Hey everyone, PushingUpRoses here and welcome back to another rousing episode of That Time
On Murder, She Wrote, the only show on the internet that features Murder, She Wrote breakdowns
told by me.
Today I am discussing another highly requested episode called My Johnny Lies Over the Ocean
from Season One; The title is inspired by “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean'', a Scottish
folk song.
This is one of those episodes that manages to have very serious moments while still flying
off the rails and careening into an abyss, AND Leslie Neilsen guest stars.
Furthermore, this mystery takes place on a boat, meaning it is a closed circle trope
which is one of my favorites.
I also just enjoy going back to season one in general because it was fun watching the
series get its footing; I would say the first season has some of the most serious episodes
so this one is the anomaly.
We also get some classic Angela Lansbury ham.
Jess: “Murder, george!
A murder most foul!”
Oh and not just sloppy, inebriated Lansbury, we also get to see SAUCY Lansbury.
Guy: “I will show you my hoochie coochie.”
Jess: “That is the one thing I’ve been dying to see.”
I bet it is, Jess.
I bet it is.
As we begin we are greeted by a beautiful woman taking a slow motion swim, I feel like
Moving in Stereo should be playing.
You ever have a bathing suit that was both too loose AND too tight at the same time?
As the woman enters her house, she sees her husband, dead on the floor.
She walks up suddenly, terrified.
Nurse: “It’s all right Pamela, I’m here!”
I dreamed I was wearing a horrible bathing suit!
The episode actually takes a very heavy turn - the dream was a real event; months prior
Pam’s husband Johnny had taken his own life, and she was committed to a long term psychiatric
facility.
Her doctor tells her Father that she is ready to be released, and I am not sure how he came
to this conclusion, but okay.
Her father decides to send her on a cruise with her favorite aunt, and that aunt is of
course, the one and only, the effervescent JB Fletcher.
Meaning that yes, this is Jessica’s brother; his name is Marshall.
It’s pretty rare I get to see such an immediate family member; usually it’s one of her many
cousins or friends of the family, but this time we get to meet a sibling.
After she is released we fast forward to vacation day;.
Almost ready just doin’ my 4th lap around the car!
Marshall can’t help but annoy everyone with his incessant need to take photos before they
leave, and asks someone passing by to take one of all of them.
Marshall: “Okay ladies, lots of teeth.”
Uh, okay.
I only have so many but I’ll try.”
Andrea: “Okay, now hold still.”
Say teeeeeeeth!
Marshall: “I wish I were coming.”
Me too, Marshall.
Me toooooo.
Wouldn’t be Murder, She Wrote without some comic reflief characters; Oooo, Liza Mineli
takes a cruise!
Kristen Wiig: “Oh sure, I’d be delighted!”
I think they are meant to be Lavrene and Shirley types.
They miraculously make the boat even though it is CLEARLY sailing away.
As Jess and Pam are strolling around the deck, Pam runs into someone and experiences a little
bit of romantic chemistry.
Guy: “Excuse me, I’m sorry.”
I can’t see in these glasses!
After a visit to the purser's office, Jess comes back to find Pamela using a new blending
technique with her own tears.
Jokes aside, this is a really hard hitting moment for this show.
Pamela brings Johnny’s letter, left when he took his life, and she and Jess have a
really sentimental moment talking about his life.
She tells Jess Johnny was adopted and a few other important details she had found out
just before he passed.
Pamela blames herself for not knowing more about her late husband's life and praises
Jessica’s relationship with her husband, Frank, to which she responds.
“You see, you can be married to someone and THINK you know them intimately… and
then…
“You read their browser history.”
Pamela wants to share Johnny’s letter with Jess, and as she begins to read it, someone
knocks on the door.
It is RAMONE.
And he is INTO Jess.
Jess: “I’ll flip you for him…”
Ooo, get it girl!
Pamela is upset to read a card sent with a bottle of wine addressed to Pepper, a pet
name only Johnny called her.
At dinner, Jess is greeted by George Reed and his wife Andrea - she was the one who
took their picture earlier.
George recognizes her as the famed mystery writer and introduces himself briefly.
