Murder, She Wrote (TV Series) Dead Eye (1993) User Reviews

Dead Eye is pretty good.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 14 April 2023]

Jessica investigates a recent death, a historical death, and a series of missing negatives, all of which are linked to one of America's biggest crimes, the assassination of JF Kennedy.

I can see from reading some of that reviews that this isn't a highly regarded episode, I'm so often in agreement with several of my fellow reviewers, but in this instance I have to disagree, the plot is off the wall, but come on it's Murder, she wrote, when wasn't it.

I personally enjoyed it, it's possibly the grittiest episode of Murder, she wrote up until this point, it's worlds away from the cosy Cabot Cove set episodes, and it seems like one of the only occasions where a real life crime is used.

I really liked the characters and acting, in particular I enjoyed Al Ruscio, what a voice.

Fair play that's the quickest time for spotting a microphone, she gets a gold star for that one.

Better than expected, 7/10.

How ridiculous

[harveytory · 6/10 · 2 June 2021]

The negs were in the jacket he took off before jumping into the water. Period.

Inexplicable

[martin-intercultural · 5/10 · 11 September 2017]

The '90s were a time of sparkling, highly- competitive TV programming. Which is why sometimes we find MSW peering self-consciously over its shoulder and trying to emulate the edginess of younger shows. This story is a case in point: Dark, conspiratorial topics like the JFK assassination are a good fit with a cynical, trust-no-one vehicle such as The X-Files. It takes an anti-hero like Fox Mulder to tinker with the facts, knowing that nobody will believe him anyway, and finally throw them away because "the truth is out there". We will love him for it. In MSW, the same plot falls flat and quickly descends into a farce: Apparently, efforts to shed new light on what really happened in Dallas on November 22, 1963 will forever be stymied by men in raincoats who stand around hotel lobbies, face buried in a newspaper. Clearly, in tackling the JFK saga the creators bit off more than they could chew, and it shows.

A Very Negative Aspect of Photograph Shooting

[WeatherViolet · 5/10 · 1 April 2010]

This episode introduces Chicago Private Investigator Charlie Garrett (Wayne Rogers) to the series, and begins with a pre-title Prologue filmed in Black & White, and set in Coral City, Florida, in 1963.

In this Prologue, bar patrons watch a televised new report of the Lee Harvey Oswald slaying in the aftermath of the J.F. Kennedy assassination in Dallas, Texas, with archive footage of the actual account.

Bernie Callan (Kevin Quigley) emerges from the bar to face the barrel of a .45 caliber pistol in the parking lot, and he is never heard from again for thirty years, until present day 1993, when law enforcement officials recover a body, believed to be the remains of Bernie Callan from a gutter, the victim of a gunshot.

Various associates of Bernie Callan from across the country then read newspaper accounts of the report....

In Chicago, Illinois, Charlie Garrett (Wayne Rogers), who has been investigating for more than thirty years by now, examines two envelopes which he has received in the mail from Bernie Callan, one post-marked November 25, 1963. Bernie has owed Charlie $3,000 for the duration, and so Charlie heads to Coral City.

In Coral City, Florida, Santo Angelini (Al Ruscio) plots a scheme with a thug.

In Denver, Colorado, Bernie's only child, Laura Callan (Linda Purl), tells her associate Hal Fredericks (Webster Williams) at the District Attorney's office that she must leave for Coral City.

In Miama, Florida, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) arrives to deliver a Mystery seminar at South Florida Writers' Conferrence, where she notices the newspaper article and also heads to Coral City, after she notices that Laura's hotel room, across the hall from hers, has been ransacked.

Coral City Police Chief Herman Gillis (Ben Masters) welcomes Laura and Jessica to his office but expresses his opinion that Jessica's Mysteries leave too many open-ended questions for his tastes, as he prefers clear-cut resolutions, which frustrates him in this cold case, considering that a body has been discovered after a probable thirty-year-old murder.

Charlie Garrett arrives at Herman Gillis' office before Laura and Jessica exodus, Charlie to request $3,000 of the $10,000 discovered in the victim's wallet, but Herman Gillis answers that there are too many loose ends to resolve before the spoils may be divided to rightful claimants.

As Charlie joins forces with Laura and Jessica to figure the root of the problem of Bernie's disappearance, Frank Hemet (Lonny Chapman) trails the three, as Charlie catches Frank's ransacking his room at Pink Motel, and Jessica approaches Frank to question his trailing Laura and herself, before discovering that her hotel room has also been ransacked, as has Laura's before hers.

