Jessica Fletcher is accompanying her pal Seth while they visit his cousin in South Carolina. The exact location of Hazlitt Plantation is unclear — most signs we see indicate it’s in Riverton Gardens, but some signs tout it as a Charleston landmark.
Seth’s cousin is entering the perfume business by growing a particularly potent magnolia tree, which many of his business rivals would love to get their hands on. Jessica investigates after a murder occurs at the plantation.
Just the facts:
Click on the text below to reveal spoilers.
Click to reveal the victim
It was Buford Hazlitt, Seth’s cousin!Click to reveal the killer
It was Sergeant John Lindley, local law enforcement!Click to reveal the weapon
The victim was smothered with a pillow over his head!Click to reveal the location
It happened in the victim’s bedroom at night while the victim was sleeping in his bed!Click to reveal the motive
It was jealousy — the killer wanted to kill the man that his ex had left him for and then frame his ex for the murder!Click to reveal the major clue
It was the duty roster at the police station which showed that the killer was not on duty and therefore should not have arrived at the scene of the crime so early!Cast of characters (in order of appearance):
- James Staskel as Cary Davis, a shady character who is spying on the Hazlitt plantation.
- Dakin Matthews as Buford Hazlitt, Seth’s cousin. This is Matthews’ third and final appearance on MSW; he previously appeared in “The Wind Around the Tower” and “A Killing in Cork“.
- Robert Hooks as Kendall Ames, Buford’s resident botanist. This is Hooks’ second and final appearance on MSW; he previously appeared in “Christopher Bundy – Died on Sunday”.
- William Windom as Dr. Seth Hazlitt.
- Melanie Smith as Nina Larson, an employee of a perfume company who has a contract with Buford for providing them with magnolia scent. This is Smith’s first of two appearances on MSW.
- Greg Callahan as Edward Delaney, Nina Larson’s boss at the perfume company.
- Sally Kirkland as Evelyn Colby, Buford’s fiancee.
- Tom Mason as Sergeant John Lindley, local law enforcement and Evelyn’s ex.
- Patrick Y. Malone as Billy Ames, Kendall Ames’s son.
- Ann Cusack as Margaret Barkley, Buford’s step-daughter and aspiring playwright.
- David Byron as Dan Wilkes, Buford’s attorney.
- Walt Beaver as Dr. Travis, Buford’s personal physician and attendee at Buford’s party.
- Craig Richard Nelson as Rob Hazlitt, another Hazlitt cousin who’s been doing construction for Buford. This is Nelson’s first of two appearances on MSW.
- G. Eric Miles as Deputy Tom Ardmore (at one point referred to as Corporal Ardmore), part of local law enforcement.
Final thoughts and other trivia:
We know that the events of this episode must have taken place in winter since Buford’s step daughter mentioned that she came to visit South Carolina because “it’s snowing in New York”.
This episode of course gives us more insight into Seth’s background as we learn more about his family and also hear him mention that he “never owned anything except my house and car”. However, it’s a bit inconsistent to what we learn about him in earlier episodes which mention that his brother was his only family (as mentioned in “The Curse of the Daanav“) and that he rents his house (as mentioned in “Indian Giver“).
The establishing shots for the Hazlitt Plantation are actually of the Oak Alley Plantation house in Vacherie, Louisiana. However, outdoor action scenes for this episode were filmed at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, which were used for two previous episodes this season: “Death in Hawaii” and “Fatal Paradise“.
Murder, She Watched 