"Murder, She Wrote" Death Stalks the Big Top: Part 2 (1986)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Seymour Robbie

Writers:

Peter S. Fischer (creator) and
Richard Levinson (creator) ...

TV Series:

"Murder, She Wrote" (1984)

Original Air Date:

5 October 1986 (Season 3, Episode 2)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Only when Jessica tells Neil, who is cancer-terminal and inflicted himself a nasty wound, that Charlie's...

Plot Keywords:

Jail | Circus | Baseball Bat | Fire | Prison

Cast

Angela Lansbury	...	Jessica Fletcher
Martin Balsam	...	Edgar Carmody
Alex Cord	...	Preston Bartholomew
Ronny Cox	...	Mayor Powers
Joey Cramer	...	Charlie McCallum
Greg Evigan	...	Brad Kaneally
Gregg Henry	...	Sheriff Lynn Childs
Charles Napier	...	Hank Sutter
Mark Shera	...	Raymond Carmody
Joe Dorsey	...	Harry Kingman
Dennis Howard	...	Howard Bannister
Ken Sansom	...	Bert, the Desk Clerk
Harry Stephens	...	Neal
Dan Priest	...	Doctor
Greg Norberg	...	Officer #2

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Trivia:

Laraine Day's final TV performance.

Will You Take This Man ... Back?

This episode marks the swan song performance of Classic actress Laraine Day, a star of film and television for nearly forty years.

Problems centering around the "accident"-plagued Carmody Family Circus follow Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) back to Ozark Inn, in Pullman City, Arkansas, at which she spots Edgar Carmody's (Martin Balsam) speeding from its parking lot, followed by a conversation with Maria Morgana (Florence Henderson), which is interrupted by the sudden confrontation of her daughter, Daniella Morgana Carmody (Barbara Stock), which, in turn, is interrupted by the screams of an upstairs maid, who has now discovered another body.

Upon her return to the circus grounds, Jessica encounters Maylene Sutter (Lee Purcell) and Preston Bartholomew (Alex Cord), along her way to question Edgar and Raymond Carmody (Mark Shera), as well as Katie McCallum (Pamela Susan Shoop), Charlie McCallum (Joey Cramer) and Brad Kaneally (Greg Evigan), each of whom converses politely with Mrs. Fletcher.

Jessica then convinces Sheriff Lynn Childs (Gregg Henry), to the ongoing dismay of Mayor Powers (Ronny Cox), that the two murders are undoubtedly connected, and, therefore, Neil Fletcher (Jackie Cooper) couldn't be culpable because of his incarceration.

Neil is, therefore, released, before arriving at Ozark Inn to visit with his sister-in-law, and discovering smoke and flame emitting from Jessica's room, inside which she and Maylene have been Chloroformed, and lying unconsciously, as victims of attempted murder, as "Death continues to Stalk the Big Top" and Ozark Inn.

Standing outside again, in the parking lot, Jessica strings together a series of clues to decide who has killed two and attempted to continue the spree, and the reason why, without knowing quite how to prove her theory. Jessica opts for a showdown with her prime suspect, who, once again, decides to stage a freak "accident" to silence her.

Upon wrapping the case which began when the Leprechaun figurine was unwrapped (Remember?), Jessica is free to return in the nick of time to Washington, DC, for the wedding of great niece Carol Bannister (Courteney Cox) to Clay (who remains unseen. No actor is credited for the role of Carol's fiancé). Carol's Grandmother Constance Fletcher (Laraine Day) and Mother Audrey Bannister (Susan Brown) continue to insist upon the fulfillment of their ideas over those of the bride and groom, and they express disappointment over Jessica's abandoning the family in favor of "her publisher" over these important few days.

Carol dismisses her busybody relatives because this time Jessica is not the busybody, as she sneaks Grandfather Neil Fletcher back into Carol's life on her important day, creating a tender scene enshrouded in secrecy from the family.

But Howard Bannister (Dennis Howard), who administers the family's financial operations, must also be told during a pleasant scene with Jessica in the gardens moments before his daughter's wedding.