Murder, She Wrote SE01 EP02 - "Birds of a Feather"

Prior to writing the episode summary, I wanted to let my readers know that while in the past I've written rather extensive plots, I'll be changing my format, writing only more skeleton outlines, which will both helpful in cutting down time it takes to write each review and lead to quicker updates for shows.

If you'd prefer me change back to my older style, please let me know. I will say that the more important part to me has always been the review at the end, character analysis, that type of stuff, as opposed to an overly detailed plot, but I am open to other views.


Episode Name: Birds of a Feather
Original Airdate: October 14, 1984

Jessica Fletcher is in San Francisco for the marriage of her niece Victoria to her fiancée Howard. But Howard's keeping something from Victoria, and it turns out to be a job at a high-class drag club (as opposed to an insurance agency, which is what he told her), which she and Jessica find out. Alas, just as they find out, he's accused of murdering the owner of the club, Al Drake.

Howard being (get ready for it) dragged away

Neither Jessica nor Victoria believe he committed the crime, but the San Francisco Police Department believe they have their man. She holds extensive conversations with various suspects, including:

1) Al Drake's wife

2) Michael Dupont, his wife's secret lover

3) Freddy York, an entertainer signed onto a long-term contract with Drake

4) Bill Patterson, York's talent agent

Meanwhile, Howard is freed after it was proven he didn't fire the gun after persistent prodding of Jessica. The clues come together at the end, and after Jessica proves to Detective Floyd Novack that his time of death for Drake is incorrect, the real culprit turns out to be York, who wanted just to get out of his contract and take bigger money in Las Vegas.

York and his agent, Patterson

Howard and Victoria marry, and more good news follows - an acting job in a soap opera opens up, and Howard is able to leave the insurance agency and take the job, in hopes his acting career can finally take off.

While this episode was a pretty decent one, I felt it was lacking the pazazz that the former episodes possessed, possibly because this took place in San Francisco as opposed to the small town of Cabot Cove. This is not to say the mystery wasn't good, or that the characters weren't interesting (though on Gabe Kaplan's acting, who played York, I'm sort of torn). In face, York's confession at the end is even pretty moving for what it was.

That all said, this episode was lacking, I felt. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't up to the standards I'd have expected from the pilot and first episodes. One thing that threw me for a loop was the fact that at this time, Jessica has written six paperback novels and sold the rights to one movie, which, if you recall, is a far cry from the pilot in which her first book was published. Time knows no bounds in this series, it seems.

I have no idea if we should expect to see Howard and Victoria again, but hopefully we do, just to keep some continuity in Jessica's extended family.

Not a bad episode by any means, but alas, nothing special.

Rating: Average

Previous episode

Next episode

Murder, She Wrote SE01 EP01 - "Deadly Lady"

Episode Name: Deadly Lady
Original Airdate: October 7, 1984

During a particularly grueling storm, Jessica Fletcher hears about a yacht out at sea, which Ethan Cragg (a friend of Jessica's who happens to be a captain) will be unable to reach until the next day. The morning next, after a jog, she meets a man named Ralph, weeding her gardens. Hungry, but not comfortable with handouts, he offers to work around her place as long as she can provide him food. After he claims he's been "hoboing around" for most of his life, Jessica deduces he's lying, partly because his clothes look quite tailored along with the fact there is an imprint of a watch still on his wrist, an expensive watch at that. Ralph admits that his excursions of being a hobo are recent, as his company retired him recently, but is still all-the-willing to help around the house.

Before details can be ironed out, Sheriff Amos Tupper calls Jessica and let's her know that the yacht has come back in, but she may want to get down there due to the possibility of murder. Jessica does so, and meets four women, the daughters of one Stephen Earl: Nan, Maggie, Lisa Earl Shelby, and Grace Earl Lamont. They tell Jessica that the night before, their father got thrown overboard during the storm, and they were unable to do anything about it. Clear-cut, they insist, though Sheriff Tupper is holding off on the Coroner's Inquest for the time being, due to the fact that the estate is worth 100 million dollars to be split among the four daughters. Tupper first wants to find the body of Stephen Earl before moving forward. He is convinced foul play is involved, while Ethan feels it's clear what happened, and believes the girls. Grace lets Jessica know that there was little love lost between Stephen Earl and his daughters, for he broke up Grace's own marriage along with meddled in Nan's private affairs, ending her conversation by saying "There's not a one of us sorry to see him dead."

Jessica shaking Maggie's hand

Nan Earl

Grace Earl and Lisa Earl Shelby

Jessica returns home, and bonds briefly with Ralph over her deceased husband (Ralph's wife had died years prior) and lightly chides him for calling Paris, Kentucky. Jessica gives him her husband's old pipe, insisting it's better to be used as opposed to gathering dust in her house. Meanwhile, Lisa's husband Brian flies in, and demands an immediate Coroner's Inquest to speed the release of the money.

