Lovers and Other Killers

Jessica lands in Seattle, met by the University Deen she's set to lecture at his university. She's given a secretary, but is shocked when David turns up. Handsome and amiable, David takes Jessica to dinner, but is arrested upon return for murder.

Lansbury is totally delightful, her lecture shows just how brilliant she is, loaded with charisma but what was that bit with the Chinese nuns all about, they're making her a bit syrupy. Andrew Stevens was very good as David, quite captivating, proved he wasn't just a pretty face. The scenes between the two needs excellent, particularly the last one which was loaded with tension and a definite undercurrent.

I very much enjoyed this episode, more serious in tone then the last few episodes, and all the better for it. This is one of my favourite episodes, it's a classic, beautifully made. The slightly ambiguous ending is also quite original, so often everything is nearly tied up, not in this case.

Classic MsW 10/10

Andrew Stevens stars in this one and he plays a VERY odd character....a handsome young man who either is turned on by old ladies or who wants to use them. It's really not clear which but what is clear is that the guy is really creepy...and by the end of the show, he's still a strange cypher.

Jessica Fletcher is in Seattle for some lectures at a university. While the lectures go quite well, a murder of a rich old woman has everyone on edge. Jessica is even more so, as she's recently hired a personal secretary (Stevens) and it sure looks likely he's the killer. Of course, on a show like "Murder, She Wrote", it's never this clear and you know there's much more to the story.

This wasn't a bad episode until the finale...in which the real killer confesses everything to Jessica...even though there's no real proof this person did it. This is a common trope in TV shows like this and "Perry Mason"...but a very weak one, as in real life, this very rarely happens and it seemed like a cheesy way to wrap up the show. A rather weak but enjoyable episode.

While in Seattle for a series of lectures, Jessica is drawn into a dangerous case involving young secretary David Tolliver accused of killing his wealthy older lady friend Allison Brevard.

An intriguing addition to MSW with an emphasis on characterisation. There's more depth in that regard, especially Andrew Steven's who plays a young student. He works as a secretary for Jessica. He's quite charming, probably too much so - there's something creepy about him. He suspected by the Lieutenant, played by Greg Morris ( Mission Impossible), as a killer of an old lady and possibly a younger student. But Jessica believes him innocent, and gets pushed down the stairs for her troubles (snooping around). The ending is quite ambiguous in regard to this young secretary - his face expression darkens.

Quite a serious-toned and darkly entry, love and other killers is quite a departure to the lighter entries and is quite an engaging watch.

Jessica Fletcher arrives in Seattle where her very dear friend of the week Dr Edmund Gerard has invited her to speak at his university. Though she only plans to spend a couple days in Washington she decides to hire a secretary. Alas, instead of an efficient, mature lady, simpering young David bulldozes his way first into her hotel room and then the job opening. Jess quickly grows to regret her begrudging agreement to hire the student when after their first (expensive) dinner together the police rocks up to question David about his relationship to another wealthy, older lady who happened to end up dead. Unfortunately the policeman in charge underestimates Jessica's resistance to being warned off an acquaintance and despite not being entirely sure if to trust David herself, she sets out to prove his innocence - just as a second victim drops dead.

This is an interesting episode as it does away with the formula (or possibly predates it). This time it's not Jessica Fletcher's very dear friend who ends up in a holding cell accused of a murder they certainly didn't commit - if only someone could prove it. But that's not all this episode skips. Most MSW characters lie, giving Jessica the chance to figure out their secrets before the grand reveal. It's part of the fun. Not this time. Everyone here lies and the truth is hazy. Towards the end of the episode one of the murders is solved off-screen, and yet... some doubts remain, with Jessica and with the viewer.

There are a number of the titular lovers going around, but all the relationships are a mess. A philandering wife, a husband mad with jealous rage, university staff who happily share their beds and lovers, a secretary obviously smitten with their (intentionally?) oblivious employer, a friendship professed to be a love affair, a love affair professed to have merely been a friendship. Love here consists of stalking, violence, cheating, lying, transactions, possessiveness, affairs, and, of course, murder.