FBI Agent James Whitman (Julian Christopher) enters the case, to meet with the investigation team, when Doctor Abner Farrow (Stewart Moss) arrives at Herman's office, presenting himself as an Instructor of Modern History, who wishes to learn from the team (Jessica, Laura, Charlie, Herman and James), by witnessing their meetings.

What everyone searches for would be negatives of photographs which Bernie Callan had taken back in 1963, which may link Santo Angelini to Lee Harvey Oswald in the days before the JFK assassination.

While FBI Agent James Whitman maintains that Oswald did not act in conspiracy because of the (albeit possibly incomplete) findings of the Warren Commission (the U.S. government's official investigation), the other investigators seek for answers to potential links, once and for all.

But more murders and murder attempts are made along the way because another body is discovered in a parked automobile, the victim of a gunshot, and yet another after an automobile rolls from a bridge after its brakes have been severed, and then someone is handcuffed and pushed from a boat into the harbor below, after photographs are burned to destroy the evidence of "Dead Eye."

The cast is rounded out by Jason Stuart as Motel Manager Terry Portman, Tom Alan Robbins as Assistant Manager, John Petlock as Michael, Dennis Paladino as Bartender, and Martin Goslins as Houseman.

This episode marks one of the most recent roles to date each by Martin Goslins and Stewart Moss, as well as the second of three "MSW" guest roles for Ben Masters, the third of three each for Linda Purl and Lonny Chapman, the first of five for Wayne Rogers in his role as Charlie Garrett, and the fourth of five "MSW's" for John Petlock.

Lonny Chapman, acting on television and in film since 1951, has unfortunately since passed.

An Intriguing Premise, but...

[mmallory-89926 · 4/10 · 4 June 2022]

While "Murder, She Wrote" has never been what one would term a realistic procedural, "Dead Eye" has to be one of the most boneheadedly unrealistic episodes of the series. Ostensibly based on proof that the Kennedy assassination was more than met the Warren Commission's eye(s), it is instead a collection of rather stock mystery characters, with Jessica stuck in the middle, all of whom act dumb and do inexplicable things simply because the furtherance of the plot requires them to do so. It also features perhaps the most out-to-lunch police foil Jessica ever encountered. The basic idea might have made a decent feature film (there's too much going on to cram into an hour show) with original protagonists, but trying to force it into the "M,SW" format doesn't work.

Dead eye

[coltras35 · 4/10 · 12 March 2023]

Jessica is embroiled in a grand-scale conspiracy when she investigates the murder of private detective Bernie Callan, whose body was found 30 years after his death in 1963. Joining forces with the dead man's daughter, she discovers the late gumshoe's demise is linked to another high-profile murder from that year - that of US president John F Kennedy.

This is an ambitious episode with our favourite sleuth mixing in with conspiracy tales and old case linking to the assassination of JFK. Though it's watchable, I felt this was a weak episode and not too intriguing. If anything it was quite confusing and muddled. But at least MSW was trying to get out of the box of cosy mysteries.

A potentially intriguing recipe spoilt by too many cooks

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 4 November 2017]

Have always been quite fond of 'Murder She Wrote'. It is a fun and relaxing watch that makes you think as you try to unwind in the evening. If one wants more complex, twisty mysteries with lots of tension and suspense 'Murder She Wrote' may not be for you, but if you want something light-hearted and entertaining but still provide good mysteries 'Murder She Wrote' fits the bill just fine.

"Dead Eye" is in the weaker half of a very inconsistent, leaning towards disappointing, season. As far as previous episodes go, there are good episodes such as "The Wind Around the Tower", "Final Curtain" and particularly "A Christmas Secret" but also underwhelming ones such as "The Dead File", "Double Jeopardy", "Murder in Milan" and "The Mole". There are worse episodes in the season and of the show, but "Dead Eye" did seem very intriguing on paper and sadly the story does bring things down significantly.

Angela Lansbury, starting with the good things, is terrific as Jessica. She is joined every step of the way by charming and professional support work from Ben Masters, Linda Purl and and Wayne Rogers (in his introductory appearance as a fun recurring character that is much better than a poor man's Harry McGraw). The chemistry between the actors is very nicely done, especially between Lansbury and Rogers.

Production values are slick and stylish. The music has energy and has presence but also not making the mistake of over-scoring, while it is hard to forget or resist the theme tune.

