Deadly Lady

Season 1, Episode 2

Oct 7, 1984

Jessica Fletcher types as a storm rages outside. There is a knock at the door. A murderous thief? A vigilante from justice? It's Ethan, the friendly fisherman here to check in on Jessica. To make sure she's OK since she's alone in her house. Which is shown to be in the middle of the block in a well populated town. Eye roll. It is so hard being a lady! Taking care of yourself. SO. HARD.

In the pilot Jessica had two female friends, they have been replaced with Ethan and Sheriff Amos Tupper. Both men.

Howard Cunningham or Father Dowling
or the Glad Sandwich Bag guy

She sort of flirts with Ethan. The flirting is strange in a Moonlighting kinda way. The episode ends with an odd freeze frame of them driving away as they discuss "fishing". It is one of the few times the freeze is not of Jessica's face:

Ethan - "You'll want me to bait your hook won't you?"

Jessica - "You always do, don't you?"

That weird double entendre is very much in line with the almost farcical comedy that gets shoe-horned into the drama of a murder investigation. But is an outlier. After this point very little of the comedy is so overtly sexual. And never directed at Jessica.

Re-watching this episode I was struck by how much they point out Jessica's dead husband. This topic is addressed all the time but it is usually in passing. Here we are treated to a long scene where Jessica and her would-be gardener Ralph discuss their spouses. The conversation ends with her giving the gardener her husband's pipe.

Jessica Fletcher as a zombie.

Over the course of the conversation about dead spouses we see Jessica become vulnerable. And for the second time in as many episodes we see her fall for a guy. Preston Giles ended up being a killer, and Ralph will be murdered by his own daughter.

From here on Jessica has no true romantic leads that we see. There are certainly moments of flirting, but it is always implied to be in jest. She becomes the embodiment of the sexless elder. The crone. Atropos manipulating the world about her and deciding the fates of men.

It isn't much of a stretch considering that Jessica is a writer or murder mysteries. A woman who finds herself endlessly surrounded by dead bodies that she must untangle the stories of. This week the Earl sisters are the main suspects:

Nancy - Hair by Paul Mitchell

Maggie - Shirt by LL Bean

Nancy is the youth. The youngest. She hopes to be a fashion designer. Her ex-fiance shows up magically as her father is killed. When meeting Jessica for the first time he refuses to tell as story saying, "You're a lady so I won't repeat it."

Maggie, the overly prim middle daughter. She falsely admits to killing the father but then actually kills him. The whole thing is very Jan Brady. She wanted more love. She apparently helped with the father's business and lived with him, cleaned, cooked, etc. A sort of justification for the murder.

Lisa is the socialite. Her husband wears a suit and tie the entire episode. For no reason. She has a fur coat. He is VERY condescending. He says his wife has a "fevered little mind" and calls Jessica a "sweet old gal".

Grace seems to be the eldest. She looks like a librarian. We are given nothing else of her character except that her husband ran off with another woman.

Lisa - Coat and Hat by Falcon Crest

Grace - Glasses by Annie Hall Collection

These 4 sisters represent variations on female stereotypes in media. Youth, Prim, Socialite, Librarian. They are portrayed as a tight circle who cover for each other and equally hated their father. When a pair of pink shoes show up on the beach it is implied any of the sisters could have worn them, they share clothes. Even though they are clearly costumed VERY differently.

To return to the fate analogy. Nancy is key to unmasking the true killer. They pretend to arrest her to unmask her ex-fiance as a con artist and to lure her sister Maggie into revealing too much. She is spinning thread, as it were.

There isn't really an analogous Lachesis in this episode, though it is of note that Lisa wears only white the whole episode and is seen plotting with her husband over the fate of her father's fortune. Which would, in turn, decide the fate of her sisters. Lachesis was always shown in all white.

Also of note: This is the only time a woman is shown in the Cabot Cove police office. And she is shown cleaning a gun in an incredibly sexual way.