This episode finds Jessica on a Caribbean cruise! Since she had finished the first draft of her novel ahead of schedule, her editor gave her this trip as a reward. We see the trip embarking from Miami, Florida and then at one point making a stop at the “Old Town” on an unspecified island before crossing the 25th parallel.
As Jessica meets not only one but two old friends on the ship, when a dead body turns up on board she of course gets involved in the investigation.
Just the facts:
Click on the text below to reveal spoilers.
Click to reveal the victim
It was Janet Fisk (the woman who murdered Agnes Lowry and assumed her identity)!Click to reveal the killer
It was Jessica’s old friend Leslie Hunter, who happens to be the mysterious “Amber”!Click to reveal the weapon
She was struck over the head to knock her out and then shot in the head with a .40 caliber automatic!Click to reveal the location
It happened in the forward hold (ship’s storage area) a little after 10pm at night!Click to reveal the motive
It was to cover up her illegal money laundering operation!Click to reveal the major clue
It was Janet Fisk’s lighter, which Alma Sobel swiped from a table from the captain’s quarters!Cast of characters (in order of appearance):
- Sarah Partridge as Agnes Lowry, a woman who gets shot on the docks by the person she has been waiting to meet with. She was working undercover for US Treasury department, hoping to meet the mysterious money launderer “Amber”.
- Michelle Johnson as Janet Fisk, the woman who shoots Agnes on the docks and takes on her identity on the ship.
- Kim Delgado as the Purser greeting passengers at the start of the cruise.
- Lee Meriwether as Leslie Hunter, a friend of Jessica’s from her single days who hasn’t seen her in 30 years. She works in the travel industry and is dating “the skipper on this tub”.
- Sharon Lee Jones as Diana Peale, a young woman first seen playing (and cheating at) cards in the bar. She is also working as the assistant during the magic show.
- Jack Garner as Mr Worthington, an older passenger seen playing cards with (and getting swindled by) Miss Peale.
- George Tovar as Roland Devereux, a passenger who is seen helping Miss Peale with her cheating scheme. He also knows Janet Fisk’s real identity and is hired by the ship to perform performs magic shows.
- Dwier Brown as Philip Polachek, a very clumsy ship’s steward who also took on a temporary assignment as security officer.
- Ellia Thompson as Molly Altrip, a nice young woman travelling with a rude young man.
- Michael Woods as Lance Brinegar, a rude passenger.
- Jon Cypher as Capt. Rory O’Neil, the skipper on the ship who’s dating Jessica’s friend Leslie.
- Keith Michell as Dennis Stanton, Jessica’s old jewel thief friend turned insurance investigator who is now working undercover as ship’s chief of security.
- Walter Kelley as a Passenger from Redbank, New Jersey who (together with his wife) is seen looking for the captain’s reception and also celebrating a wedding anniversary.
- Jane Withers as Alma Sobel, an older chatty passenger with kleptomania.
- Albie Selznick as Marvin Sobel, Alma’s son.
- J.R. Starr as the furniture dealing Shopkeeper, Philippe Duval.
- Sammy Goldstein as the piano-playing Comic.
- Towers Monaco as a Seaman who discovers the body while doing repairs in the forward hold.
Another notable, but unseen and uncredited, character is Wendy the ship’s announcer whose voice we can hear over the P.A. system.
Final thoughts and other trivia:
This episode is notable for being the last to feature the character of Dennis Stanton. After having his own mini spin-off within Season 7 of the show, the character hadn’t even been mentioned again until this episode.
Additionally, as was the case in several episodes from Season 9, the filler text in the prop newspaper used in this episode appears to have been taken from an article from the L.A. Times. It particularly interesting because it seems the article was first published in the March 3rd 1993 edition — which means that the scene with the prop newspaper was filmed only two months before the episode aired on May 2nd 1993.
Murder, She Watched 