On the other hand, the story really brings "Dead Eye" down. There are far too many elements which makes things convoluted and contrived (the Kennedy assassination solving plot is particularly muddled and didn't feel like it belonged in the episode), and it's also a rather dull and taking-itself-too-seriously experience. The ending is one of those hard-to-swallow, shrug-the-shoulders-in-indifference ones.

Writing is sloppy and dreary, though not quite as badly as the previous episode "Double Jeopardy", and the usually cosy, light-hearted tone of the show is replaced here by an over-seriousness and fatigue. The pacing is bogged down by that too much goes on in the story so it's more leaden than lively and the characters are not really that interesting outside of Jessica and Charlie.

All in all, okay but also underwhelming. 4/10 Bethany Cox

It seems like a Harry McGraw episode...but without Harry!

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 20 July 2023]

During the first few seasons of "Murder, She Wrote", Jerry Orbach played a recurring character, a scuzzy private eye named 'Harry McGraw'. Now, in season 9, you have an episode that seems exactly like a Harry McGraw episode....but with Wayne Rogers playing a different but very similar private detective.

In this episode, someone is looking for some photographic negatives. Why? Because they apparently show Lee Harvey Oswald, the JFK murderer, a few days before the killing....and other folks in the photo apparently want them because the photo might prove embarrassing. In the process, a visiting private eye is beaten up and his room searched as well as the rooms of at least two other people. Where all this leads, you'll need to see for yourself.

Perhaps it's just me, but an episode about the supposed conspiracy to kill Kennedy seems a bit distasteful. Also, there's a badly airbrushed or photoshopped picture of Oswald and you have a show that isn't among season 9's best....as well as a very stereotypical police chief who is, at best, an idiot. As a result, the show is disappointing to say the least.

Prepostrous plot, poorly staged murder scene make this one to skip

[FlushingCaps · 1/10 · 7 April 2023]

We open with black-and-white footage from a bar in Coral City, Florida on November 24, 1963 where the bar's TV camera is reviewing news of the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald that day in Dallas, two days after the Kennedy Assassination. A man in that bar goes outside and is confronted by someone who wants some photos. When he balks, he is shot.

In short scenes, we then jump around to several places in "present day"-meaning 1993. They include Coral City, Chicago, Denver and Miami, the latter where we pick up Jessica checking into her hotel for another writers' seminar where she is speaking. Outside her room, she hears a very angry woman, Laura, who we viewers met in the Denver scene, loudly complaining about her room being ransacked and her privacy invaded.

Jessica strolls down the hall and despite the woman's complaint about her privacy, proceeds to stare into her room until the angry woman sees Jessica and storms over to the door and slams it shut.

Oddly enough, when we next see Laura she is apologizing to Jessica. Methinks it should be Jessica apologizing for intruding on her, especially on hearing her complaint. The women team up, with Jessica thinking that break-in might be connected with the recent discovery of a body that has proved to be Laura's father, Bernie, who disappeared in late 1963 when she was 7 years old.

Charlie Garrett (Wayne Rogers) now arrives from Chicago and he meets with Laura and Jessica. We learn that Laura's father was a private detective who was partners with Charlie in Chicago. Bernie was taking surveillance pictures of a woman suspected to be having an affair, and he somehow trailed her to South Florida and took some photos of her. He sent the photos to Laura's grandma, who was taking care of her in Iowa (her mother had previously died).

Jessica examines the photos and finds one of them to be of great interest. It shows the wayward wife and her boyfriend, standing in a public area that we must guess-it was never mentioned-was a shooting range of some sort. There are several rifles in people's hands in this photo. The couple the P. I. was trailing was on the far left of the photo, there were two men on the right, and in the middle were two other men, who both appeared to be holding the same rifle-suggesting one was handing it to the other. What Jessica notices is that the one man, the one in the dead center of the photo was Lee Harvey Oswald.

Most of this episode deals with people searching for the missing negatives from the photos that include the one with Oswald in it. We later learn that Charlie had them in an office file for 30 years and never looked at them. The man with Oswald is said to be a small time mobster, who is still around South Florida. The trio figures that Bernie was blackmailing the mobster and that's why he was killed 30 years ago. Now that Bernie's body has been found, that mobster is most anxious to either obtain the negatives or learn positively that they are destroyed.