It is after Ralph leaves for the night that Jessica realizes something important: at the location and time in which the girls claim their father was thrown overboard, their vessel would have been in the eye of the hurricane - the weather would have been dead calm, and certainly not strong enough to throw a man off the ship. She confronts the girls (Nan is absent, though Brian is there), and Maggie admits to killing her father not the night before, but two nights ago. Maggie claims she shot him twice in the chest after an argument, and she is then taken into custody. A preview of the next morning paper reveals another shock - the picture of deceased Stephen Earl looks exactly like Ralph. She confides this to Ethan, but going back home, she is unable to find Ralph, and leaves Ethan thinking Jessica dotty.

The next morning, the body of Stephen Earl is found, and as Jessica suspected, is the same individual who called himself Ralph. Lisa and Nan identify the body as their father. More so, just as Maggie said, there are two bullet wounds in the chest. To Lisa's disbelief, Terry Jones (formerly engaged to Nan, but walked out on her) comes back to comfort Nan. Lisa personally feels his arrival is suspicious. Brian and Lisa bicker over her father's death, Brian more concerned with Lisa getting a larger chunk of the estate's money.

At the police station, they inform Maggie that her father's body has washed up on the beach, which shocks her, as she reveals that she did not actually kill him - the whole thing was a ruse between Maggie and her father to unmask Terry Jones as a fortune hunter to Nan (whom her father was very suspicious of), and that her father left the yacht on a raft, alive the last time she saw him. Maggie is then released and cleared of the charges. The only thing left, in Jessica's mind, is to determine who murdered Stephen Earl.

Jessica speaks to Terry Jones, and lets him know that he heard of Earl's death not that morning, but the day before, when Stephen Earl called him from her house, claiming to be a reporter. He flew in the previous night after hearing that, and met Nan in Portland (explaining why she had been absent the previous day when Maggie gave her confession), who was told by Maggie about the plot to reveal him. Terry adamantly insists he loves Nan, and did not murder Earl.

On the beach, Jessica locates pink heeled-shoes partially exposed, and believes them to be owned by Nan. Sheriff Tupper and Jessica check in with Nan, and she says the shoes are her's, and tries them on, confirming the fact. Tupper wants to take her in, though Jessica believes her not to be guilty, and tells the both of them to keep the evidence confidential, so she can smoke out the killer.

Maggie, celebrating with Grace, Lisa, and Brian, run into Jessica at the hotel, who reveals that Nan has been arrested for the murder of their father. She suggests that one of the girls lost the aforementioned shoes there, which Lisa in particular takes offense to. Grace allows her to search her room, as does Maggie, but insists she doesn't wear pink, so the shoes weren't her's. Jessica speaks to Maggie and lets her know that she is off to sleep, and hands her a baggie for her to give to the sheriff the next day.

That night, a figure breaks into Jessica's house - Jessica is waiting, though, and catches the individual, who happens to be Maggie. Maggie slipped, mentioning she didn't wear pink, while Jessica never mentioned the shoes were pink. More so, the framing of Nan was obvious to Jessica - when Nan tried on the shoes, Jessica took noticed of her unvarnished feet, extremely unlikely if Nan had to walk half a mile across a rocky beach. Maggie makes to kill Jessica, but Jessica reveals that her confession was caught on phone, and Sheriff Tupper heard it all.

Jessica sees off Nan, and goes deep sea angling Ethan afterwards.

This was a very fine episode.

The plot, especially the four daughters, all of whom could equally be behind the death of their father, was good fun, the conclusion as unexpected as one might hope (though not handled quite as well as the pilot, though I suspect few will be). That said, the final confrontation between Maggie and Jessica, in Jessica's dark living room, was a fantastic scene, and the first in which Jessica has been in any real danger (at least based on what we've seen - Giles in the first episode had no intention to cause Jessica harm).

Sheriff Tupper and Ethan Cragg seem good characters, and while we don't know much about either one yet, I find it interesting that Tupper stated he's asked for Jessica's help before, which we've not seen, meaning that the undetermined time between this episode and the previous one is longer than one might initially think). I am guessing that as both of these individuals live in Cabot Cove along with Jessica, this will not be the last time we see them.

We also get a glimpse of Jessica's deceased husband, Frank, during her conversation with Ralph/Stephen Earl, and it's clear that Jessica still harbors feelings for him, and try as she might, appears to have great difficulty talking about him. Whether or not we learn much more about Frank, I don't know, but I wanted to note it.

Lastly, while Lansbury was as fine an actress as ever (and I suspect she will continue being the fantastic actress she is as this series progresses), I was also impressed by Anne Lockhart, who played Grace. Most of the time, actors and actresses don't catch my eye if they've a solo appearance in a series, but she was quite memorable to me, and reminded me of an almost Velma-ish character (from Scooby-Doo) - those glasses looked pretty good on her also, which didn't hurt anything.

Deadly Lady is a fine second episode, and going back to Maine is a nice change of scenery when compared to New York City. I don't know if she's in Cabot Cove to stay, but time will tell. A very solid story, well-acted all around, and good conclusion, leaving this a positive rating in my eyes.


Rating: Above Average


Previous episode
Next episode

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


Next episode