Hey everyone, PushingUpRoses here and welcome back to another mind-blowing episode of That
Time on Murder, She Wrote.
Today we’re discussing yet another highly requested episode from the series; I decided
to take to Twitter to ask for suggestions, and one called Crossed Up from season 3 came
up more than a few times.
I gotta say, I am always really surprised and mildly impressed when something comes
up more than once, considering there are over 250 episodes of Murder, She Wrote.
Just goes to show you how loved the show is, enough for people to have definite favorites.
Some people described this one as slightly scary, so let’s take a look at it to determine
it’s spook levels.
The scale we’re working with is 1-3, 3 being The Thing, totally horringing, 2 being The
Exorcist, it was scary then but maybe doesn’t hold up as much today, and 1 being Eliva,
it’s not scary but it IS sexy!
We begin in Jess’s cozy cabot cove casa; there is a storm raging on outside due to
a hurricane, and Jess is laid up in bed with an injured back.
Jess: “Oh for heaven’s sakes.”
Story of my life.
Don’t worry, we have her nephew Grady to take care of her!
Oh yes, you remember him, don’t you?
This sweet summer child keeps failing with women, jobs, and at cooking.
He is a triple whammy, but Jess loves him, even though he previously made her a tuna
omelet.
Grady: “Wait until you see this!
Tuna surprise!”
Surprise, it’s leftovers.
Seth stops by for a visit, both to chat and to make sure Jess is healing up.
Dangit Grady, get out of the way.
If you’re gonna be useless, do it over there.
Seth gives Jess a med alert, which I am sure you’ve heard of, but if you haven’t, here’s
a reminder.
Life Alert Commercial: “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”
Though she is unimpressed, he tells her to try it out.
We’re gonna have a tuna emergency!
Jess: “Grady, I think it might be a good time to batten down the hatches while the
decks are still clear.”
YArrrrgh Captain!
The clock strikes 2, and Jess decides to make a call to the weather service, because that’s
just a thing you did back then.
The lines get crossed somehow, and she hears two men on another call, though they cannot
hear her.
Man: “The old man MUST be killed tonight.”
Oh yes, she is now witness to a murder plot.
She tries to show Grady, but the line goes dead.
She tells Seth what she heard, and he’s incredulous, but agrees to warn Sheriff Tupper.
Grady: “A hitman, here and Cabot Cove?”
Okay we are three seasons worth of murder in cabot cove into this show and you DON’T
BELIEVE there could be a hitman?
Grady, please.
After they leave, Jess calls the operator, who of course she is friends with because
she is friends with everyone.
She asks her if she can trace the call.
Meanwhile, at the local diner, a hostess makes small talk with a salty looking man.
“You got a bathroom?”
I gotta batten down the hatches.”
stops by for a danish and a bathroom break, and sees the window is wide open.
The surly man runs out the back and makes a hasty escape, nearly running over Grady.
Grady: “New york drivers even in Cabot Cove…”
Good job Grady, that was almost a burn.
Maybe a 1st degree or so.
Tupper thinks Jess has Cabin Fever and that she probably just dreamed the call.
I like how he drinks milk.
Pinky out.
talks to her and says the call could have been from anywhere, but Jess says she heard
a street name in town being discussed.
I am glad they cleared that up because I also thought it could have been any call.
Don’t get me wrong, the whole thing is still entirely unbelievable but I am glad they gave
us something here.
Jess, being the observant woman she is, heard a man with a raspy voice talking about murdering
a wealthy man with a make 4; She did some research on the potential murder weapon, and
discovered it will potentially be a Colt 45.
Yes, she has a weapons hand book.
Mystery writer or serial killer, you decide.
: “I guarantee that no one in Cabot Cove will be murdered today.”
HAHAHAHAHAHA.
The next day…
Reporter: “To repeat, millionaire Jedidiah Rogers was shot in his estate just north of
Cabot Cove.”
Wah waaaah.
Tupper goes to investigate the new crime scene.
Oooo, pretty jewels!
He interrogates the victim’s granddaughter, who is dressed like a dining room table.
Seth calls out Tupper for not believing Jess, as all of the details match what she had described
- a millionaire on a wealthy estate in cabot cove killed with colt 45.
Tupper thinks it’s a burglar.
