MURDER, SHE WROTE: JESSICA BEHIND BARS (TV)
Summary
One in this murder mystery series about an unassuming Maine mystery writer turned sleuth named Jessica B. Fletcher, who uses her professional insight to help solve real-life homicide cases. In this episode, Jessica journeys to a women's prison to teach a writing class and meets Warden Elizabeth Gates, who introduces her to her Deputy Warden Amanda Debs, and the doctor, Irene Matthews. Jessica chats with an inmate, Mary Stamm, and praises her writing, although she is somewhat taken aback to learn that she is imprisoned for murdering her husband. As Jessica heads to the class, Gates and Matthews are seen arguing over Gates' decision to hire a professional nurse to replace Mary as Matthews' assistant, with the doctor claiming that Gates is thinking only of her own senatorial goals. Jessica teaches the women about writing "the perfect crime," and Mary sneaks out during the lesson and visits her friend Susan in the infirmary, then stealing a key and entering the pharmacy. Matthews returns to her office and Mary quickly hides, but alarms suddenly begin to blare and the "riot lock" is thrown. When the guards search the rooms, they find Matthews dead on the floor and Mary seemingly guilty with the key in her hand.
Another guard attempts to get Jessica to safety, but the prisoners soon revolt and acquire weapons, taking Jessica, Gates and Debs hostage and demanding Mary's freedom and an improvement of prison conditions. The lieutenant governor calls and orders their surrender, and Gates encourages them to give in, promising that she is not trying to frame Mary. The prisoners argue and eventually decide that they must uncover Matthews' true murderer to prove Mary's innocence, and Jessica somewhat reluctantly agrees to help. The lieutenant governor gives them until daybreak to surrender, and Jessica begins to investigate, learning that a large dose of morphine killed Matthews. Gates accuses Mary of routinely stealing drugs from the pharmacy and killing Matthews when she was caught, elaborately describing her version of events. Mary swears that she found Matthews on the floor and tried to help her, but Gates affirms that no one else could have entered the room after lockdown. Jessica and the women question the cook, who denies involvement, and is soon found to have been selling off kitchen goods to a woman named Mims, found hiding in the basement. One prisoner, Cat, states that only Gates has the "magic key" that can access any area of the prison, and after questioning a guard, decide to "try" Gates by kangaroo court. After discussing Gates' argument with Matthews, the prisoners proclaim her guilty, but Debs intervenes and says that the doctor was helping her with a medical problem, though the women suspect she may have killed her to keep the secret.
The lieutenant governor calls again and reveals that one set of fingerprints on the vial of morphine, which was diluted, is unidentifiable, meaning that they have an unknown killer in their midst. Jessica hurries to track down Mims, but she is found dead with the other hostages, and though Gates again accuses Mary, Cat and the others are doubtful. Jessica confronts Mary and gets her to admit that she stole drugs to help Susan and her other ill friends, believing that Matthews was not treating their illnesses well, but swears she did not dilute the morphine and explains that she killed her abusive husband in self-defense. Elsewhere, Cat suspects that they have a snitch, and that Gates hired Mims to kill Matthews and then silenced her. Jessica pleads with the angry women for more time and then questions Gates, who finally admits that she had a secret meeting with Susan, who was willing to tell her about the secret goings-on in the prison in order to facilitate improvements. Hearing that the National Guard is coming, Cat vows to break out by any means necessary, but Jessica gets an idea and has Matthews' body fingerprinted, comparing the results to her file. Finding that the prints are not the same, Jessica explains that the "stranger killer" theory was inaccurate and that Matthews faked her file and killed herself, throwing the riot lock to stop a guard from entering her office. She was diluting and selling off drugs, as the cook was selling off kitchen supplies, and committed suicide when she realized that Gates' improvements to the prison would expose her scheme. Debs is revealed to be behind the corruption, having hid Matthews' suicide note to make it look like a murder and then killing Mims with the help of her conspirator: Cat. The mystery solved, Gates thanks Jessica for her help and promises that Mary will get her proper parole hearing, and Jessica departs. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: December 1, 1985 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:48:40
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:11198
- GENRE: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, mystery/suspense
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1984-1996
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Peter S. Fischer … Executive Producer, Created by
- Robert F. O'Neill … Producer
- Mike Stevens … Associate Producer
- Richard Levinson … Created by
- William Link … Created by
- Carleton Eastlake … Writer
- John Llewellyn Moxey … Director
- Richard Markowitz … Music by
- John Addison … Theme Music by
- Angela Lansbury … Cast, Jessica Fletcher
- Margaret Avery … Cast, Dixie
- Adrienne Barbeau … Cast, Kathryn
- Barbara Baxley … Cast, Deputy Warden Amanda Debs
- Yvonne De Carlo … Cast, Miss Springer
- Linda Kelsey … Cast, Mary Stamm
- Janet MacLachlan … Cast, Dr. Irene Matthews
- Vera Miles … Cast, Warden Elizabeth Gates
- Susan Oliver … Cast, Louise
- Eve Plumb … Cast, Tug
- Mary Woronov … Cast, Brady
- Susan Peretz … Cast, Bertha
- Donna Ponterotto … Cast, Jamie
- Diana Bellamy … Cast, Head Guard
- Gay Hagen … Cast, Head Guard
- Faith Minton … Cast, Second Guard
- Jan Stratton … Cast, Gate Guard
- Darlene Conley … Cast, Mims
- Aimee Eccles … Cast, Susie
- Kristall Ecklund … Cast, Prisoner
- Linda L. Rand … Cast, Reception Guard