Jessica Fletcher is in New York City when she learns that one of her friends, a Nobel prize winner who is working on a new vaccine for Biomec Technologies, has died in a plane headed to Montauk which crashed into Long Island Sound shortly after takeoff.
When it turns out the friend is actually alive but worried that someone may be trying to kill him, Jessica investigates!
Just the facts:
Click on the text below to reveal spoilers.
Click to reveal the victim
It was Dr. Max Franklin, the Nobel prize winner!Click to reveal the killer
It was Liz White, the victim’s coworker and girlfriend of four years!Click to reveal the weapon
The victim was hit over the head with a heavy ashtray!Click to reveal the location
The murder happened in a secret apartment that the victim was hiding out in!Click to reveal the motive
It was a crime of passion — the victim was killed because he broke off his romantic relationship with the killer!Click to reveal the major clue
It was the bent envelope which couldn’t possibly have contained a diskette!Cast of characters (in order of appearance):
- Bruce Weitz as Dr. Max Franklin, a Nobel prize winner who is working on a new vaccine.
- Richard Portnow as Walter Pell, a private investigator working for Biomec Technologies. This is Portnow’s second and final appearance on MSW; he previously appeared in “A Killing in Vegas“.
- Kathleen Sullivan as the T.V. Reporter reporting on the plane crash.
- Annie Corley as Liz White, Dr. Franklin’s coworker and girlfriend of many years; she is also an aspiring writer.
- W. Morgan Sheppard as Dr. Fredrick Grundberg, the lab director for Biomec Technologies. This is Sheppard’s only appearance on the MSW TV show, but he does come back to appear in the TV movie “Celtic Riddle”.
- Mario Machado as the Male Reporter at the press conference. This is Machado’s third and final appearance on MSW; he previously appeared in “Who Killed J.B. Fletcher?“
- Bradford Dillman as Richard Ellston, the underwriter for Biomec Technologies. This is Dillman’s eighth and final appearance on MSW (and his final on-screen appearance ever); he previously appeared in “Wheel of Death“, “Final Curtain“, “Unauthorized Obituary“, “Hannigan’s Wake“, “Steal Me a Story“, “Death Takes a Dive“, and “Murder to a Jazz Beat”.
- Sam Anderson as Stuart Himes, another lab scientist at Biomec who wants to complete Dr. Franklin’s work. This is Anderson’s third of four appearances on MSW; he previously appeared in “Dead to Rights” and “Murder at a Discount“.
- Shannon Tweed as Priscilla Lake, the PR person for Biomec and romantically involved with Richard Ellston.
- James Bockelman as Mailroom Person, referred to as Jim, at Biomec. This is Brockelman’s second of three appearances on MSW; he previously appeared in “The Petrified Florist“. He also goes on to make an appearance in the TV movie “South by Southwest”.
- Robert Curtis-Brown as David Randall, another lab scientist, romantically interested in Liz White. This is Curtis-Brown’s second of three appearances on MSW; he previously appeared in “Murder on the Thirtieth Floor“.
- Herb Edelman as NYPD Lieutenant Artie Gelber. This is Edelman’s tenth and final appearance on MSW (and his seventh appearance as Artie Gelber); he previously appeared in “Portrait of Death“.
- Lisa Long as Officer Rizzoli, assisting Lt. Gelber. This is Long’s second and final appearance on MSW; she previously appeared in “Showdown in Saskatchewan“.
- Wren T. Brown as Desk Clerk at the hotel that Dr. Franklin was initially staying at. This is Brown’s third and final appearance on MSW; he previously appeared in “The Search for Peter Kerry” and “Murder on the Thirtieth Floor“.
Final thoughts and other trivia:
In a bit of show continuity and acknowledgement that Lt. Artie Gelber’s sidekick throughout Season 10 was Detective Henderson, the writers make a point of mentioning him and having Artie say that “Henderson is coming back tomorrow”.
On the other hand, there is a bit of lack of continuity within the episode itself as at the beginning of the episode it’s announced that the plane crashed into Long Island Sound (on the north side of Long Island), and yet it was recovered in Jamaica Bay (on the south side of Long Island).
In terms of filming locations: some of the street scenes (such as the one where Jessica spots her friend in a taxi as she is waiting to cross the street) were filmed just outside the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. This is also the place where the interior scenes at the hotel check-in desk were filmed.
There is one major location used in this episode that is a bit of a mystery to me, and that is the location for Biomec Technologies. It’s clear that both exterior and interior scenes were filmed at the same building. And not only that, as can be seen in the image collage below, the same building was used in the Season 9 episode “The Big Kill“.
If you recognize this building, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
EDIT Aug. 26, 2024: Looks like I was able to answer my own question. The building is actually the JA (Junior Achievement) Finance Park, located near Griffith Park at 6250 Forest Lawn Dr in Los Angeles!
Murder, She Watched 