Hey everyone, PushingUpRoses here; welcome back to another strange and unusual episode
of That Time on Murder, She Wrote. Today, due to VERY popular demand, I am covering
an episode from season 12. I definitely tend to avoid this season, which coincidentally,
is the final one in the series because the episodes slowly devolve into utter nonsense.
You may recall from my breakdown on “Murder Among Friends”, that the show’s time slot
was being replaced by Friends because it appealed to a younger, fresher audience, and I have
to wonder if the writers and network just kind of gave up on Murder, She Wrote because
there were other things on the horizon. It certainly feels that way when you skip around
the last chunk of episodes - it just lacks heart. Don’t misunderstand; there are very
few episodes I actually dislike, but the change in tone and quality is pretty obvious. Now
that I’ve warned you, it’s time to dive into one of the most requested episodes I’ve
gotten from you, the viewers. Let’s see what you all chose. Inspector: “So the puppet
is the killer…” Oh my god, what have you done.
Yes, we have puppets. You asked for this. You asked for all of this. Jess: “You said
it, not me.” As we begin the episode we witness someone spying on two very happy people
leaving an apartment complex. Woman: “Gosh, you’re incredible!” If this is a one night
stand it sounds VERY wholesome. Then we cut to AHHHH. Man, you know what Murder, She Wrote
super needed? An episode about a televised puppet show. That’ll definitely impact the
ratings. Wait, is that mini John Denver?
Jessica is working with a company named...sigh… Flappie incorporated. Thus the episode title,
Something Foul in Flappieville. The Flappies are what they call the puppets, and they seem
to vary in size, animal type, personality, etc. Kind of like The Muppets, but astoundingly
less cool. Since kids just ADORE Agatha Christie, Jessica writes a murder mystery story intended
for her neices and nephews, but it gets picked up for the Flappies, featuring a racoon detective
with a very, very bad moustache. The kids seemed to like the new show during the test
run, but notice that the main puppeteer, Darren, is using a voice too similar to another puppet
he plays named Pound Dog. The kids don’t hold back with their criticisms. Kid: “The
inspector sounds like Pound Dog.” Darren: “Oh, you guys really no how to hurt a guy…''
Wow, FRAGILE. The lead puppeteer expresses gratitude for working with the company and
WHAT THE HELL IS THAT IN THE BACKGROUND? And on the other side we have what every good
puppet company needs, a gorilla costume. This reminds me of one of those mind game shows
where they ask you if you noticed any changes. Focus on Jessica Fletcher… Did you catch
the guy in the gorilla suit? As they are discussing possible changes to Inspector LeShaw, a French
Raccoon, the other workers tell Darren that this will probably replace his main creation,
Pound Dog. Worker: “It’s time to hang Pound Dog up, let him retire in the Smithsonian
next to Charlie McCarthy and…” Little ventriloquist reference for you there; Charlie
McCarthy was a puppet performed by Egdar Bergan throughout the 30s and 40s - You can see him
in Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free. Fun fact: He is also the Father of Candice Bergan, AKA,
Murphy Brown.
A confrontation occurs between Darren and Robbie, one of the toy builders, and Darren
storms off in a huff.
Robbie and his wife, Helena , give Jessica a tour of the area. After Robbie splits, Helena
gets overly personal and tells Jessica their marriage has been on the rocks, and that there’s
a lot of tension between him and Darren. Helena: “You know, Robbie and I haven’t been able
to have a child…” So we had a puppet instead.
Back to the workroom where we get a very awkward moment between Jason, a new builder, and Kim,
one of the puppeteers. She asks him to fix one of the puppets for her. And they call
it puppet looooOOOOoOOove...
Jason: “Maybe we could have dinner, see a movie or something tonight?” And then
later I can shove my hand up YOUR b-
Anyway she rejects him because he’s an asshat. The other worker tells her that Kim isn’t
worth pursuing. Jason: “Thanks for the warning but right now I prefer to trust my hormones.”
Ugh.
He’s also extremely protective of the Flappies. When he catches the security guard looking
at the inspector, he picks it up to make sure it’s okay. Then he talks to it. And makes
it talk back. Oh god. He’s crackers. Also is that a HANGING BODY in the background?
This company is terrifying.
Enter Brian Cranston as Parker Foreman, head of the network Flappieville airs on. Darren
is still going on about his Pound Dog character, trying to get his show renewed, but Parker
just isn’t into it. In an act of desperation, Darren says that Pound Dog will get a new
show WITH Detective LeShaw, even though that hasn’t been discussed with anyone. He even
takes credit for the design of LeShaw. This guy is so attached to this hideous dog puppet
that he starts NAME dropping like a little toad. Once Parker hears the brilliant JB Fletcher
is involved with the writing, his interest is renewed. Parker: “Toys, clothing, software,
big promotional possibilities here right?” Software huh? I can’t WAIT to play THAT
game.
