Jessica Behind Bars

Another stellar cast of actors could not help the overacting in this episode of MSW. With Adrienne Barbeau, Yvonne de Carlo, Linda Kelsey, Vera Miles, Susan Oliver, Eve Plumb, and many other familiar faces among the cast, I thought this is gonna be a good one. Once again, I was laughing out loud at the stereotypical tropes of this supposed women behind bars drama.

Like most MSW episodes viewers are asked to suspend reality and belief that a regular person can walk into a crime scene and outwit trained law enforcement officers based solely on the fact that said person is a writer of mystery novels.

Every episode I check my brain at the door and watch to see how much Jessica can get away with without anyone ever challenging her. This particular truncated episode was even more bizarre than most with Jessica filling in as a substitute guest lecturer at a women's prison.

Even if this was a minimum-security penal institution, the lack of security was laughable.

For some reason, the local station that airs this program thought it was okay to cut away in the middle of the prison revolt and began airing a completely different program. I was a little upset that I never got to see how this episode ended but since all the shows are formulaic, it ended just as I would have expected.

Jessica agrees to substitute when a teacher for a class in a women's prison takes an unexpected trip to the hospital. However, she finds her time more occupied with investigation than instruction when the prison locks down and the staff doctor turns up dead in her office. Jessica finds herself the middleman between the desperate inmates and the law, and struggles to find the truth before the already uneasy situation disintegrates into mayhem.

Brilliant episode that features some fine acting performances, especially by Adrienne Barbeau as a loose cannon of a prisoner, some tension and very baffling mystery. Obviously an innocent person gets accused - well, it's a prisoner. The twist in the finale stings real effectively. In between the mayhem, subjects such as prisoner treatment is touched upon.

This episode of Murder She Wrote has Jessica Fletcher being a guest creative writer lecturer in a women's prison. She says several of the prisoners show some promise. But then a riot takes place after Janet MacLachlan the prison doctor's body is found led by the toughest woman in the joint Adrienne Barbeau.

There's a new warden Vera Miles who's trying to make some changes and she has opposition from staff and cons. Another death in the place and it looks like possibly we will have a distaff version of Attica.

Angela Lansbury has to get answers if nothing less than for her own life being caught up in the mayhem.

A few familiar faces from old and new Hollywood and some types as there were in the great classic Caged. The grandma of all women's prison pictures.

I don't care that its not realistic, this episode is so tense and dramatic and the acting is so good. Its heartfelt, with Mary's struggle, and I just kept guessing with this one on first watch and the best part is that its highly rewatchable.

Has a lot of similarities to Prisoner Cell Block H as has all female cast and similar prison uniforms and a Bea Smith character