Steve Forrest and Andrea Parker share one of the most tender scenes between guest stars throughout the "Murder, She Wrote" series here in their jail-room segment with their reconciliation between a widowed father overly-possessive of his only daughter, whose decision has caused a four-year estrangement. But the well-directed scene is abruptly curtailed by a sloppily-inserted commercial break.
At any rate, the race is on to select Cabot Cove's entry for the U.S. finals (in San Diego) for the World's Cup Race (in New Zealand) in boating competition.
Ned Larkin (Steve Forrest) owns and captains "Free Spirit" along with his crew, which includes Steve Gantry (Rick Rossovich) and Bill Richards (Dwier Brown).
Industrial millionaire Kyle Kimball (John Getz) owns and captains his "Buccaneer" with John Vandervelt (Christopher Buchholz) as his Designer. John also designs his own craft, "The Netherlander," in tribute to his Dutch heritage and for the purpose of a Holland team to sail in a future regatta.
But trouble looms as a thug assaults Ned Larkin on his dock one night, causing an ankle injury, for which Doctor Seth Hazlitt (William Windom) prescribes a bone resetting with cast and a hiatus from sailing, to Ned's disappointment.
Admiral Len Spalding (Martin Milner), an old sailing buddy of Frank Fletcher and, of course, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), appoints Mrs. Fletcher as honorary commodore of the local regatta, which she maintains must go on to boost community morale and commerce.
And so, Jessica contacts Anne Larkin (Andrea Parker), Ned's estranged daughter, who has relocated to Newport, Rhode Island, to deliver the baby of her father's rival, Kyle Kimball, who didn't tell Anne that he was married until after the baby was on its way, and so neither Ned nor Kyle has ever seen the now-four-year-old Tommy Larkin (Curtis Blanck).
Sheriff Mort Metzger (Ron Masak) and Deputy Andy Broom (Louis Herthum) investigate the assault of Ned, as Deputy Andy discovers a brass bearing, which Jessica links to the missing ornament upon the watch of Steve Gantry, which lands Steve in Mort's jail and off of Ned's payroll although he is still on Kyle's payroll as a double agent to sabotage Ned's "Free Spirit," or at least until Kyle and Steve have a falling out when Steve demands $50,000 to blackmail Kyle for knowing who has ordered Steve's assault on Ned.
Alana Kimball (Kate Hodge) approaches her millionaire husband, Kyle, infuriated that Kyle refuses to co-sign her bank loan of $10 million to purchase a sting of boutiques while he freely spends $50 million on his boat collection. Kyle tells Alana that if she's considering divorcing him to gain the $10 million, to remember their pre-nuptial agreement which leaves her with no claim to his fortune.
Anne Larkin decides to arrive in Cabot Cove from Newport upon receiving Jessica's message that Ned has been injured and unable to sail in the regatta. She expresses doubt that her father would want to see her or Tommy, and so she leaves Tommy with their dear Aunt Louise and considers the need for herself to captain "Free Spirit" as she is determined to beat "Buccaneer" and Kyle, once and for all. (Tommy somehow appears soon afterward, however.)
Bill Richards is especially pleased that Ann Larkin has decided to return and to take charge of "Free Spirit," as she has won various competitions with either all-female crews or all-male crews, and he also expresses romantic notions in her direction, and Anne and Bill are both pleased to recruit Deputy Andy as their teammate, as Andy has also succeeded on winning boat racing teams, so Bill and Andy serve as the good guys amid all of this other negativity.
At a reception to kick off regatta festivities, Anne is served with a subpoena to appear in a courtroom battle for custody rights of Tommy, which sets the stage for Mort to arrest Anne on murder charges once a body is discovered, an event which she claims that she knows nothing about even though evidence has been planted in her room, which Mort has obtained a warrant to recover.
In the hopes of clearing his long-lost daughter of the rap, Ned confesses to bludgeoning the victim with a trophy, but this doesn't wash, as the murder weapon this time around would be the door of a safe which is shoved when the victim reaches inside, during this "Race to Death."
A goof can be seen in this episode with the setting sun over the open water, which happens how often in Maine, facing the Atlantic, which would lie to the east?
The cast is rounded out by Cathy Susan Pyles as Safe Technician, Ronne Troup as Process Server, Vincent J. McEveety as Security Guard, Matthew Saks as Crew Member, and Danny McCoy Jr. as Freddie Huff.
This episode represents the most recent appearance to date by Matthew Saks, and one of the most recent appearances to date by film and television star Martin Milner.
