Cole (William Moses) not yet fully out of the frame for the murder of Carlo Agretti is in recovery after also nearly successfully being framed for, of all things, his own suicide. The police are not willing to entertain the fact that he could hardly have hit himself over the head with a crowbar before lying down in his garage while his engine was running as a typed, but not signed suicide note was planted on him.
A shyster private investigator (Norman Alden) hired by Chase keeps coming up with clues which still point to Cole. The whole mysterious killer story-line involving Cole and Carlo Agretti was likely of much greater suspense and intrigue for those that hadn't followed the series closely. By process of elimination you know who the killer has to be even if a tell-tale wardrobe item seen on the culprit doesn't ring a bell.
Melissa (Ana Alicia) who made a deal with Angela not to sell the Agretti vineyards to Richard Channing (David Selby) reaps payback from him. Their truncated affair yielded a tidbit of information - that her child Joseph was fathered not by her husband Lance (Lorenzo Lamas) but by his cousin Cole, the man whom half the valley remains convinced killed her father Carlo Agretti.
Richard predictably runs it as the lead story in his San Francisco Globe newspaper. Melissa's groundless suit for libel provides little tension for those that not only know every aspect of the report is true but that Richard left out the fact that much of what he learned was from time spent between the sheets with her.
The Denault cartel expresses misgivings to Richard who signals that he is distancing himself from their instructions. As dark and shadowy an organization as the cartel is, Richard continually indicates he can handle them.
Lance declares he is leaving Falcon Crest having filed for divorce out of his sham marriage to Melissa. He threatens to tell secrets about Angela's business dealings if she disinherits him.
This superior episode followed on the heels of one of the more haphazard offerings of the series. The dialogue and writing are so much better by comparison one gets a sense of the highs and lows of the series. We get back to seeing what the series is really about at its most basic level: family and the strength one can draw from it. But at the same time the various sensationalistic aspects generally seen on night-time soaps remain in the mix as the resolution to running plot lines is left for future episodes.
The portion of this episode where Maggie is persuaded to serve as associate producer on the production of her screenplay indicates possible autobiographical hints as to the nature of the show itself. A producer tells her that if she doesn't remain with the project a clueless hack writer with no understanding of what the story is all about may come in and ruin it. A hint? This episode was written by Scott Hamner - son of the show's creator Earl Hamner.
Directed by Larry Elikann who also directed episodes of Dallas, Flamingo Road and Knots Landing.
A shyster private investigator (Norman Alden) hired by Chase keeps coming up with clues which still point to Cole. The whole mysterious killer story-line involving Cole and Carlo Agretti was likely of much greater suspense and intrigue for those that hadn't followed the series closely. By process of elimination you know who the killer has to be even if a tell-tale wardrobe item seen on the culprit doesn't ring a bell.
Melissa (Ana Alicia) who made a deal with Angela not to sell the Agretti vineyards to Richard Channing (David Selby) reaps payback from him. Their truncated affair yielded a tidbit of information - that her child Joseph was fathered not by her husband Lance (Lorenzo Lamas) but by his cousin Cole, the man whom half the valley remains convinced killed her father Carlo Agretti.
Richard predictably runs it as the lead story in his San Francisco Globe newspaper. Melissa's groundless suit for libel provides little tension for those that not only know every aspect of the report is true but that Richard left out the fact that much of what he learned was from time spent between the sheets with her.
The Denault cartel expresses misgivings to Richard who signals that he is distancing himself from their instructions. As dark and shadowy an organization as the cartel is, Richard continually indicates he can handle them.
Lance declares he is leaving Falcon Crest having filed for divorce out of his sham marriage to Melissa. He threatens to tell secrets about Angela's business dealings if she disinherits him.
This superior episode followed on the heels of one of the more haphazard offerings of the series. The dialogue and writing are so much better by comparison one gets a sense of the highs and lows of the series. We get back to seeing what the series is really about at its most basic level: family and the strength one can draw from it. But at the same time the various sensationalistic aspects generally seen on night-time soaps remain in the mix as the resolution to running plot lines is left for future episodes.
The portion of this episode where Maggie is persuaded to serve as associate producer on the production of her screenplay indicates possible autobiographical hints as to the nature of the show itself. A producer tells her that if she doesn't remain with the project a clueless hack writer with no understanding of what the story is all about may come in and ruin it. A hint? This episode was written by Scott Hamner - son of the show's creator Earl Hamner.
Directed by Larry Elikann who also directed episodes of Dallas, Flamingo Road and Knots Landing.
