If the Shoe Fits

In "If the Show Fits", Jessica is a very nice lady and befriends a poor kid and his mother. And, when the mother disappears, she contacts Children's Services and gets them to agree to let her keep the boy until his mother returns. Imagine their surprised when she does disappear....and is soon jailed for murder! Does she get to keep him even when the reasons change?

This episode really emphasizes what a nice person Jessica is...as well as being a crime-solving genius. Not a bad episode at all, but a bit tough to believe that a tough, uncaring bureaucracy would just let Jessica take in a boy in need of a home.

This episode marks one of the last appearances by Kiel Martin, who has acted in film and on television since 1960. John Harkins and Jonathan Brandis have also since passed.

When life-long bully Jack Franzen (Bruce Glover) causes frustration, pain and hardship around Cabot Cove, he goes all the way. His domineering approach, impossible expectations, outrageous demands and condescending attitude alienate the affections of his wife, Gloria Franzen (Bridget Hanley); his tenant at Owen's Shoes factory, Owen Brownwell (John Harkins); plus three of Owen's employees, Patsy Dumont (Lorna Luft), Danny Snow (Kiel Martin) and Marla Bryce (Season Hubley), who also strives to pay increasing rental fees at the residence leased from landlord Jack Franzen.

But it is Marla's preteen son, Kevin Bryce (Jonathan Brandis), who controls the primary focus of this saga with his concerned confidant, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), for whom he performs odd jobs, such as assisting with her gardening.

On several occasions during the course of this series, a single mother who can't seem to make ends meet to provide for her preteen son finds herself questioned during a murder investigation without a solid alibi, and so the child becomes "the man of the house" with Jessica's blessing and support.

We may decide that this formula works well here because, after all, a body has been discovered near her residence, her name-engraved shovel is missing, and so has been Marla since the day of the murder.

While Kevin eagerly launches his own investigation to defend his missing mother, it is discovered that he had once been placed in foster care back in Chicago, after he and Marla skipped out of their apartment one night to avoid paying back rent. So, now the plot thickens for Kevin to face the possibility of foster home placement once again.

Jessica assists any way which she sees fit, as she, Doctor Seth Hazlitt (William Windom), Sheriff Mort Metzger (Ron Masak) and Deputy Floyd (Will Nye) conduct the official murder investigation.

Kevin's Third-Grade Schoolteacher Lydia Johansen (Teri Ralston), Social Worker Lee McAdam (Paige Pengra), Nurse at hospital in Portland (Edwina Moore) and Cabot Cove Post Office Clerk (Dane Winters) round out the cast in supporting roles.

Lorna Luft sprinkles a few wisecrack for comic relief along the way before the final curtain, but cleverly avoids the possibly tempting "If the Shoe Fits, I'll sock it to you to boot you right out of here."

A bully of a landlord makes himself unpopular by upping rent and forcing his unwanted attentions on the local women, he gets his comeuppance.

It's a very good episode, with a well crafted mystery, and a good set of characters. I'd argue this has been the best Cabot Cove set episode so far in this sixth series, the main regulars are all put to good use. It's an episode where the victim is signposted, but the killer's identity comes as a surprise.

Jessica's talents are once again vast and varied, this time coming to the aid of a kid in need of foster care.

I think the young Jonathan Brandis is actually really good here, so often it was the case that young actors wouldn't exact perform well, he did a great, believable job.

Very good, 8/10.

A factory worker, struggling to make ends meet for herself and her son, becomes a prime suspect when her lecherous landlord is killed. Jessica is at her most compassionate here, not just giving the boy some odd-end jobs at her house, but helping to prove that his mother didn't kill the landlord, who happens to be most vilest characters. It's a good episode with a little more emotion and heart than usual.

From what we learn about Bruce Glover nobody is likely to mourn for him when he's killed. The guy was a bully, a skinflint, and a womanizer not necessarily in that order. But someone kills him and puts him in his car and tries to make it look like an accident.

Suspicion falls on Season Hubley who skipped town and left her son Jonathan Brandis abandoned. This is where Jessica Fletcher comes in as she and Dr. Hazlett intervene.

When the perpetrator is finally identified and apprehended we actually that the poor soul gets a good lawyer to get him off. The victim had been begging for this for years.

Nice scenes with Angela Lansbury, William Windom and the late and tragic Jonathan Brandis. Jessica Fletcher even becomes a temporary foster mother.