Murder, She Wrote SE01 EP00 - "The Murder of Sherlock Holmes"

This is a series I've long known about, but have never once seen in my life. In fact, prior to watching the first episode (or more precisely, pilot, as it's a two-parter lasting an hour and 45 minutes or so), I knew very little about this show.

I'm glad I jumped on board, though, because based off this, going through the series of over 250 episodes should be an extraordinarily fun ride.

Note: This is listed as "EP00" because both IMDb and Wikipedia indicate this. EP01 would be the following episode, titled "Deadly Lady."

Episode Name: The Murder of Sherlock Holmes
Original Airdate: September 30, 1984

We are introduced to one Jessica Fletcher, as she watches a rehearsal mystery play, and correctly identifies the killer, to the shock and dismay of the director. She then goes about her business with the PTA.

After days of mundane activities in her home of Cabot Cove, Maine, such as jogging, fishing, painting, etc. she receives a call from her nephew Grady, informing her that there is interest in publishing a manuscript she wrote in her spare time. While at first Jessica was displeased with Grady, that quickly turns around as the book is published and becomes a national bestseller.

She travels to New York City to meet up with Grady, and to do a few radio and talk shows in promotion of her book, along with meet with the publisher, Mr. Giles. She meets Grady and Kit Donovan at the station, then travels over to meet with Giles, who, being busy, doesn't have time, but encourages her to have dinner with him later.

The next few days are filled with interviews from radio hosts and boorish television personalities. Due to this, Jessica made to go back to Cabot Cove, but is stopped by Mr. Giles, who invites her over to his place for a costume party that weekend in New Holvang.

Among those attend are Louise and Caleb McCallum (who is dressed as Sherlock Holmes), Ashley Vickers (with whom Caleb has had an affair with in the past), Peter Brill, Grady Fletcher, and Kit Donovan. While walking around outside, Grady and Kit see a figure seemingly searching through Grady's room. The individual turns out to be Dexter Baxendale, a private investigator, who refuses to reveal who he's been hired by. He is then escorted from the house. Later on, Louise, quite intoxicated, informs Caleb that she wants to leave, and when Caleb refuses, drunkenly takes off. The party goes on.

The next morning, Louise comes back to the house for her husband, who didn't make it back the night before. Jessica and Louise then hear a scream from Kit, and a body is floating in the pool, a body dressed up in a Sherlock Holmes costume.

The police suspect the victim is Caleb McCallum, though the identity is hard to place due to the face of said victim being blown off by a 12 gauge shotgun. Chief Roy Gunderson attempts to figure the case out, and is helped by a reluctant, yet observant, Jessica. Among the observations, the shoes that McCallum was wearing the night before were not the same shoes on the body found in the pool.

More so, Caleb turns up at the house perfectly alive, though he states he has no idea who took his costume, as he left it at the house prior to sneaking away from the party with a young woman. The man in the pool is then thought to be Dexter Baxendale, who was then revealed to be hired by Caleb McCallum, who needed a matter of stolen confidential files looked into.

Chief Gunderson speaks to Jessica on the way back to New York City, and she reveals more insight: the police are looking at this from an angle of who killed a private investigator. Jessica states that whoever the killer was might not have known that Baxendale was dressed up as Holmes, and not Captain Caleb, leaving to groups of different suspects for the police to look into.

Deciding again to go back to Maine, Grady lets Jessica know that he feels she could solve this case. Jessica confirms that, while she's leaving, she and Mr. Giles hit it off quite well. Jessica is stopped from leaving at the station only by Kit, who informs her that Brady has been arrested for the suspicion of murder of Baxendale.

Jessica confronts Gunderson and lets him know of her displeasure, stating that the murderer would more likely be Ashley Vickers than her nephew. Mr. Giles has Grady released, and they meet across the street in a restaurant. Kit reveals that Ashley Flick and Caleb were a couple behind the back of Louise, but Caleb then moved on to another girl, giving her motive to kill who she thought was Caleb.

Ashley Flick comes to the same restaurant, and reveals that the police have pinpointed the time of death, being 11:15 pm the previous night. Which is good for Flick, as she was with Jessica at the time, getting her dress washed as she spills a drink on it. With this, the first part of the episode is concluded.

