Venus as in Flytrap

Larry is an author who hasn't brought out anything new in years. In the interim, he's been able to live quite well, as his wife is rich. In addition to his job as a writer, Larry often has been in televised debates with a feminist, Brooke (Jessica Walter) and they seem to hate each other. But what no one knows apart from the two is that they are having an affair...and Brooke is sick of Larry's promises to leave his wife. Sick of waiting, Brooke takes it upon herself to kill the wife. When Larry finds out what she's done, he's horrified...but quickly gets with the program. In fact, when her doctor friend knows too much, Larry takes care of him by tossing him off a balcony! Obviously, both of these folks are real scumbags.

This is a decent episode of "Barnaby Jones" with which I have only one quibble...the way the wife was murdered. It seemed so poorly planned with a HIGH possibility she'd survive! But despite this, Walter's cold performance was perfect and the script quite entertaining.

First episode of 1974, and it's a winner. I agree with the last reviewer, a neat switch to see a woman in the typical bad guy role and the gruesome crime she's behind.

Robert Heverly wrote this mystery, and may have been inspired by a real case, since he also wrote for the FBI tv series.

Jessica Walter is outstanding, playing Brooke, a well known tv personality who is having an affair with Larry (played by Ed Nelson), one of the gentlemen celebs she regularly bashes on tv. It's all a game, but it goes haywire when Brooke decides to simply kill his wife. Larry is getting cold feet! This way they can get married a lot sooner. The murder scene is not for the faint of heart; Brooke rolls Larry's wheelchair-bound wife into a pool. The victim hasn't a chance.

The pool drowning theme was also used quite effectively in a classic episode of COLUMBO, which involved his own boss of all suspects.

The payback here is the clever way Barnaby gets to both killers, a rabid dog and related bite getting lots of attention. Interesting material as you watch it play out.

Look for young Bonnie Ebsen (Buddy's daughter), playing Brooke's secretary. Bonnie would turn up in other roles on the show, and was quite good. Joseph Mell plays the vet, who always reminded me of one of the Three Stooges. Jessica Walter passed at age 80 in 2021.

Another gem. SEASON 2 EPISODE 14 remastered CBS/Paramount dvd box set. Classic picture of Barnaby on the cover.