While none of that is foreign to MSW, the density is unusual. Jessica Fletcher and her writers are at heart romantics, regularly shipping off happy couples into the sunset. The only couple experiencing somewhat of a happy ending here is so unimportant that one partner never even appears on screen.

The episode had a couple weak points, particularly a couple "humorous" scenes that missed the mark for me. Its strength lies in its seriousness, which is not a sentence I expected to write about Murder, She Wrote. Yet, in the end feelings are confessed and rejected and the camera holds on a changing face underlaid with ominous music, telling us a story we still don't quite understand. The episode is over, but the core mystery hasn't been solved. That seems a brave choice for a series which usually likes to tie all the loose ends into a nice, pretty bow each week, but certainly one worth watching.

Wealthy widow Allison Brevard (uncredited actress) meets her fate when an apparent burglar ransacks her Seattle residence during the opening credits to this episode, assaulting her in the process, and leaving her for dead.

Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), by now a widow, a retired high school English teacher, and established best-selling Mystery author, has garnered international attention through her newfound celebrity, and begins to accept positions such as guest lector far from her hometown of Cabot Cove, Maine, and her publisher's headquarters, in New York City.

Here, after she travels to Seattle, Washington, to accept a mystery writing instructional position, she finds herself in need of a secretary and petitions for a lady of compatible age with herself, but, instead receiving the services of a cheerful, capable and efficient candidate, but male and younger than expected, in the form of student David Tolliver (Andrew Stevens).

Between adjusting to working with David, and conducting meetings with College Dean Doctor Edmund Gerard (Peter Graves) and his secretary, Amelia (Lois Nettleton), Jessica also instructs her forum on crime and mystery, along with visual aids, such as firing a pistol into the auditorium of students, this releasing a banner, reading, "Bang" (a scene often used among opening introductions).

Professor Todd Lowery (Andrew Prine), a fellow instructor at the college, enrolls in Jessica's lecture course, she at times singling him out for profound questioning. Whether or not Todd has anything to hide, he looks and behaves with increasingly guilty reactions.

Lila Schroeder Kowalski (Lory Walsh), the wife of the athletic Jack Kowalski (Grant Goodeve), becomes involved on one level or another, with David Tolliver, Professor Todd Lowery and Doctor Edmund Gerard, whether or not Jack Kowalski becomes aware, but he is known as possessing a volatile temperament.

Law Enforcement Lieutenant Andrews (Greg Morris), arriving on campus to investigate the situating involving Allison Brevard, links David to the crime, while Jessica, although experiencing doubts, maintains his innocence, by affording David the benefit.

But when Jessica attempts to prove David's innocence, by following him into a storage building, she discovers another body, leaving her not knowing quite what to believe.

And when Jessica receives an anonymous call to meet an informant in a campus building, a perpetrator shoves her down a staircase (a scene filmed in silhouette fashion, this also incorporated into opening "MSW" credits during the run of several seasons).

Still determined to investigate two murders, Jessica tracks down the various suspects, gives David an ultimatum, and manages to assist Lieutenant Andrews in tracking down "Lovers and Other Killers." This episode's title may parody that of the 1970 film "Lovers and Other Strangers," containing an all-star cast, a factor which this program also mirrors.

But, according to IMDb, this "MSW" episode contains the smallest credited cast of the series, while not acknowledging several performers having speaking roles. Its opening graphics also differ from the rest, indicating a separate production method than other Season One episodes, even though it is released as "Season One, Episode 05."

Lory Walsh, whose brief acting career spans from 1977-88, Lois Nettleton, who began her television and film acting career in 1953, and Greg Morris, who began his television and film acting career in 1963, have unfortunately since passed. Greg is the father of actor Phil Morris, who guest stars as David Salt in "MSW" episode 10-05, "A Virtual Murder."