Despite his insanely wrong theory, he attempts to keep doing his job by questioning one of
the victim’s sons.
“Are you accusing me of killing my Daddy.”
Um.
He checks a drawer, finds nothing in it, then storms out.
Jess, of course, isn’t buying it.
She never does.
Despite being stuck in bed, she decides she is going to solve this mystery with her MIND.
Jess: “ Am Tupper is going to need all the help he can get.
Which means I’m gonna need YOUR help.”
Oh god.
Grady visits the estate and draws up the murder scene so Jess can try to put things together.
While there, he runs into Leslie, who is still a fashion disaster.
Apparently they had met before and she recognizes him.
Since he cannot resist a pretty face, he admits that he is there helping Jess, who believes
Jed, Leslie’s grandfather, was murdered.
Leslie agrees with Jess and tells Grady she can help prove it wasn’t just an unfortunate
run in with a burglar.
finishes interviewing all of Jed’s kids, and in a strange twist, NONE of them have
alibis.
It’s kind of a good MO - everyone can be in on it, then none of them have an alibi
to create confusion.
Jess reviews Grady’s sketch and shares her tuna buffet with Tupper.
“You sure you don’t want some?”
“There’s plenty more.”
Shut uuuup.
Despite the coroner’s report coming back saying the murder weapon was a Colt 45, and
there were extremely valuable things left in the estate’s safe, Tupper STILL THINKS
it’s a burglar.
“It’s a burglar!
The open window.”
How is someone THIS BAD at their job.
Jess goes over some of the other details she picked up from the phone call; the murderer
would grow a beard so locals wouldn’t recognize him, and he was driving a white van.
Grady, finally being helpful, says he was nearly run over by a bearded man in a van
the other day.
More research helps Jess to identify the man as Able Gorski, a previous local of Cabot
Cove.
Tupper: Looks like I’ve found my killer!”
Excuse me?
WHO?
WHO found your killer?
Two of Jed’s sons and one of their wives, named Doti, visit Tupper at the station to
see how the investigation is going.
We get another cameo from Colleen Camp - you might remember she was in another episode
of Murder, She Wrote as a completely different character.
It’s always weird to watch old TV shows and realize how many times they use the same
actors for completely different roles, but then again these weren’t exactly shows to
be binged.
Not sure I would have noticed when this actually aired.
Tupper and his crew go to Able Gorcey’s house to apprehend him.
Tupper: “And don’t let anyone see ya.” (splashing like crazy).
My my, aren’t they discreet.
HELLO.
I AM ON THE BRIDGE.
ARE YOU THERE.
Soooooooo this guy is dead.
Now he isn’t ABLE to move, heh heh heh.
Tupper thinks he fell down the stairs after shooting Jed, but Seth comes in saying he’s
wrong.
His reports show that Able was dead BEFORE Jed got killed, and Tupper blows a gasket.
He is TRIPLING down.
Jess thinks it’s suspicious that a hired killer got bumped off right before the hit
was supposed to take place.
She believes he was also a victim of murder, perhaps so the person who hired him wouldn’t
have to pay, and they could frame him.
Jess thinks it’s one of the sons, but none of them have a raspy voice.
Jess says it would help if she could hear what they sound like.
Tupper: “I suppose it would be useful to have a listen to what they sound like.”
If only we could invent a way to record people.”
Tupper goes to get wired up, and Grady goes to talk to Leslie.
She knows what was in the desk drawer that the sons were so keen to find.
Grady: “A diary?”
Jed documents that he didn’t like his sons very much and had planned on cutting all of
them out of the will, so there’s your motive.
Someone wanted money.
Why are all the brothers wearing the same trench coat?
Let's show the whole world how nice we look in beige!
Tupper: “I have it on good authority that Gorsi was hired to kill your Daddy.”
Please stop saying Daddy.
And now, a cameo from a stunning cat!
Satisfied with his handy work, Tupper goes back to play all of the son’s voices back
to Jess.
None of them sound raspy.
On top of that, at some point off screen the diner owner confirmed all of the men DID have
an alibi for the night Jed was killed - they were apparently all at the diner suddenly?
Okay then plot, sure.
Do whatever you want.
But then, Jess hears the voice.
It’s Jed’s son Gordon, he’s allergic to his wife’s cat, causing his voice to
get raspy.
