Murder Takes the Bus

John Davis Chandler was one of the scariest actors in Hollywood. He had a wonderful way of playing weasel-like psychopaths...cold, calculating and just plain nuts! Because of this, it's a real same that he's barely in the show. In fact, he barely gets anything to say or do, as he was the murder victim in this episode...and he died VERY early into the show.

As for the show itself, the plot seems very, very familiar...too familiar. I've seen quite a few films and TV shows that were much like this one in many ways.

Jessica and her friend Sheriff Tupper (Tom Bosley) are going on a bus ride to Portland, Maine. The night is very stormy and eventually the storm becomes so bad that the bus is forced to stop...and when everyone gets off the bus to hang out in a cafe, one of them can't...as he's dead. Obviously SOMEONE on the bus was a killer.

The story, as I said above, is filled with story elements I've seen quite a few times already. The stranded bus, the victim who was involved in a robbery where the money was never recovered and more...all stuff that murder mystery fans will remember from other shows and movies. Now that does NOT mean it's a bad episode, the acting is quite nice, but it cannot be a great episode with so little new and unique content.

This episode marks the only "MSW" episode for guest stars Charles Bazaldua, Linda Blair, Terence Knox, Rue McClanahan, Albert Salmi and David Wayne. Larry Linville, Albert Salmi and David Wayne have unfortunately since passed.

Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) boards the Cabot Cove bus en route to Boston, as Sheriff Amos Tupper (Tom Bosley), en route to an officer's banquet experiences automobile difficulty as a result of a storm, and joins her aboard.

Ben Gibbons (Michael Constantine) operates the bus, which contains six additional passengers: Librarian Miriam Radford (Rue McClanahan) and her husband, Professor Kent Radford (Larry Linville), young couple Jane Pascal (Linda Blair) and Steve Pascal (Terence Knox), Cyrus Leffingwell (David Wayne) and Joe Downing (Albert Salmi).

Carey Drayson (Don Stroud) also experiences engine difficulties from the storm, and emerges from his station wagon to flag down the bus, while carrying a briefcase, before entering. The bus also stops to pick up a lone Gilbert Stoner (John Davis Chandler), who enters, recognizing one of its passengers.

But as the bus exits Cabot Cove County (Sheriff Tupper's jurisdiction), its engine also becomes flooded as a result of the downpour, yet manages to arrive at a remote diner, operated by Ralph Leary (Mills Watson), for most of its passengers to seek refuge from the thunderstorm.

Jessica observes the gathering from a vantage point, from which she is also able to scrutinize the bus' interior through its windows, to which she observes activity around the one passenger who does not enter the restaurant--for he has been murdered, and discovered after being stabbed with a screwdriver, with no sign of blood upon his clothing.

As the plot unfolds, Jessica learns that the victim has been paroled from a state penitentiary, after serving time, along with two other men, for his part in a crime which had claimed the life of a young girl.

During the course of the ensuing investigation, it is discovered that a book which the victim had been carrying on board has vanished, that a citizen's band radio in a back room of the diner has been destroyed, that one of the passengers is discovered carrying a concealed weapon, and that there is another door from the diner leading toward the bus.

Jessica and Amos (although outside of his jurisdiction) must now make the connections between the co-conspirators of the crime of which the victim had been convicted, and also a connection, if any, between the child who had perished and anyone else currently stranded at the diner, among the nine sequestered from civilization, who appear at the same time frightened and very guilty-looking, as "Murder Takes the Bus." The cast is rounded out by Man (Charles Bazaldua).

Murder follows wherever Jessica Fletcher goes, even on a bus that she and Tom Bosley are taking to different destinations.

This story is a homage to Agatha Christie's classic Murder On The Orient Express where John Davis Chandler is murdered on the bus. Turns out Chandler was a career criminal just released from prison who stashed a lot of loot from his last job before he was caught.

And like in the fame Christie classic a whole lot of the bus passengers had some kind of connection to Chandler even to one of them just being an insurance investigator hoping Chandler would lead him to the hidden loot. But greed is not the only motive for killing this man.

I have to say the murderer figured a clever way to give himself an alibi, just not clever enough.

We learn that Tom Bosley before he became sheriff drove a bus for a while. His knowledge of the operation of the vehicle turns out to be valuable.

One of the best of the series.

Television shows from this time are famous for very low production value. This episode is remarkable in limited settings. The bus that is to take Fletcher and Sheriff to Portland drives the same curve over and over and over. We never see it on a straight stretch mostly because of the thunder storm. Rain storms are produced for movies and television by using fire trucks to spray massive amounts of water into the air. It is intended to fall like rain on the set. But rarely is rain made that way actually looks like rain. The area to make rain is not large unless many fire trucks are used. This episode uses mostly two sets, the restaurant and the bus interior. MSW has light stories as it is really a show to give audiences the opportunity to enjoy Angela Lansbury.

Amos accompanies Jessica on a bus trip to Portland, where she plans to give a speech. The weather takes a turn for the worse, and a worried looking man boards the bus, headed for Portland. As they continue on their journey they break down. All passengers head into a Cafe, as the bus driver remains outside to fix the engine problem. Jessica returns to the bus to collect a book, where she discovers the worried man, dead, with a screwdriver stuck in his shoulder.

There are many fans of the show that would place this episode top of the pile, for good reason. It is a brilliant mystery, has a true whodunit setup. It's dark, stormy, loaded with suspects, the principle cast are all cut off, and there's a big twist at the end. The music is arguably the best score to feature on the show. There are virtually no flaws to this episode, it's a wonderfully interesting cast, the villain has history, he's not just a bad guy upsetting all and sundry, even Amos Tupper shows a level of intelligence, proving he can observe and think, ahead of Jessica.

Every single thing about this episode is spot on, it's brilliant. 10/10