It seems odd to me that the original killer in '63 didn't wait until he got the negatives before killing Bernie. But someone keeps breaking into the hotel rooms of everyone who has just arrived in Coral City looking for those negatives. The photos that Laura has were put into her motel's safe, but they are stolen by someone who beat up the desk clerk. We get a look at that safe and it looks like a toy, barely bigger than a toaster. I don't think the inside could have held a full-sized sheet of paper. So those photos-the only ones known to exist are now gone.

Later we see a man who we know to have been following Jessica and Laura, sitting behind the wheel in a car talking to someone in the front passenger seat, but who is unseen to us. He appears to be making arrangements to share in a blackmail scheme, but is stunned when his companion suddenly whips out a gun and shoots him in the chest.

The way this scene is staged, it would seem the angle to hit him in the chest was all wrong. It looks like he was shot from directly in front of him. When we see the car's interior later, there is a large, circular smear of blood about where the left shoulder would have been resting against the back of the seat, and four drip paths of blood, trailing down about 6 inches or so. But they are all going down diagonally, which makes no sense at all since the car was parked in some level parking space. Not only does the blood drip diagonally, but since there was no bullet hole in the car or any mention of the bullet exiting the man's body, I cannot figure out how there's a blood stain behind the victim at all.

Later, Jessica returns to her hotel and is given an envelope along with a couple of other pieces of mail. Charlie drops in on her, determined to get that envelope because he knows they contain the missing negatives-he sent them to Jessica. She figures he wants them back so he can blackmail the same mobster that killed his partner for doing the same thing.

Now here Jessica does something that seems not too bright. She leaves the desired envelope on top of her mail as she answers a phone call, almost inviting Charlie to snatch them, which he does. This leads to a scene where Charlie is on a dock with the negatives safely tucked inside his jacket pocket when he finds a need to jump into the shallow water to rescue someone who is shoved into the water. He first takes off his jacket. Before he brings the person back to shore we see the negatives falling into the water and sinking under. Later we are told they were never found.

Never are we given any clue as to who might have gotten the negatives out of Charlie's coat pocket and tossed them into the water-nor any reason why they would have done so. We viewers were supposed to have forgotten he put them in that pocket, and believe they drifted out of his shirt pocket when he dived into the water.

The impossible-to-believe script prompts many questions:

1. Why was Bernie such a miserable photographer as to have the subject of his picture-two people standing still, way over on the left side of the picture, that just happens to be centered on a famous real-life killer? I have heard of people not centering their subjects perfectly but not to this extreme.

2. Is it believable that Bernie, a Chicago P. I. would somehow know this small-time mobster from Florida?

3. How dumb was Bernie to think that it would be a way to make easy money by blackmailing someone connected to organized crime?

4. Why would that one photo be enough to think anyone would pay blackmail money to keep the photo out of the public eye? (Note: Our heroes never mentioned Oswald in more than one photo, but they always referred to "negatives" in the plural sense. I think that was just because the original negatives would have been for the whole roll of film, even though only one was of interest.) 5. Thirty years later, why was the mobster still concerned about those negatives so much? There could be many dozens of duplicates long made.

As to the last point: If the picture surfaced in 1993, the mobster could easily say something like: "You know I remember that day at the shooting range. Some guy I didn't know came up and asked me how I liked his new rifle. He held it out for me. I took a quick look and said it looked like a nice weapon. He thanked me and we parted ways. I never saw him again." He could have said many other things and it would seem there could be little chance of anyone to prove he was lying.

I will concede that at the time that photo could prove to be a trouble spot for the mobster as the FBI and others were hot to investigate anything about Oswald. But 30 years later, it would seem there is nothing to fear. It is suggested that our mobster was working for someone higher up, who might kill him if his connection to Oswald comes out because it could lead to someone higher up. But if that is so, the higher-up man could have just killed the lower-echelon man anytime over those decades.

Imagine that this mobster wanted to fess up in 1993 and he went to the FBI and said, "Here's a photo of Lee Harvey Oswald and me back in mid-November 1963. Here's my story about how I was hired to bring Oswald into this conspiracy to kill the president..." It's almost impossible to think anyone would believe him, not even if they could determine that the photo was genuine. Without him admitting to anything, there is no way the picture would lead anyone to information about the JFK killing.

Between the really sloppy blood evidence, to the pointless burglaries of hotel rooms, to the unexplained presence of negatives in the water when they should have never been there, to the presumed significance of a photo that really shows nothing of value, I cannot help but give this a low score. It was gratifying to see none of the earlier reviewers of this episode give it a good score at all. I say, rock-bottom-a 1 out of 10.