The Case of the Desperate Daughter

The storyline is bit over the top, with too many things going on. I feel it is the weakest episode, so far, in the 1st season. Still not bad, about a c, c+

This particular offering is not one of those that I jump to as being memorable. There are many different characters here, but not one of them is worthy of much sympathy. The "romance" that the basic story revolves around is so preposterous as to be almost laughable. Some of the side stories (and characters) really don't add much to the general storyline. While I really have no complaint on the production values (the acting, directing, etc is very much competent), this one fails in the writing department. The final solution (while somewhat of a surprise) seems to almost be an afterthought. Not the worst, but far from the best.

I never saw PM in my life until recently, and now I watch it every night; but a couple of points.

When new evidence is brought into court by the prosecution, why does Mason always seem to have not seen it before? Didn't they have "discovery" back then when all attorneys have to be made aware of any new evidence before it is brought into the courtroom?

What's the story with Perry and Della? Are they romantically involved, and if not...why not?

Anyway, I can see why Raymond Burr won two Emmys for this role. Great acting!

The episode begins when an East German gentleman named Stefan Riker arrives looking for a woman. The woman that Riker is looking for is now named Lisa Bannister who has married divorced Edward Bannister. Edward is crippled and has to walk using two walking canes. The married couple lives near LA with Edward's daughter Doris.

We learn that Lisa Bannister is the daughter of an East German Communist Party official and is in the United States with a forged passport and could be sent back to East Germany, a place she does not wish to return.

For some reason the step daughter, Doris, starts a relationship with the much older Stefan Riker in what appears to be a scheme to help Lisa's problem. The next thing we know is that Doris appears in Perry's office claiming amnesia. And when they find Stefan Riker dead all the evidence points to the amnesia victim, Doris Bannister.

Perry will defend Doris in court on the charge of murder but it will not be the easiest task. Perry's client hides valuable information and even yells out, in open court, that Perry is lying about information that was given. But Perry, with help from the prosecution's exhibit, will show that the person responsible for the murder is someone else in the cast.

The show just did not have the usual flare of the first season episodes. The circumstance surrounding the plot was somewhat odd which lead to the writer's having to provide a lot of information to get the episode complete in the hour format. Even with the interesting ending of the show, it just seemed too long in building up any suspense for the viewer.

This story stretched credibility in that I cannot see the very attractive daughter involving herself with the bald and sleazy "Colonel Klink" even to protect a stepmom who's " done so much for her". This amounts to prostitution. Surely Doris could have engaged PM to help get her stepmom right with immigration on the basis of asylum from a communist regime.