Jessica is thrilled with how her characters are coming to life thanks to all the toy builders.
Jess: You know, you’re both not only very good, you’re very quick!” That IS what
she said.
Jessica finds a concept sketch done by Jason while she’s waiting for them to retrieve
some fabric… and… sweet beans. It’s...something else isn’t it?
Darren confesses to the workshop leader, Gus, that he made a promise to get a big name performer
to play Inspector LeShaw so he can keep Pound Dog running, and Gus is furious because this
performer also happens to be his ex. But he’s a pal and agrees to ask her for a favor. Jason
overhears this.
After hours, a puppet show takes place. Pound Dog seems to be testifying for something and
this is exceptionally creepy - Pound Dog is saying Darren is going to take all the credit
for Jason’s character design, just like he did when he took Pound Dog’s design from
Gus. Seems that Darren likes to use other people’s ideas. Inspector: “I find Darren
Cosley guilty as charged and I sentence him to 100 years and the electric chair.” Hahahaha!
The puppet’s reactions, this needs to be a meme. Jason: “maybe 200 years.” Wait,
it’s only Jason? GOD this guy is weird. And how is he playing all four puppets? I
designed this graphic to show how he MIGHT be doing it.
The changes to Inspector LeShaw are almost done, except for one minor thing. Darren:
“One small change. Voila!” Oh yeah that really made all the difference. Darren discusses
changing the percentage of money she will make on the show. “I’m upping your percentage
from 20 to” exposure.”
Kim, who plays Happy Bunny, goes to pay a visit to Parker and he’s VERY pleased about
it. They engage in some very gross and inappropriate flirtation. Kim: “You know what they say
about rabbits…” Yeah… they poop everywhere…
She says she has something to show him, and this is the sexiest unwrapping I’ve ever
seen in my life. Next time I seduce someone I’m bringing out my ribbon.
I’m realizing that this episode has an ABSURD amount of characters to keep track of and
not all of them are relevant, so let’s speed things up a bit. The voice actress agrees
to do the voice for inspector LeShaw. She wants a huge cut. Parker says he wants half
the merchandising profits - illegally, of course, or he won’t push the show. Darren
taped the conversation for blackmail purposes. Robbie thinks his wife is having an affair.
Jessica plays therapist to everyone. Arvan the security guard farts around aimlessly.
My question is: Why does everyone want a cut of this show? These people are CUTthroat about
getting royalties; this is a kids puppet show. Look at these things. This is a guaranteed
hit?
Soooooooo THIS GUY IS DEAD. Wait...who is that? Darren: “It’s Arvan, the security
guard.” THAT’S not who I thought would get murdered. Of course, the one who showed
up very briefly in maybe three scenes and has no stake in the show. Makes total sense.
Even more bizarre is that we’re 30 minutes into a 45 minute episode - so far this plot
has been more about the politics of a children’s TV program than murder. It’s like Death
to Smoochy Lite.
Darren said he found Arvan like this when he went to check on one of the puppets. Inspector
LeShaw has been knocked to the ground in a fit of passion. I really hope they outline
the body. Jessica, of course, is on the case. Jess: “Lieutenant, it looks to me like the
work of an amateur.” Inspector: “Ahh…” you must be a professional
killer…
The inspector in this, though very dreamy in appearance, is how do you say… a bit
of a douchewaffle. Inspector: “So the puppet is the killer. I better not tell my kid.”
Darren confesses to Jessica that he doesn’t know what to do. Jess suggests he just talk
to everyone. You know, like when you exchange words with someone else with the intention
of resolving conflict. Jess: “Maybe if you talk to the others…” Darren: “That’s
it!” I’ve never thought of that before, it’s brilliant! Darren: “So you’re saying
I have to start acting like a grownup, huh?” Or at least stop acting like a ding-dong.
They get Parker in a conference call, and Jess asks him about how he feels about LaShaw’s
recent changes. He says he loved that the magnifying glass was moved. Huh, interesting.
Now how did he know about that?
A package comes in for Parker, and it’s the incriminating recording Darren took earlier.
The focus group for the new show goes amazingly despite the content of the show, and after
it wraps up the inspector arrests Darren for the murder since his prints were on the murder
weapon. An iron.
