Southern Gothic melodramas, surprise marriage proposals, and poison. Just another Valentine’s Day in Savannah for Jessica Fletcher.
Season 4, Episode 15: Mourning Among the Wisterias (February 14, 1988)
Jessica heads down to Georgia to help an old friend adapt his play, only to find herself knee-deep in family greed, failing health and a sudden proposal of marriage she never saw coming.
Who’s in it, outside of Angela Lansbury?
- Barry Nelson as Eugene McClenden. Ullman from The Shining! He was also the first actor to play James Bond.
- Rene Auberjonois as Homicide Captain Walker Thorn. Perhaps you know him as Odo from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Regardless, he’s been in so many movies and shows, including Boston Legal, M*A*S*H*, and much more.
- Penny Fuller as Grace Banfield. She was in the movie The Beverly Hillbillies as Mrs. Drysdale.
- Frank Gorshin as Arnold Goldman. The Riddler! Gorshin shows up in more than that, but you’ll probably know him from that.
Smaller roles include Matt McCoy (Police Academy 4 and 5) as Todd Wendle, Lois Nettleton as Deidre French, Linda Purl (Visiting Hours) as Crystal Wendle, Elliott Reid as Jonathan Keeler, Beah Richards as Ola Mae and James Brown as Dr. Church.
What happens?
Playwright Eugene McClenden summons Jessica to Savannah under the guise of helping him with his screenplay. In reality, Eugene suspects he is dying and is deeply paranoid about what will happen to his grand estate and money once he’s gone. This leads him to shock Jessica with an unexpected marriage proposal.
The household is a viper’s nest of grasping relatives and associates, including his nephew Todd and Todd’s icy new wife Crystal, plus a sleazy lawyer named Jonathan Keeler. Drama peaks when Jonathan is found shot dead in a guest bedroom. To complicate matters, it turns out Jonathan wasn’t just a creep; he caught someone red-handed poisoning Eugene’s drinks with ant poison to secure the inheritance early. Captain Walker Thorn arrives to bungle around the investigation, leaving Jessica to untangle the web of domestic treachery before anyone else drinks a spiked glass of iced tea.
Who did it?
Crystal Wendle. She was slowly poisoning her uncle-in-law Eugene, so her husband Todd could take over the estate. When lawyer Jonathan Keeler walked in and caught her dosing Eugene’s drink, she shot him dead.
Who made it?
This episode was directed by Walter Grauman and written by Scott Anderson.
Does Jessica dress up and act stupid? Does she get some?
Not really. She handles Eugene’s left-field marriage proposal with her usual unflappable, graceful dignity, turning him down gently while keeping her eyes locked firmly on the local murderers. No romance for JB this week. Just business, Southern manners and homicide.
Was it any good?
It is a fun, highly atmospheric dip into Tennessee Williams-esque Southern gothic melodrama. Barry Nelson makes for a wonderfully eccentric, dramatic playwright, and the episode leans hard into theatrical eccentricities, a crumbling estate and petty family greed. While the mystery mechanics are pretty standard fare for the series, the thick layer of regional flavor and a stellar guest cast keep it thoroughly entertaining.
Any trivia?
- The character of Eugene McClenden—an aging, troubled author—and his traits appear to be heavily inspired by legendary playwright Eugene O’Neill (Long Day’s Journey Into Night).
- Lois Nettleton drops a classic movie reference in the episode, uttering a line originally spoken by Bette Davis in All About Eve (1950): “Southern women are seldom starved for sex.”
- This marks the second appearance of Rene Auberjonois on the show, following his earlier Season 1 role in “Murder in a Minor Key.”
- Eagle-eyed continuity spotters will notice a prop goof: Jessica’s pearl necklace mysteriously vanishes and reappears between shots during the immediate aftermath of the gunshot.
- The episode was partly filmed at Arden Villa in Pasadena, California. Known as the Dynasty mansion, it’s in the episodes “Paint Me a Murder,” “Murder in the Electric Cathedral,” “Something Borrowed, Someone Blue,” and “Judge Not.”
Give me a reasonable quote:
Jessica Fletcher: Sometimes what husbands don’t know is very good for them.
What’s next?
While in Connecticut for a convention, Jessica hears the dying confession of a hitman and uncovers a mysterious safe house housing an important foreign dignitary.
