Jessica Fletcher Double-Take

To stem the boredom that has been a result of my current unemployment, I recently took up cross-stitching again, a favorite activity that has fallen to the wayside since early in my college years. Of course, it's just not possible to stitch in complete silence (for me, anyway), so I decided to Netflix a show everyone my age has heard about, but few have actually watched. I'm well into the fifth season of "Murder, She Wrote" and it has most definitely NOT been a disappointment.

Now, I will grant you that, given today's abundance of "didn't see that coming"-s in modern television, the very formulaic style used for every episode has become a little tiresome - but that's to be expected of a show produced in the 80s. There have been very few episodes where I haven't guessed the killer within 20 minutes of the episode's beginning (and those that surprise me are always a delight!). There is one episode in the 109 that I've watched that has stuck with me since the beginning.

Season 1, Episode 5: Lovers and Other Killers had a character named David Tolliver (played by Andrew Stevens) that skeeved me out more than I expected. He seemingly preyed on older women with his charmingly handsome smile, and, to be honest, I had him pegged as the killer (of his latest conquest) from the get-go. Andrew Stevens had a way of making the character seem both at once innocent and sinister, charming the hotel maids to let him into Jessica Fletcher's room after she had asked him not to enter unless she was there, but working on typing up her most recent novel (a job for which she had hired him).

I'm happy to admit that I was not the only one fooled by Andrew Stevens, or should I say not fooled? Jessica had no qualms with letting him know that she didn't think he was as uninvolved as he claimed either. It turned out that he truly wasn't responsible for or connected to the deaths of the two women, but the episode ends ominously with the following conversation:

David: You know, I was enjoying the writing. Send me a copy of the book when it's finished?  Jessica: I may do better. You may end up being a character. David: What would I be? A victim, a suspect, a killer? Jessica: I don't know. I haven't made up my mind yet.

The look he tosses at her retreating back was enough to give me chills. Like I said, he already had me skeeved out, thinking he was the killer, and that certainly didn't help. I was so sure he would return to the "Murder, She Wrote" scene, possibly as a killer, or perhaps as another suspect who was relying on Jessica to clear his name.

It only took 104 episodes (and almost 5 complete seasons) for him to return again. But this time, Andrew Stevens was not playing David Tolliver. In Season 5, Episode 19: Double Exposure, he was the unassuming doctor brother-in-law of the victim who didn't even warrant the label of suspect.  Sadly, this background character did not get enough air-time to completely dispel the lurching of my stomach any time his face flashed across the screen. I had realized early on that the show utilized the same actors for different small  roles (I've noticed it especially with the females), which isn't surprising considering there were 258 episodes (just 1 killer and 1 victim each show would require over 500 different people, and that doesn't include the MANY suspects, policemen, and other extras!). I was definitely surprised by the re-use of this actor though. After playing such a prominent role in an early episode, one I was certain would make a reappearance, why would they choose this man to take such a minor role?

His face is burned into my mind, and will be for quite some time, as the almost-killer, the not-quite-innocent, the guilty-of-something. I have assured myself, through use of IMDB.com, that Andrew Stevens will NOT be returning as David Tolliver. For that, I am both grateful and dismayed. No other minor character has stuck with me like his, but to see him in another episode, where his mysterious guilty-innocence could be confirmed as one or the other, might take away the mystique, the staying power of a character so well-portrayed, and that would be a huge disappointment.

Until next time!