Murder, She Wrote 5.4 “Snow White, Blood Red”

Jessica is at the Sable Mountain Lodge (possibly in Colorado) in order to get some skiing in with her nephew Grady. Unfortunately, due to a major snow event, the Lodge gets snowed in: Grady doesn’t have a chance to join her, and all the other guests at the lodge are unable to leave. When a dead body is discovered, Jessica quickly realizes that the killer must still be on the premises.

Just the facts ma’am:

Spoilers are in white font, so highlight the text below to reveal the answers.

There were three dead bodies in this one!

• The victims were… two champion skiiers and a coach!
• killed by… a hit man for the mob posing as an ex-cop!
• in… (victim 1) the middle of a jump on a skii hill; (victim 2) in a gym locker room; (victim 3) found on a snowmobile!
• with… (1) a crossbow; (2) stabbed with an arrow; (3) shot with a gun!
• because… the first victim was sleeping with the mob boss’s wife! the other victims died to misdirect the investigation!
• vital clues: jingling bells and trying to leave the lodge.

Cast of characters:

Much of the story revolves around the last US world cup team:

• John Laughlin (far left) plays Mike Lowery, who also happens to be the Lodge owner, in his second and final appearance on MSW.
• Cyril O’Reilly (center-left) plays John Dowd in his first of four total appearances on MSW (one of which is a sequel TV movie).
• Tony O’Dell (center-right) plays Larry McIver in his first and only appearance on MSW. McIver played Jimmy, one of the Cobra Kai students, in The Karate Kid movie.
• Eric Allan Kramer (far right) plays the most famous of the skiers, Gunnar Tilstrom, in his only appearance on MSW. Kramer played Little John in Robin Hood Men in Tights.

Other cast members connected to the ski team members include:

• Jamie Rose (left) as Anne Lowery, co-owner of the Lodge and Mike Lowery’s wife, in her first of three total appearances on MSW.
• Emma Samms (center) as Pamela Leeds, Gunnar’s agent/business partner, in her only appearance on MSW. Leeds is a major soap opera star, having appeared on Dynasty as Fallon Carrington Colby and General Hospital as Holly Sutton Scorpio.
• Bo Svenson (right) as Karl Anderson, Gunnar’s Norwegian coach, in his first of two total appearances on MSW.

The investigation is helped along by:

• Barry Newman (far left) as Ex-NYPD Lt. Ed McMasters in his first of three total appearances on the show.
• Ronnie Claire Edwards (centre-left) as Ed’s wife, Sylvia McMasters, in her only appearance on the show. Edwards is probably best known for playing Corabeth on The Waltons.
• George Wyner (centre-right) as Dr. Lewis in his first of three total appearances on the show. Dr. Lewis is a gynecologist, but being the only doctor at the lodge he is recruited to help examine the bodies. You might recognize Wyner as the actor who played Colonel Sandurz in Spaceballs.
• John Arndt (far right) as Parker the security guard in his first of two total appearances on the show. Parker is never actually referred to by name on the show.

One other repeat offender on the show is Kenny Davis, who is credited as “Lead Performer” in the house band. This is his second of three total appearances on the show. His first credit was “husband” in “Doom with a View“, where I couldn’t actually pick his character out.

Final thoughts:

There’s not too much more to say about this episode other than it’s notable for having multiple victims. It’s also notable for mentioning Grady, but not actually having him show up on screen.