Jess: “That’s him!”
Grady is so impressed by Jess’s sleuthing skills that he surprises her with pizza.
She’s ecstatic, but it’s… kind of sad looking.
Would we call this a pepperoni pizza?
Tupper goes to apprehend Gordon, and Seth and Grady are needed at the harbor for some
reason, so Jess stays in to rest, home alone with her sad pizza.
Before he leaves, Seth hands Jess some phone records she requested from the operator, even
though they came in late.
Now, for the spoooooooooky parts.
Jess gets a call from the operator and they go over the phone records - apparently there
was a call that actually clears Gordon’s name; was actually somewhere else during the
murder.
Jess: “He has the wrong killer!”
AGAIN.
Waaaaah.
Someone cuts Jess’s phone lines and her power.
I would absolutely be frightened in this situation.
Home alone, huge storm, my power and my phone lines are out, not even a pet to keep me company…
I’d be freaking out.
I’ve watched WAY too many episodes of Unsolved Mysteries to be okay with this.
The intruder breaks in and starts towards Jess’s room.
Come on Jess, you can take them!
HIT THEM WITH TUNA SURPRISE, BATTEN THE HATCHES.
Jess: “You can’t kill me the way you killed the others.”
At least torture me first you amateur.
The killer is Doti, she came looking for the diary.
She was actually in the room when Gordon was on that phone call, her damn cat was making
his allergies act up.
Luckily, people get there right in the knick of time because Jess cleverly used her med
alert.
Jess explains that she killed the hired hitman in case he tried to blackmail them, then Jed
before he could change his will.
Jess: “Now that all that’s settled, I have an announcement to make!”
I am NOT voting for Tupper in the next Sheriff’s election.”
Before everyone leaves, Jess says she’s feeling much better and tells Grady she bought
him a ticket for the next bus to Boston.
Coincidentally, Leslie is also going to be on that bus.
My my, what ARE the odds.
Grady: “Right.”
I bet you 10 dollars Grady doesn’t get it.
Okay, final thoughts!
This episode was really fun, I enjoyed seeing Jess solve a mystery from bed, using only
her cunning to piece the evidence together.
When I looked up the episode I had hoped to find some interesting trivia - I thought that
maybe Jess was in bed because Lansbury had a real life injury and they had to work around
it; not that I am ROOTING for that, I was just curious - Lansbury was totally fine,
the plot was just taking inspiration from the movie Sorry, Wrong Number, where Barbra
Stanwick’s bedridden character overhears a murder plot and tries to prevent it.
I also came across an interesting tidbit that said the lightning scene here is the same
one used in the intro for Gilligan’s island.
So that’s… a thing.
Grady also provides great entertainment; I love recurring characters, they are important
for the cozy murder mystery genre, and Jess’s pure of heart nephew never fails to disappoint.
I will say that the utter incompetence of Sheriff Tupper’s work is a LITTLE too exaggerated
in this episode, to the point of it becoming unbelievable.
It was amusing when Tupper doubled down on something maybe once, but it kept happening
and I don’t think it provided the episode with anything useful.
I just wanted to see this mystery unfold and admire Jess’s intelligence without a bumbling
fool getting in the way.
Now let’s refer to our spooky scale - I am going to have to place this in Elvira levels.
Only a LITTLE spooky but a lot sexy - after all, Lansbury does have those positive moves.
I did like the end when Doti breaks into Jess’s house, there’s even a pretty artsy shot
of her going up the stairs reflected in a mirror hanging on the wall, and being home
alone during a storm is pretty scary.
Had I watched this when I was younger I’d probably be worried about people breaking
into my house.
The moral of the story is: get a med alert and you might catch a killer.
If you have an episode of Murder, She Wrote you are DYING to see me cover, please leave
a suggestion in the comments, most of my episodes are the results of your recommendations.
Until then, happy sleuthing.
Hey everyone, thanks for watching another episode of me talking about Murder, She Wrote,
and if this is your first time here, hi!
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If you want to see more episodes on Murder, She Wrote, I have a few recommendations!
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views, super proud of that.
On the right is my previous episode of That Time, on Murder She Wrote, which featured
Linda Hamilton and Bryan Cranston.
Thanks again, and as always, I’ll see you in the next one.