SUMMARY: APPROX. RUNNING TIME: 47:00 Min.
First broadcast by CBS-TV, on November 26, 1989, Anthony Pullen Shaw (Angela Lansbury’s son) directed this episode off Robert E. Swanson’s script.
Flown by helicopter to a remote island (its location isn’t disclosed), Jessica Fletcher (Lansbury) answers an enigmatic offer from tycoon Henry Reynard (Barry). In exchange for a million-dollar donation to a charity of her choice, Jessica is expected to sleuth which of Reynard’s greedy heirs is out to kill him. A dark and stormy night accompanies Reynard’s announcement of a newly revised will, and, only minutes later, an apparent homicide occurs in retaliation. For the time being, everyone is now stranded on Reynard’s private island.
At the boathouse, a second homicide is shockingly discovered the next morning. It’s up to Jessica and a cantankerous sheriff to piece together from Reynard’s family: his self-involved daughter (Dusay); his equally self-involved son and daughter-in-law (Dullea & Yates); his naïve granddaughter (Carroll); and a family friend (Abbott), who the culprit really is. Yet, more than one twist leaves open the possibility that another motive (aside from a premature inheritance) is at stake.
Jessica Fletcher: Angela Lansbury
Henry Reynard: Gene Barry
Alice Reynard Carson: Marj Dusay
Kimberly Carson: Jill Carroll
Dr. Hubbard Dabney: Philip Abbott
Jason Reynard: Keir Dullea
Valerie Reynard: Cassie Yates
Preston Howard: John Callahan
Sheriff Brademus: Morgan Woodward
Sgt. Stokley: Jeremy Roberts
Mr. Forest (butler): Curt Lowens
Mrs. Forest (maid): Victoria Boothby
Pilot: H. Ray Huff
REVIEW:
Early on, this episode conveys a welcome Agatha Christie-style atmosphere, including its lifting of a few familiar elements from And Then There Were None. However, a promising whodunnit is then sabotaged by inexplicably lackluster acting and, even worse, a disappointing solution.
Angela Lansbury’s best support comes from old pros Morgan Woodward and Gene Barry (who draws closer in spirit to his sinister masterpiece portraying Columbo’s original culprit vs. his ultra-wooden Burke’s Law mannerisms) pitching a solid game to viewers.
The other actors, however, merely represent shades of mediocrity, let alone yawn-inducing genre clichés. Jill Carroll’s meltdown performance, in particular, during this episode’s latter half is atrocious. Suffice to say, her dubious contribution ties into blah plot twists that come off as all too predictable – i.e. an unsatisfying epilogue, in spite of Barry’s best scene in this episode.
Without divulging spoilers, here’s a hypothetical scenario that would have surpassed the lackluster storytelling. Let’s say the faked death is really an ingenious ruse to divert suspicion from later killing off a lecherous blackmailer (who is merely posing as a shameless gigolo marrying into the family). The murderer would then require a willing accomplice to divert Jessica long enough to ensure this scheme works, leaving no obviously viable suspects in the family.
Such a premise treads far closer to Agatha Christie that the melodramatic drivel this episode cobbles together. That’s where “Test of Wills” makes its unforced error, as weak soap opera material supplants a potentially good mystery.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 4 Stars
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