murray would've been embarrassed but would admit his feelings.
I always liked Murray.

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I always had a feeling that Murray was secretly in love with Mary way before this episode!

Yes, I kinda wondered about that. Eventually there was one episode (well before this one, sorry I don't recall which one) where Mary and Murray are talking about what good friends they are, and Mary ends by saying something about them being "just" really good friends. Then she looks back down at her desk, and we see Murray's face with such a look of sorrow and longing.

It seemed out of character for Murray to want to leave his wife and kids and run off with another woman.

I think they covered that, albeit a bit obliquely, when Murray says that he truly believes that it's possible "to love pure and chaste from afar," but he just wants to let Mary know how he feels. It does seem like Lou could have asked what he'd do if Mary said she loved him too. Maybe it's understood that he'd leave Marie -- or maybe they're both well aware that Mary doesn't love him.

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I have to watch this episode again. I haven't seen it in a long time so I'm forgetting the specifics. But doesn't Murray say something about wanting to run away with Mary?

At the end I think Lou asks Murray what he would be doing if Mary HAD agreed to run away with him. I recall him saying something like, "I'd be on a ship headed for Rio.." presumably with Mary.

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I don't know ... Murray & Lou have known each other for some time, and they both know that Murray is married & has kids. They both know what's at stake, and perhaps there's no need for them to talk about it. Or maybe they're both a bit uneasy about venturing that far into the potential disaster of cold reality? Or maybe it's just that a half-hour episode can only include so many things. After all, when Murray became infatuated with Barbara Barrie in the piano episode, Mary didn't hesitate to remind Murray that he has a family & that she's very fond of Marie. Perhaps that episode was different because there was a very real chance of Murray cheating on Marie, whereas Lou & Murray probably knew on some level that nothing could ever come of Murray's feelings for Mary.

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A better script would've featured Lou saying SOMETHING about Marie. But to each his own.

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