After they leave, Pamela is shocked when she finds the special in the menu was Johnny’s
favorite meal, one she had made up.
Jess: “Who’s idea was that??”
Waiter: “No one, this must be someone’s idea of a joke.”
We’d NEVER serve such DRIVEL.”
It’s clear that someone on the boat is harassing Pamela, and Jess is determined to figure out
who.
It’s time for some classic JB Fletcher snooping.
She goes to the purser's office to see who sent the wine.
Jess: “May I see that?”
Sure we show confidential records to anyone!”
Jess: “I’m going to keep this.”
(Roses laughs)
As Jess conducts scientific experiments on the wine, Pamela is enjoying a nightly walk.
Someone begins calling out her nickname.
“Pepper… pepper…”
Salt, is that you??
Several minutes later Jess is trying to find her.
“Excuse me have you seen my niece?
Very pretty blonde.”
Ooooo would we call that blonde?
There is a scream and Pamela is found at the bottom of a staircase.
MY LOVE!
MY NIECE!
The captain visits so he can hear Pamela’s story again; his responses are very skeptical
and Jess is over it.
Jess: “I think you and I should speak privately.”
Hooo boy.
Jess shows him Johnny’s letter compared to the note they were given, then urges him
to test the wine.
Captain: “Poison?
Heh, bluehgh heh!”
Best acting Leslie Neilsen has ever done.
Captain: “Whaaaaat?”
Jess, being very savvy and observant, says they must have been followed onto the ship
and that narrows the list of likely suspects down to anyone who booked after them.
Captain: “Let me show you my records.”
Do you like the Beatles?
Pamela is put under 24 hour surveillance and it’s not exactly discreet.
Pam: “Are you serious, a body guard?”
Jess: Relax and enjoy him!
“Look I know you just lost your husband and you’re questioning your sanity but get
on that D-
Jess asks Pam if there was someone in the family that may have had it out for her, maybe
his parents, but they had passed.
This leads Pam to tell Jess that months before his death, his biological mother reached out
to him, wanting to meet.
As they are chatting, cute guy Russell approaches to ask Pam how she is doing, and Jess slyly
asks him to join.
“Ohh look at the time…
I got an appointment.”
With RAMONE.
Roman: “My Hoochie Coochie.”
Jess calls her brother to fill him in and he also has some news.
Marshall: “It probably doesn’t mean anything but Pam’s house was broken into.”
How in the world would that not mean anything, what is wrong with you.
Jess starts to consider that the person harassing Pam could be Johnny’s real mother, which
puts her in an age range that only leaves a few suspects left; the two comic relief
women, and Mrs. Reed, the one Jess and Pam had met earlier.
Captain incredulous suddenly wants to be of some help and tellsJess talk to the purser,
Diane, who fits the age range and took the job on the cruise on very short notice.
Ramone slides on over to Jess with a special delivery and yes I do mean a literal package
and not his hoochie coochie.He invites her to do some dancing and a lil somethin’ extra
later on.
Poor Pamela is once again victim to another horrible prank; “Pepper Crane to the purser’s
office.”
The purser says someone sent her a telegram, and after reading it Pam passes out once again.
I really do feel so bad for her, she’s already traumatized from her husband’s death and
now some deranged stranger is threatening her on her vacation.
I just want her and cute nerd guy Russell to have a new life, dammit.
Jess and Captain Daniels talk to Diane - turns out she took the job on short notice to get
away from a troubled relationship, and that the sender of the telegram was anonymous.
Roman stops by to update the Captain on something, and he and Jess share a *look.* After Jess
is able to clear Diane’s name, and she is also able to clear the two silly secretaries.
That only leaves one more person, Andrea Reed.
She runs into her husband George, and they find her dead in her cabin, an open pill bottle
nearby.
Doctor: “Here’s the culprit.”
Let me guess, barbiturates.
Doctor: “Barbiturates.”
It’s always barbiturates.
Clutched in Andrea’s hand were photos of Pam and Johnny, and in her suitcase they found
Johnny’s birth certificate, proving that she was his real mom.
This was later confirmed on a phone call made from Marshall who was looking into it back
on land.