While Darren is losing his mind at the police station, Kim meets Parker and tells him it
was her who sent the recording. I don’t think she really has a motive for murder,
but she definitely has a motive for money and wealth Kim: “You know what they say
about rabbits.” They love 24 Carrot Gold…
While this entire investigation is happening, we find out that Helena did not have a one
night stand, she’s been talking to a guy with child services so that she and Robbie
can adopt a kid. This feels like flimsy padding, I have no interest in these characters because
they don’t get enough screen time to make me care about their personal issues.
Oh, Jason! We haven’t seen you in awhile. You seem like a likely suspect. Puppet: “Curiosity
killed the cat.” If this man is not the killer he still needs to be arrested for being
weird with puppets.
Let’s just get to the solution, shall we? Jessica and Darren confront Kim; I have no
idea how Jess came to this conclusion, but after seeing a pamphlet for Fiji on her desk,
she somehow realizes that Kim wanted money for a vacation, so she stole the recording
from Darren and showed Parker. Is it just me or is this kind of a lame blackmail? All
you want is to go to Fiji? That’s it? Can’t you just… save up vacation money? Despite
all this, she did not kill Arvan.
Jessica then confronts Parker, saying that he went to the studio looking to swipe that
blackmail recording. Parker said he had turned around and seen Darren with the recorder.
What a convenient plot point. Apparently, somewhere off screen, Arvan listened to the
tape himself and was also going to attempt to blackmail Parker. Jessica said she noticed
he knew about the magnifying glass switch, but he couldn’t have because it wasn’t
in the concept art they sent him. He’d only know that if he had seen the puppet. The Pound
Dog show is renewed; all it took was a little bit of murder!
Right, final thoughts. This episode was wild, but also extremely convoluted with a lot of
red herrings; so many red herrings that you forget about them because it’s hard to concentrate
on everyone’s drama and interpersonal relationships. It’s very quickly cut together too, you
could probably tell by the way I was discussing the story that I was bouncing around all over
the place, and that’s not exactly by choice - the episode really does jump from scene
to scene in quick succession. I definitely liked all of the campy acting and some of
the characters, but I wish there weren’t so many loose ends. Are we really going to
forget about the guy who talks to the Puppets and has four arms? Really? We’re just gonna
let that one go, huh? “Curiosity killed the cat!” Turned out Jason is just a fucking
weirdo, but otherwise harmless. I can relate to that I suppose. I also don’t like that
so many things happened off screen and were brought up as the conclusion is happening;
just seems like the story wasn’t making sense so the writers had to shoehorn things
into it. They had to mention that Arvan had found the blackmail tape at the end, otherwise
no one has ANY motive to kill this character who we barely saw.
As I’m giving my final thoughts I’m having trouble recalling all the characters; you
never hear from Gus or the voice actress again, I have NO idea who this is, and the detective
hardly got any screen time at all. A RACOON DRESSED as a detective got more screen time
than him!
(record scratch) Hey everyone, Roses from the editing room here, and I just realized
that LaShaw is in fact, not a raccoon. There IS a raccoon named Reginald, but upon further
observation I feel that this is a squirrel. My apologies for this egregious mistake. Carry
on.
That being said...I was thoroughly entertained. It’s the perfect episode for a riffing session
with your friends, or a viewing session by yourself, honestly. It’s such a weird premise
that I can’t exactly NOT recommend it. Season twelve is full of episodes like this, really
complicated stories with too many characters and flimsy motives that don’t crop up until
the solution is given; these are NOT my favorite episodes, I prefer ones with a better ratio
of cheesy to serious, maybe a few thrills sprinkled here and there, but the bafflement
I felt while watching this one was just enough to make me satisfied in a weird, “so bad
it’s good” type of way. If anything else, you should watch it just to see all of the
amazingly weird puppets that pop up in the background.
If there’s an episode of Murder, She Wrote you are just DYING to see me cover, leave
me a comment. At your own risk of course, you may just get another Flappieville. Until
then, happy sleuthing.
Hey everyone, thanks for watching my video on Murder, She Wrote. I know these are trying
times, so I hope this video brought you a bit of comfort or some giggles. If you liked
this one, I have a lot more in this series, but first! Shout out to my patrons, who make
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if not, your likes, comments, and shares mean a whole lot to me.
If you want to see more videos before subscribing to this channel, I have a few recommendations.
On the left we have the previous episode of That Time on Murder, She Wrote, and on the
right we have an episode breakdown of Are You Afraid of the Dark. Hope you like Iguanas.
Thanks again and as always, I’ll see you in the next one.