Ever wonder where some of those Due South episode titles come from?

Here's a handy guide that should answer most of your questions. Please note that this list was put together by DS fans who are taking educated guesses about what the DS production folks were thinking. So enjoy this guide, but please don't take it as gospel!

I've tried to avoid spoilers (comments that would give away significant plot points) in the descriptions. If you see any glaring ones, please drop me a note. You can send other comments on the guide to me, too.

Many thanks to Carol Cricow and Elyse Dickenson for their help with this project.

Patty Winter
http://www.wintertime.com/
patty@wintertime.com

Last updated: August 26, 2005

Season 1

Episode #	Title	Possible Source
101	Free Willie	Based on the 1993 whale movie "Free Willy."
102	Diefenbaker's Day Off	A takeoff on the 1986 teens-skipping-school movie, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
103	Manhunt	Just descriptive. There have been movies with this name, but their plots aren't the same as this episode.
104	They Eat Horses, Don't They?	Derived from the 1969 Sydney Pollack movie, "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (The movie had nothing to do with horses; it was about a dance marathon during the Depression years of the 1930s.)
105	Pizza and Promises	Possibly from the 1917 Larry Semon comedy called "Pests and Promises" (Unable to find a copy of the script to verify the plot of the silent comedy)
106	Chinatown	Just derived from the setting of the episode. The plot bears no resemblance to the 1974 Roman Polanski movie of the same name.
107 / 108	Chicago Holiday	Both the title and the plot of this two-part episode are based on William Wyler's 1953 movie, "Roman Holiday," in which a princess (Audrey Hepburn) escapes from her royal duties and has adventures (with Gregory Peck) while visiting Rome.
109	A Cop, a Mountie, and a Baby	A takeoff on the 1987 movie, "Three Men and a Baby," in which some bachelors find an infant girl on their doorstep.
110	Gift of the Wheelman	Based on the O. Henry short story, "The Gift of the Magi," a classic tale about the real meaning of Christmas. By the way, the name of the father in this episode is "William S. Porter"--the real name of the author who adopted the pen name "O. Henry."
111	You Must Remember This	In the classic movie about lovers passing in the night, "Casablanca," the song "As Time Goes By" includes these lyrics: "You must remember this, A kiss is just a kiss, A sigh is just a sigh, The fundamental things apply, As time goes by."
112	Hawk and a Handsaw	From William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2: "I am but mad north-north-west: when the wind is southerly I know a hawk from a handsaw."
113	An Eye for an Eye	From the comments about revenge in the Bible, Exodus 21:23-24, "And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."
114	The Man Who Knew Too Little	A play on the title of the 1934 Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Man Who Knew Too Much." While the details of the plots are quite different, both involve people who are in danger because of what they know about some criminals.
115	The Wild Bunch	A reference to the 1969 Sam Peckinpah movie of the same name--except this time, the story has gone to the dogs. :-)
116	The Blue Line	A reference to the blue lines that mark the neutral zone in ice hockey. Probably also tied to the phrase "to go over the line," meaning to exceed an ethical boundary. (There was a 1988 documentary called "The Thin Blue Line," but its story was nothing like the one in this Due South episode.)
117	The Deal	Because of the deals (agreements) that are made in the episode. Also, "deal" is police slang for making a false or misleading report to get something for yourself. In this case, Frank Zuko pressures the police to find Joey Paducci supposedly because he's concerned about the money Joey stole from the church, but actually so that Zuko's henchmen can get their hands on him.
118	Invitation To Romance	A takeoff on the title of Gene Kelly's 1957 film, "Invitation to the Dance." Fraser spends the episode chasing a mislaid party invitation.
119	Heaven and Earth	From William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act I, Scene 5: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
120 / 121	Victoria's Secret	A play on the name of the lingerie store Victoria's Secret--and on the fact that the main character, Victoria Metcalf, has many secrets. (The plot of this episode resembles that of the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock movie, "North by Northwest," which Fraser and Victoria are watching on television in one scene.)
122	Letting Go	Derived from the storyline, in which at least two people must let go of romantic attachments. (The plot of this episode, of course, is taken from Alfred Hitchcock's 1954 movie, "Rear Window.")

Season 2

Episode #	Title	Possible Source
123	North	Derived from the storyline, in which Fraser and Ray head for northern Canada. (The eponymous 1994 film took its title from a boy's name, not a direction. And the plot was different.)
124	Vault	Descriptive of the episode's location.
125	Witness	The storyline of this episode bears some resemblance to the plot of the 1985 Peter Weir film of the same name, in which a cop must protect a murder witness.
126	A Bird in the Hand	Derived from the old axiom "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush," perhaps because Fraser uses Gerrard as bait for the other bad guys.
127	The Promise	There have been some movies by this name, but the title is probably just derived from the storyline.
128	The Mask	A direct reference to the subject of the episode; the plot bears no resemblance to the movies that have had this name.
129	Juliet is Bleeding	A play on the title of the 1993 movie, "Romeo is Bleeding." The plot of this episode isn't similar to that movie, but is based on the classic Romeo and Juliet story.
130	One Good Man aka "Thank you Kindly Mr. Capra"	In Frank Capra's 1939 movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," the idealistic U.S. senator Jefferson Smith (played by James Stewart) has the same sort of political showdown (including a filibuster) as Benton Fraser does in this episode. Maybe also derived from the Michael Keaton film "One Good Cop." The plots are different, but both shows involve cops who demonstrate that one good man can make a difference.
131	The Edge	Derived from the storyline, in which Fraser isn't the only one who fears he's losing his edge.
132	We Are the Eggmen	The Beatles song, "I Am the Walrus," includes the lyrics: "I am the eggman, they are eggmen, I am the walrus."
133	Starman	Possibly inspired by the movie "Starman," which also involved aliens. In this case, however, the strangest creature may be Ian. :-) Could also be a reference to the David Bowie song, "Starman" from the album 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.'
134	Some Like it Red	Billy Wilder's 1959 movie "Some Like it Hot" featured both Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis dressed as women--just as we see Paul Gross in this episode.
135	White Men Can't Jump to Conclusions	A takeoff on the 1992 basketball movie, "White Men Can't Jump."
136	All the Queen's Horses	The children's rhyme "Humpty Dumpty" goes: "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, And all the king's horses, And all the king's men, Couldn't put Humpty together again." This episode had lots of horses, and there was a queen on the British throne (which makes her the official head of state of Canada) when it was made.
137	Body Language	Although there have been some movies with this name, the title is probably just derived from the fact that the plot involves a woman who uses body language extensively in her work. :-)
138	The Duel	Perhaps inspired by Steven Spielberg's 1971 made-for-TV thriller "Duel." Or simply descriptive of the psychological duel that takes place in this episode.
139	Red, White, or Blue	A play on the colors of the U.S. flag, in reference to the self-proclaimed "patriots" who are on trial in this episode. (The title also has a specific meaning within the episode which we won't mention here because it would give away the major storyline.)
140	Flashback	A reference to the fact that in this episode, Fraser has flashbacks to previous adventures (seen as clips from earlier episodes).