On a taxi ride back to his office, Mr. Giles lets Jessica know that Grady's innocence will be proven. The best trial attorney is on his case, and while they hope it wouldn't come to that, Giles suggests that in time, all will be well. They also share a brief moment, and agree to meet for dinner that night.

Prior to going back to her hotel, however, Jessica wants to go to the Bayside Yacht Club and meet with Caleb. She does so, and Caleb is entirely convinced that Grady is the one behind the death of Baxendale, theorizing that he killed the private investigator so he wouldn't discover that he had been stealing private documents from Caleb's business. The fact that Baxendale was found snooping in Grady's room, along with the fact Ashley had an alibi (courtesy of Jessica), is enough for him.

Jessica than contacts Grady, letting him know that she wants to go to their office building and do some sleuthing in Ashley's office for incriminating papers. On the way, she lets Grady know that should Jessica be the guilty one, she had an accomplish who actually committed the murder, one who was at the party that she could pass the papers off to.

While Grady is sent to look for information on the computer, Jessica looks over some papers around Ashley's office, though not for too long - the elevator dings, and Ashley walks back to the office. Jessica hides in the closet as Ashley grabs some papers along with holding a conversation indicating that she knows, but did not condone of, the individual who committed the murder.

Jessica tries to follow her, and ends up losing her near a theater in which Peter Brill has been holding auditions for a play of his, which brings him into suspicion as far as the Maine woman is concerned. The next day, with Grady waiting in the car, Jessica confronts Brill, letting him know that she believes him to be Baxendale's killer, and that he did so because he wanted him off Ashley's trail so he could continue gaining the necessary money to put on a play. Brill feigns ignorance, but Ashley, who was listening in on the conversation, comes out and admits that she and Peter had stolen the documents, neither one killed Baxendale. Ashley had been with Jessica, as previously established, and Peter was entertaining guests at the party by playing the piano.

The day after, Chief Gunderson and two officers receive a tip leading them to discover the body of Caleb McCallum on his boat. Gunderson later speaks to Jessica, letting her know that Brill and Vickers had admitted to the stealing of the documents, and her nephew was off the hook for the murder. As Caleb was killed, the police feel as though Baxendale, who was wearing the Sherlock Holmes costume at the time of his death as Caleb had been doing the whole of the, was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, and the real target was Caleb.

Mr. Giles agrees with Gunderson's assessment, and once Gunderson leaves, he and Jessica share another moment, which culminates in a kiss between the two. Jessica feels that this is moving too quickly, but is perfectly willing to see what a prolonged professional relationship (as Giles is the publisher of Jessica's book) would lead to.

She then makes it to the train station to head back to main, warned by Kit that a reporter will want to talk to her on the second half of the ride. Jessica, however, leaves the train just as it's about a go, as something clicked in her mind upon seeing a book reviewer named Chis Landon's picture in the paper.

Taking a train back to New Holvang and a taxi to Giles' home, the truth is revealed: Giles shot and killed Baxendale because the private investigator realized that Giles was the same man who had escaped a 15-year prison sentence over 20 years ago. This is further cemented by small things Jessica noticed, such as a phone call she and Ashley walked in on along with the fact the lights above the pool are automated, and as such the killer knew that it was Baxendale, not Caleb McCallum, in the pool. Giles later killed McCallum to make it seem as though he was the target all along, to try and get the police to not look deeply into Baxendale.

Giles turns himself in after the confession Jessica tearfully pulled from him. The next morning, she finally heads back home to Cabot Cove, Maine.

The first episode of this series, while I wasn't overly sure what to expect, was fantastically done. Angela Lansbury is an absolute delight to watch, and she plays the role of the sleuthing Jessica Fletcher beautifully.

The story was top-notch, and deeply enjoyable, with a myriad of twists and plot points one generally may not expect. Specifically, the confrontation in the second part between Jessica and Preston Giles was utterly wonderful. Obviously, while I tried to cover all of the main points of the episode, I didn't do it justice, and if this sounds like something that'd interest you, I highly recommend watching this.

As stated before, I've not seen any episodes of this series before, so it's all new to me. I only hope that the quality continues, though. Here's to hoping.


Rating: Superb


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