Honestly, this is a strangely good story for Murder, She Wrote.
Usually they are way more cliched and goofy and rely heavily on Jess’s investigation,
but this one actually manages to have some good storytelling and a few twists I didn’t
really see coming.
Mr. Reed gives a sob story about his wife becoming agitated, trying to justify his wife’s
reason for taking her own life.
Jessica is having absolutely none of it because she knows this guy is a scumbag, AND the murderer.
Jessica confronts him saying she hopes they find the private detective who took the candid
photos, and George insists Andrea took them because she was an expert photographer.
Really?
Andrea: “Which button do I press?”
Jessica goes hard on Captain Daniels, trying to convince him to detain George Reed, but
he’s resistant because he doesn’t want to risk his reputation by accusing a passenger
of murder.
Jess: “He had motive.”
Captain: “Oh good god woman, right now I have motive for killing you.”
Oh FUCK no, you do not mess with Jess.
I don’t care HOW charming you are.
Captain: “Wha?
Feh heh”
Back in his room, George reflects on his new fortune he’s inheriting from his late wife.
Suddenly, Jess shows up at his door, and she is drunk.
Jess: “I’ve come to look the dragon in the eye, looking for some sort of remorse.”
Oh god.
Okay she’s obviously not really drunk but she seems to be convincing George she is.
She says she has proof and shows him the awful photo Andrea took on the doc, then says she’ll
be showing it to the police.
George begins to freak out and asks her to come inside for a drink, probably thinking
he could silence her in her vulnerable state, but Jess makes a run for it.
I don’t know why he doesn’t just bolt after her, he had to stop to dress for the
weather.
Hang on I need a LIGHT JACKET.
He catches up with her and attacks her from behind, however, it’s not Jess at all.
It’s cute nerd guy Russell in cognito.
Pam snaps a few pics as proof, and George is defeated.
The Captain joins Jessica one last time to tell her how very correct she was; he tells
her George was attempting to make his wife look crazy, as though she were stalking her
daughter in law, then took her own life, so he could inherit her millions.
I have no idea how he got all this information, maybe he did some private interrogation but
he is now fully educated on the situation and VERY impressed with the sting Jess concocted.
He then asks her out for dinner.
Captain: “Would you...would you join me for dinner?”
Jess gets ALL the dates.
(TA DA sound effect)
Okay, final thoughts.
You know, I really enjoyed this episode.
It was serious in the appropriate places, as in it never got disrespectful when it came
to discussing Johnny’s death, and because of that there were some genuinely heartbreaking
moments for Pamela; Even though Murder, She Wrote IS a murder mystery series and people
die tragic deaths all the time, I never feel sad in a genuine way, not really.
Cozies are set up that way, with less emphasize on the tragedy and more on the characters
and settings, so I am not trying to paint myself as cold-hearted or discensitized, this
genre of mystery just doesn’t linger on the sadness and unpleasantness of the murders,
and the show is always so cheesy and goofy that any darker elements are swept under the
rug, but this episode was more balanced.
When it goes sad, it goes really sad, and when it goes goofy, it….does this.
Jess: “A murder most foul.”
I always appreciate it when Lansbury brings out her exaggerated theater acting.
As mentioned before I really liked the setup on the boat and the line up of suspects - it
was very Agatha Christie, except campy.
Jessica was exceptionally proactive in this case, perhaps even a little pushy.
She was very aggressive with the captain, she was trying to set up Pamela, she kept
insisting that people talk to her or do certain things - she was definitely in control.
She won’t go down with this ship, she won’t put her hands up and surrender.
I love her moments with Ramon as well, because it really seemed like she wasn’t against
the idea of a fling with this mustachioed hunk, whose accent wavers between Italian,
French, and Mrs. Doubtfire.
And in general, the story was good - SLIGHTLY convoluted if you’re not paying attention,
but overall it was engaging, thrilling, and had Leslie Neilsen in a Captain’s uniform
so I can honestly say this episode is worth a watch.
If you have an episode of Murder, She Wrote you are DYING to see me cover, please leave
a suggestion in the comments or reach out to me on Twitter, I love reading your opinions
on this show, and until then, happy sleuthing.
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