Season 3

Episode #	Title	Possible Source
141	Burning Down the House	Refers to specific events in the story. (There's a Talking Heads song by this name that Paul Gross reportedly wanted to use in this episode, but wasn't able to.)
142	Eclipse	We've gotten two interesting theories about this one from visitors to this site. One is that the literal change from darkness to light (during and after the eclipse) helps Ray Kowalski overcome a figurative darkness that has haunted him for years. The other theory speculates that after the dreamcatcher has caught Ray's bad dream (his old nemesis), the sun comes out and dispels the night(mare).
143	I Coulda been a Defendant	In the 1954 movie "On the Waterfront," down-and-out character Terry Malloy says, "You don't understand. I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it." Terry Malloy was played, of course, by Marlon Brando, who also played Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire"--yet another connection to the third season of Due South.
144	Strange Bedfellows	Although Shakespeare used this phrase in The Tempest, the more relevant version for this episode is from Charles D. Warner in the 1800s: "Politics makes strange bedfellows." This episode explores the difficulties between former "bedfellows" Ray and Stella Kowalski--and Stella is dating a politician. (The 1954 Rock Hudson/Gina Lollabrigida film of the same name also explored relationship troubles.)
145	Seeing is Believing	Based on the common phrase--although in this case, people see what they believe instead of believing what they see. :-) (The plot of this episode, by the way, is very similar to Akira Kurosawa's film "Rashomon," in which four people relate dramatically different accounts of the same incident.)
146	Bounty Hunter	Just descriptive of the storyline. The bounty hunter in the 1954 film was looking for killers, not child-support evaders. ;-)
147	Mountie and Soul	Derived from the 1947 boxing film, "Body and Soul."
148	Spy vs. Spy	Inspired by the Mad magazine comic strip of the same name.
149	Asylum	Derived from the fact that Kowalski takes refuge in the Canadian consulate--although, with Thatcher away and Turnbull in charge, perhaps the other meaning of "asylum" makes sense, too! :-)
150	Perfect Strangers	The title may have come from the mid-1980s sitcom or one of the movies with the same name, but the plot is very similar to the Alfred Hitchcock film, "Strangers on a Train."
151	Dead Guy Running	A takeoff on the title of the 1995 Tim Robbins movie, "Dead Man Walking," which was based on the book of the same name by Sr. Helen Prejean.
152 / 153	Mountie on the Bounty	The beautiful ship used in this two-part episode is a replica of the original H.M.S. Bounty. The replica was built for one of the movie versions of "Mutiny on the Bounty."

Season 4

Episode #	Title	Possible Source
154	Dr. Longball	A nickname for baseball players who can hit really far.
155	Easy Money	Derived from the common phrase. The plot isn't at all similar to the 1983 Rodney Dangerfield film.
156	A Likely Story	Derived from the common phrase.
157	Odds	There's a lot of gambling going on in this episode--not all of it involving cards.
158	The Ladies Man	The term refers to a man who likes to have a lot of women around him--and doesn't mind using them for his own purposes. Any more information than that would give away the resolution of the plot of this episode...
159	Mojo Rising	"Mojo" can refer to an amulet or spell, or magical powers in general, so "mojo rising" would seem to mean the use of magical powers -- very appropriate to the plot of this episode. Although the phrase wasn't used quite that same way, it appeared in the song "L.A. Woman" by The Doors.
160	Mountie Sings the Blues	It's actually country music that Fraser sings in this episode :-), but the title derives from the Diana Ross film (loosely based on the life of Billie Holliday) called "Lady Sings the Blues."
161	Good for the Soul	From the expression, "Confession is good for the soul." Fraser's mission in this episode is to make someone confess to a misdeed.
162	Dead Men Don't Throw Rice	Probably a play on the 1982 Steve Martin film "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid," and in turn on the saying "Dead men don't tell tales," because in this episode some bad guys are trying to permanently silence a witness. The last part of the title is a reference to the wedding tradition of throwing rice over a bride and groom. I won't spoil anything by mentioning whose wedding it is... :-)
163	Say Amen	A common exhortation by the preacher during revival meetings and other spirited Christian church services.
164	Hunting Season	In this episode, another Mountie hunts two killers.
165 / 166	Call of the Wild	From the novel of the same name by Jack London. Fraser isn't the only one in this episode who hears the call of the wild...