Roman noir : Loin des yeux...

This production had an attractive protagonist, a cozy middle class middle American setting, a small cast of journeymen actors, and two prime time television hours (minus commercials) to work with. Yet, in the end, I felt completely let down.

First of all, a significant portion of production resources were diverted into a totally meaningless sub-plot involving Clarence Williams III and Michael Cole, who starred together in "The Mod Squad", back in 1968. I kept expecting Peggy Lipton to show up, but I gather she has been able to find work on her own.

In this episode, Samantha Kinsey ventures out to explore her own roots. Of course, the "Mystery Woman" lives up to her moniker by the end of the two-hour drama, at which point we expect her to explain it all to us. But there is no revelation of "family ties", no exploration of "family values", no knitting together of loose ends, and no answers to pertinent questions. In fact, the most obvious questions about Samantha's roots are not even asked. She simply walks away.

Even if the writers had devoted 100% of their budget to the main plot line, it is not clear that they would have known what to do with these characters. It seems they had not started out with the first requirement, a good story that would involve an audience in the lives of well-drawn characters.

I was left with the feeling that this entire production crew had frittered away a great deal of time, money, and effort, and I had just wasted two hours of a Tuesday night.

The one thing that caught my attention is when she has her date with the eye doctor he makes a cute flirty joke and she calls it lame. She's actually pretty unfriendly most of the date considering she had stood him up on their previous date. The date scene which was supposed to give the happy ending to the story left you wondering if she liked the doctor or not.

Samantha is played by Kellie Martin a woman who owns "The Mystery Woman Book". She investigates and is interested in law and enforcement. She found out she was adopted and is going to a town she thinks her mother lives. She drives to that town is kind of afraid and stays outside the house for about an hour before she goes in. As her "mother" Hannah opens the door she recognizes Sam and tells her to leave.

Inside the house is a dead man killed by a gun shot wound and Samantha's birth mother Hannah is arrested. Sam meets her half sister who does not know about her. Sam makes out she is someone else.

There is a lot of drama in this movie. Philby, played by Clarence Williams III is an excellent actor. He plays Sam's all around man with a lot of computer and police knowledge in the book store.

There are a lot of criminals in this. Insurance fraud agents, people who work in offices and pass personal information because they are being blackmailed and more.

I had a problem with this movie. Sam has to watch her half sister, her mother and her step father support each other in love and she is at a standstill having to hold her identity while her family shares love and is not included. She helps her mother get out of jail and finds the killer of the man in the house.

It has some good parts Sam and Philby are successful with what they start out to do but to watch a girl not being acknowledged in love by her mom is so sad.

7/10 - not necessarily my favorite Mystery Woman, but a worthy addition to the series

"Mystery Woman: At First Sight" is another entry into the Hallmark series. Kudos to director Kellie Martin on this one - there wasn't an establishing shot of the bookstore every 30 seconds.

In this episode, Samantha Kinsey finds her birth mother Hannah (Kathryn Harrold) - just as the woman is about to be arrested for murder. A man is dead in her living room. Without revealing to her half-sister (Christine Lakin) or Hannah's husband (John Aprea) who she is, Sam sets out to help clear Hannah of the murder charges. Meanwhile, back home, Philby (Clarence Williams III) is having his own problems.

The comments on this site were interesting in that some people expressed disappointment in this episode. I'm not sure why - it was just as slow-moving and pedestrian as the rest of them. It was a kick to see Michael Cole and Clarence Williams III, two of the "Mod Squad" members reunited, but despite Philby telling Cole he looked good, he didn't.

And that's the reason I watch "Mystery Woman" when I see it's on - sometimes it features some baby boomer stars, and I also like Kellie Martin. This series, like Jane Doe and McMartin, is okay, but that's about it.