The Jane Doe series on Hallmark Channel is my favorite of the group of shows that were introduced some time ago, McBride and Mystery Woman being the other two. Jane Doe has the nice Scarecrow and Mrs. King contrast of the housewife working as a government operative and somehow seems a little livelier than the other two. It also has Joe Penny, who has always been able to bring material up a notch. Lea Thompson is Cathy Davis, the Jane Doe of the title, and William Moses is her husband. With their two beautiful children, they look like an idyllic all-American family.
In this episode, operatives are killing their bosses and can't remember doing it afterward. Cathy and Frank (Penny) investigate an old CIA program that did the Manchurian Candidate number with the keyword.
Manchurian Candidate, Scarecrow and Mrs. King - it's all pretty routine stuff, but if you have nothing better to do, these shows are pleasant enough. None of the Hallmark series move very quickly, and they all suffer from poor pacing. Thompson is still pretty and perky, and the show utilizes some of the once-familiar stars. This time it's Erin Gray as a rival of Cathy's and Monk's psychiatrist, Stanley Kamel, as a mind-control teacher.
I wish Penny could be doing something more substantial, and Thompson, too, for that matter. Until then, "Jane Doe" will have to do.
