WARNING!  This essay is very long and contains many SPOILERS.  See the episode first before you read this.  You won't understand it unless you have already seen Victoria's Secret.  Some of the essay is taken from messages that I have previously posted to message boards and mailing lists.  I could write a book on this episode but I have stopped short of that--barely.  The essay is divided as follows:

Introduction
Music
A Different Kind of Due South Episode
Fraser's Character and Repression
Victoria's Character
Victoria Not Evil?
Love--"I do love you, you know."
Fraser Out of Character?

      Un-Fraser-like Behavior
Ray's Friendship--"You hurt him and I'll kill you."
Fraser Was Going With Victoria--"I should be with her."
Questions About the Plot
The Prosecution's Case Against Fraser
Jolly Isn't So Bad
Letting Victoria Go
See Short Video Clips
Favorite Scenes and Quotes

Introduction

This episode is one of the best things I have ever seen on television.  As a stand-alone TV movie, it is a gem.  As a Due South episode, combined with what we already know of Fraser, it is superb.  The writing is excellent, the episode is brilliantly and creatively directed, the acting is superb and the music is perfect.  I love this episode!

There have been many good reviews of Victoria's Secret and some are posted elsewhere on the Web.  I had to have my say since this is by far my favorite Due South episode.  I agree with much of what others have said and disagree intensely with some of what I have seen written elsewhere about this episode.  This episode was beautifully done.  Music, imagery, dialogue, direction and acting were all perfect and I wouldn't change a thing. 

This episode is full of effective symbolism.  We see lots of falling snow and doorways.  The various emotions that Paul Gross expresses during this episode are beautifully shown in his facial expressions--longing, confusion, passion, regret, desperation, determination, fear, sadness, deep emotional pain. Melina Kanakaredes is wonderful as Victoria. 

The plot has been criticized by some fans because not all points are fully explained.  I have a few minor problems with the plot which I will discuss later but in general I find it to be fascinating, intricate and downright brilliant. 

I started watching Due South during the third season.  I knew little of the romance between Fraser and Meg Thatcher and saw little evidence of it during the third season.  I kept saying how wonderful it would be if Fraser actually fell in love and had a truly romantic, erotic episode--sort of like a regular guy.  Victoria Metcalf was not what I had in mind.  When I finally got to see Victoria's Secret, I was somewhat shocked.  I was happy that Fraser finally had a love interest but did it have to be this evil witch from the depths of hell?  Apparently, it had to be. 

I was annoyed that he would fall in love with such a woman--a felon, whom he had tracked down.  Of course, I know from real life that men often choose women like this, overlooking perfectly fine, decent women in order to fall hopelessly in love with some witch, but that's another essay.

The circumstances of their meeting can explain the intensity with which this otherwise good man fell in love with this unsuitable woman.  They both lived through a near-death experience and helped each other survive it.  I gather from what Fraser has said of the experience that this is one of his few sexual encounters--if not his only sexual encounter.  He describes her as the only woman he has ever loved. 

Music

The music in Victoria's Secret is wonderful.  The music blends in so well with the story.  The Sarah McLachlan song playing in the first half of this episode is "Possession" from the album "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy."  The song, "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy," from the album of the same name, is played during the second half of the episode.  Victoria's Secret seems to have been written with the words of the Sarah McLachlan songs in mind.  I've never seen music used more effectively.  The original music by (Semko, McCarthy and Lenz) is also very good and haunting.

A Different Kind of Due South Episode

The first scene, from the beginning shot of the snow globe through Fraser running after the woman that he sights and thinks is Victoria sets the tone for something different from the usual Due South episode.  What?  Fraser, with Mustafi's repaired vacuum cleaner going running after a woman he glimpsed in the street--"a woman I used to know"?  Oh dear!

Later, in a very unFraser-like manner, he roughly shoves a guy out of his way while rushing out of the restaurant when he spots her a second time.  I thought the desperation of the scene was very well emphasized by the cabby pulling a gun on him.  His disorientation while standing in the street was underscored by the slow motion effects.  "Love is very disorienting," Fraser says in You Must Remember This.

Fraser's judgment becomes defective.  We begin to see how he is losing his usual sharpness when it comes to logical deduction and observation.  Chicago is a big city.  How likely is it that he would see this woman twice, if ever at all?  It would make one stop and think if one were capable of so doing, but we begin to realize that maybe Benton Fraser is beginning to lose this ability. 

cont'd