One-Two Punch: The Detective and the Doctor Smash Ratings Records

I agree with the objection to the series’ ahistorical use of Bishop Onderdonk, but I had not heard of him until I looked him up after seeing this episode. What lost my suspension of disbelief as I watched this episode was what always happens when non-Episcopalian writers introduce Episcopal characters, as they invariably do, without knowledge of Episcopal practice. To an Episcopalian, it’s cartoonish. E.g., 1) the bishop is addressed in the episode as “Right Reverend.” That title (as well as “Reverend” in this church, although I note with regret that that the use of “Reverend” is now changing a bit) in the Episcopal Church is currently and historically used only in the third person (never as a form of address), and then only prefixed with “the” and always including his first name – The Right Reverend John Smith. The bishop in conversation would have been addressed as “Bishop.” 2) Episcopalians are “Episcopalians,” not “Episcopals.” This term was used by Corky; while he might be thought not to know the right term, still it seemed clear to me that the ignorance was the writers’. 3) In the final scene, reference was made to “the elders of the church.” There is no such category in Episcopal Church governance. Since that episode, while still tuning in to watch, I have felt much less of a sense of history in watching.