This also marks the the second of two "MSW" performances each for Dwier Brown, John Getz, Vincent J. McEveety and Matthew Saks, the third of three for Danny McCoy Jr., and the fifth of five "MSW" guest roles each for Martin Milner and Steve Forrest.
At any rate, the race is on to select Cabot Cove's entry for the U.S. finals (in San Diego) for the World's Cup Race (in New Zealand) in boating competition.
Ned Larkin (Steve Forrest) owns and captains "Free Spirit" along with his crew, which includes Steve Gantry (Rick Rossovich) and Bill Richards (Dwier Brown).
Industrial millionaire Kyle Kimball (John Getz) owns and captains his "Buccaneer" with John Vandervelt (Christopher Buchholz) as his Designer. John also designs his own craft, "The Netherlander," in tribute to his Dutch heritage and for the purpose of a Holland team to sail in a future regatta.
But trouble looms as a thug assaults Ned Larkin on his dock one night, causing an ankle injury, for which Doctor Seth Hazlitt (William Windom) prescribes a bone resetting with cast and a hiatus from sailing, to Ned's disappointment.
Admiral Len Spalding (Martin Milner), an old sailing buddy of Frank Fletcher and, of course, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), appoints Mrs. Fletcher as honorary commodore of the local regatta, which she maintains must go on to boost community morale and commerce.
And so, Jessica contacts Anne Larkin (Andrea Parker), Ned's estranged daughter, who has relocated to Newport, Rhode Island, to deliver the baby of her father's rival, Kyle Kimball, who didn't tell Anne that he was married until after the baby was on its way, and so neither Ned nor Kyle has ever seen the now-four-year-old Tommy Larkin (Curtis Blanck).
Sheriff Mort Metzger (Ron Masak) and Deputy Andy Broom (Louis Herthum) investigate the assault of Ned, as Deputy Andy discovers a brass bearing, which Jessica links to the missing ornament upon the watch of Steve Gantry, which lands Steve in Mort's jail and off of Ned's payroll although he is still on Kyle's payroll as a double agent to sabotage Ned's "Free Spirit," or at least until Kyle and Steve have a falling out when Steve demands $50,000 to blackmail Kyle for knowing who has ordered Steve's assault on Ned.
Alana Kimball (Kate Hodge) approaches her millionaire husband, Kyle, infuriated that Kyle refuses to co-sign her bank loan of $10 million to purchase a sting of boutiques while he freely spends $50 million on his boat collection. Kyle tells Alana that if she's considering divorcing him to gain the $10 million, to remember their pre-nuptial agreement which leaves her with no claim to his fortune.
Anne Larkin decides to arrive in Cabot Cove from Newport upon receiving Jessica's message that Ned has been injured and unable to sail in the regatta. She expresses doubt that her father would want to see her or Tommy, and so she leaves Tommy with their dear Aunt Louise and considers the need for herself to captain "Free Spirit" as she is determined to beat "Buccaneer" and Kyle, once and for all. (Tommy somehow appears soon afterward, however.)
Bill Richards is especially pleased that Ann Larkin has decided to return and to take charge of "Free Spirit," as she has won various competitions with either all-female crews or all-male crews, and he also expresses romantic notions in her direction, and Anne and Bill are both pleased to recruit Deputy Andy as their teammate, as Andy has also succeeded on winning boat racing teams, so Bill and Andy serve as the good guys amid all of this other negativity.
At a reception to kick off regatta festivities, Anne is served with a subpoena to appear in a courtroom battle for custody rights of Tommy, which sets the stage for Mort to arrest Anne on murder charges once a body is discovered, an event which she claims that she knows nothing about even though evidence has been planted in her room, which Mort has obtained a warrant to recover.
In the hopes of clearing his long-lost daughter of the rap, Ned confesses to bludgeoning the victim with a trophy, but this doesn't wash, as the murder weapon this time around would be the door of a safe which is shoved when the victim reaches inside, during this "Race to Death."
A goof can be seen in this episode with the setting sun over the open water, which happens how often in Maine, facing the Atlantic, which would lie to the east?
The cast is rounded out by Cathy Susan Pyles as Safe Technician, Ronne Troup as Process Server, Vincent J. McEveety as Security Guard, Matthew Saks as Crew Member, and Danny McCoy Jr. as Freddie Huff.
This episode represents the most recent appearance to date by Matthew Saks, and one of the most recent appearances to date by film and television star Martin Milner.
This also marks the the second of two "MSW" performances each for Dwier Brown, John Getz, Vincent J. McEveety and Matthew Saks, the third of three for Danny McCoy Jr., and the fifth of five "MSW" guest roles each for Martin Milner and Steve Forrest.
