Murder, She Wrote Season 2, Episode 9
"Jessica Behind Bars"
Original airdate: Dec. 1, 1985
Writer: Carleton Eastlake
Director: John Llewellyn Moxley
Cast: Angela Lansbury, Margaret Avery, Adrienne Barbeau, Barbara Baxley, Yvonne De Carlo, Linda Kelsey, Janet MacLachlan, Vera Miles, Susan Oliver, Eve Plumb, Mary Woronov, Susan Peretz, Donna Ponterotto, Diana Bellamy, Faith Minton, Darlene Conley, Aimee Eccles
Sandwiched halfway between 1974's Caged Heat and 1994's Caged Heat II: Stripped of Freedom, Murder, She Wrote offers its own entry to the women's prison exploitation genre with "Jessica Behind Bars," a taut thriller with a mostly female cast. And yes, that's a full four years before Ben Matlock will wind up in a similar mess with the likes of "Tiny" Lister, Jr. and David Carradine in his own Season 4 two-parter.
We've got some real star power tonight, including Vera Miles (Psycho, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance), Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog, Escape From New York), Barbara Baxley (Nashville, Norma Rae), Margaret Avery (The Color Purple), Susan Oliver (Star Trek's original Orion slave girl — and an accomplished aviator in her own right), Yvonne De Carlo (Lily Munster), Susan Peretz (Dog Day Afternoon), and Mary Woronov (a Warhol collaborator and cult movie icon).
Of note, this is also the latest step in 27-year-old Eve Plumb's effort to distance herself from Jan Brady. The desanitizing campaign included hard-hitting TV movies like Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway and Secrets of Three Hungry Wives. It's a blueprint still employed by former Disney stars even today. Tonight, Eve plays a tough cookie named Tug with a mullet built for manslaughter.
The Riot
Jessica's no stranger to substitute teaching; it was her job of many years in Cabot Cove, and she continues to give creative writing lectures as a celebrated novelist. Tonight, though, she's anxious. She's filling in for an ailing friend at the West Barrington Institution for Women. Several of these women are serving time for murder. Of course, Jessica's far more progressive than anyone ever expects, so she approaches the task with enthusiasm.
The facility is also run entirely by women. Jessica meets Warden Elizabeth Gates (Miles), her deputy Amanda Debs (Baxley), and the prison doctor Irene Matthews (MacLachlan). Though Gates is pleased to meet Jessica, it's clear that she's arrived in the midst of administrative tension. The warden is a relative newcomer to the staff. A lot of the friction seems to stem from her perceived political ambitions which lead to a senate seat. Dr. Matthews is especially agitated about some reforms Gates is promising, including resources like a nurse for the infirmary. Curiously, Matthews isn't mad that she's understaffed; she doesn't actually want the additional help.
Time for class!
Having read their stories beforehand, Jessica takes a particular interest in Titian-haired inmate Mary Stamm (Kelsey), whose short stories show great promise. Unfortunately, as with so many of Jessica's most promising pupils, Mary is a hard-luck case forced to break the law to survive. Mary killed her husband after years of battery, though the legal system did not see it as self defense. Unbeknownst to the brass, she's also been stealing from the prison pharmacy to help some very sick inmates, hence her absence from tonight's class. She sneaks off to get some meds for her friend (lover?), Susie (Eccles), convalescing in the infirmary.
Dr. Matthews ducks into her office. Not long after she shuts her door, someone triggers the riot protocol, sending barred gates down throughout the facility. Ever the Polonius, Mary attempts to hide behind a curtain. The warden and her guards investigate as klaxons blare. They find Matthews on her office floor, dead from an injected overdose of Morphine.
When they find Mary out of bounds, Gates assumes she's the culprit.
Incensed that Mary's being railroaded due to her past crimes, the inmates stage a swift and bloodless coup, seizing the guards' shotguns. While most inmates like Bertha (Peretz) demand fair treatment for Mary along with some unspecified institutional reforms, a smaller contingent led by wild-eyed Kat (Barbeau) is keen to make the most of this shift in power. Jessica remains largely unflappable, but this is some juicy stuff for Dame Angela. Jessica really gets to step up her game in this episode, showing true courage under fire. She agrees to help solve the murder if the women agree to let justice run its course. In exchange she negotiates with the (female) lieutenant governor to hold off sending in the national guard.
In the ensuing hours another woman loses her life. Ms. Mims (Conley, star of nearly 1600 episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful) was a trucker who brought in grocery shipments to the facility. Now she's dead, another puzzle for Jessica to solve as law enforcement mount up outside and Kat and her crew demand retribution inside.
So, Like, What Happened?
Just trust me that this involves a ton of key swapping, but it ultimately boils down to this. Warden Gates's arrival at the prison was a real kick to the hornet's nest. The other administrators, as well as "Cookie" the surly chef (De Carlo), have been milking the place for cash over many years, embezzling funds and re-selling supplies like food and medicine. Jessica notices Cookie's vat of soup is woefully underseasoned, a product of criminal frugality.
Mary only had to steal pharmaceuticals because Matthews refused to treat inmates like Susie. And what little she did dole out was watered down so she could sell the rest. Warden Gates's reforms, particularly the notion of additional staff and increased oversight, threatened the whole operation. Panicked, Dr. Matthews injected herself with the fatal overdose. As for Mims? That was a coordinated effort by Kat and the real mastermind, Debs. The deputy also managed to hide the incriminating suicide note Matthews left in her office typewriter, all in an effort to escape scrutiny.
Systemic corruption and a sprawling cast. This is a lot for a single episode of television, and not every character gets enough to do. Eve Plumb's Tug gets lost in the shuffle, which feels like a waste of a bad haircut. Yvonne De Carlo's firecracker of a crooked cook also deserved a full season arc clashing ladles with Red on Orange is the New Black. That said, Adrienne Barbeau simmers with bloodlust. And don't get me started on Barbara Baxley. The veteran of many an Alfred Hitchcock Presents has one of the best turns when Jessica calls out her complicity. It's like a switch goes off and the meek administrator hardens to an embittered outlaw straight out of a Cagney movie. They don't make ‘em like that anymore.
In the end, Jessica and Gates — who won't be pursuing that senate nomination — agree to support Mary in her upcoming parole hearing. Women supporting women, women's rights, and women's wrongs. We love to see it!
Next week, the Harry Pierce saga comes to an electrifying conclusion!
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