SUMMARY: APPROX. RUNNING TIME: 47:00 Min.
First airing on CBS on November 30, 1995, this final season episode was directed by Paul Lazarus off Mark A. Burley’s script exploring skullduggery at a Ben & Jerry’s-style ice cream factory.
In Racine, Wisconsin, Jessica Fletcher (Lansbury) is visiting her friend, ice cream magnate Larry Armstrong (Smitrovich). His prosperous ice cream company, Gary & Larry’s Frozen Stuff, is donating $750,000.00 to her literary fund charity. Yet, Larry’s accountant (Bovingloh) suspiciously dies, and then the $750,000.00 shockingly vanishes from a Gary & Larry’s bank account.
Further complicating matters is a potentially ugly scandal, as Larry’s business partner, Gary (Benedict), tries halting a consumer investigation over the company’s alleged use of banned milk-related substances. On top of all else, Larry’s shadowy ‘flower child’ past has suddenly come back to haunt him.
Clandestine shenanigans involving embezzlement, blackmail, adultery, and literally cold-blooded greed precipitates homicide. Helping expedite Sheriff Chubb’s (Curry) investigation, Jessica must quickly find some answers before Gary & Larry’s Frozen Stuff implodes.
Jessica Fletcher: Angela Lansbury
Larry Armstrong: Bill Smitrovich
Gary Herling: Dirk Benedict
Carol Herling: Kristen Dalton
Woodstock “Woody” Seabrook: Bryan Travis Smith
Susan McGregor: Christina Pickles
Ralph Brewer: Gregorzy Itzin
Jim Kenton: George Wyner
Peggy Evans: Ann Hearn
Victoria: Sarah Koskoff
Kyle McGregor: Don Bovingloh
Sheriff Mike Chubb: Christopher Curry
Coroner: Fred Sanders
Cop: Scott Cranford
Priest: Charles C. Stevenson, Jr.
Mourners: Uncredited
Sheriff’s Deputies: Uncredited
Gary & Larry’s Frozen Stuff personnel: Uncredited
Larry’s Ex-Girlfriend (photo only): Uncredited.
REVIEW:
This episode’s well-played whodunnit elements manage to surpass an otherwise dull setting.
Led by Bill Smitrovich, the supporting cast provides Angela Lansbury with solid on-screen chemistry. More specifically, guest star Dirk Benedict redeems himself after his disappointingly shallow performance in Season Five’s “Smooth Operators.” Benedict delivers this episode’s most intriguing character, in terms of conveying ethical ambiguity. Hence, it becomes a surprise whether or not his well-played ‘Gary Herling’ will be the culprit, a victim getting a lethal dose of the “cold shoulder” treatment, or perhaps a mostly innocent bystander.
“Frozen Stiff,” in that sense, makes for a fine Murder, She Wrote with some welcome plot twists.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 6 Stars
IMAGE NOT AVAILABLE
