The mystery was pretty meh this episode, nevertheless I found a lot to like here. While the plot does fall back on some cultural stereotypes, I liked how they ignored the cliché of the Italian mother hating her son's girlfriend/wife. I thought they might go that way in the beginning when Michelle was talking about how nervous she was to meet Paul's family. Instead Lainie Kazan's character was always warm, loving, and welcoming. To me it said she loved her son and trusted his choices completely. Plus it was a way for her to still have a bit of him around. This show hasn't had too many characters like that. Incidentally, only a real talent like Kazan could make sometimes hokey dialog like "good night, my friend!" sound genuine and heartfelt. She made this episode worth watching.
I did think the whole family seemed not to miss Paul much so soon after his death. No one ever appeared too traumatized, being that his death was only a week earlier and they hadn't even had the funeral. Normally it would be tiring to get yet another wealthy family obsessed with who is inheriting what. But since one member had just died, the topic of inheritance would be on their minds. Usually, we get a family acting like this before any deaths happen, like it's just daily conversation. So I can excuse it here. The sister, Alicia, was probably the most clichéd in terms of standard MSW characters when it comes to being a bit cold and greedy. I also didn't like the weird talk about Pete being adopted and not Italian so he wasn't a "real" part of the family like that is normal. (Yet Michelle's son is referred to as a grandson at the end?)
Again, bucking clichés, I couldn't be angry at the family in general for checking out Michelle's background being that they had never even seen a good photo of her before she showed up and announced she was Paul's wife. That part was played off as characters being too cynical but I thought it showed common sense. They found out she was all she claimed she was and they accepted her right then. Although one wonders how they missed that she had a kid. I was glad her secret was explained to Jessica relatively quickly. Michelle's phone call never sounded like she was talking to a grown man. The surprise kid at the end has been done.
Aside from Paul's sister, Jessica seemed unusually suspicious, unhappy, and disapproving. Usually when she is standing back observing people, she has a twinkle in her eye or a bit of a sly smile. Not sure what was going on this week. At least in the first half hour, she often looked very tired and disappointed, almost angry at times.
Back to positives, I also did like how the police officer here wasn't made out to be an incompetent oaf or constantly angry at Jessica, the way most detectives of the week are written. That gets tiresome. From the start, when he didn't know who he was dealing with, he seemed rough, stating that he followed evidence and didn't want to listen to guesswork. To me, that's realistic. He didn't know what a whiz Jessica is. After that, he was open and professional with her, yet he didn't need to turn around and say "Please tell me how to do my job, Jessica. I'm hopeless without you."
Seeing Gregg Henry's familiar face once again in the opening made me immediately check imdb to see how many MSW episodes he was in. No surprise to see that, excluding actors playing recurring characters like Grady or Dennis Stanton, Henry is in the top 5 for most appearances playing different people. He is certainly good at playing slimeballs.
The plot with the dog was a little goofy but I can't fault the writers for trying something different and it did play into solving the crime. Overall, the ins and outs of the actual mystery this episode were pretty conventional and underwhelming. But some of the cast, especially Lainie Kazan, and the original plot points made this a very enjoyable episode.
I did think the whole family seemed not to miss Paul much so soon after his death. No one ever appeared too traumatized, being that his death was only a week earlier and they hadn't even had the funeral. Normally it would be tiring to get yet another wealthy family obsessed with who is inheriting what. But since one member had just died, the topic of inheritance would be on their minds. Usually, we get a family acting like this before any deaths happen, like it's just daily conversation. So I can excuse it here. The sister, Alicia, was probably the most clichéd in terms of standard MSW characters when it comes to being a bit cold and greedy. I also didn't like the weird talk about Pete being adopted and not Italian so he wasn't a "real" part of the family like that is normal. (Yet Michelle's son is referred to as a grandson at the end?)
Again, bucking clichés, I couldn't be angry at the family in general for checking out Michelle's background being that they had never even seen a good photo of her before she showed up and announced she was Paul's wife. That part was played off as characters being too cynical but I thought it showed common sense. They found out she was all she claimed she was and they accepted her right then. Although one wonders how they missed that she had a kid. I was glad her secret was explained to Jessica relatively quickly. Michelle's phone call never sounded like she was talking to a grown man. The surprise kid at the end has been done.
Aside from Paul's sister, Jessica seemed unusually suspicious, unhappy, and disapproving. Usually when she is standing back observing people, she has a twinkle in her eye or a bit of a sly smile. Not sure what was going on this week. At least in the first half hour, she often looked very tired and disappointed, almost angry at times.
Back to positives, I also did like how the police officer here wasn't made out to be an incompetent oaf or constantly angry at Jessica, the way most detectives of the week are written. That gets tiresome. From the start, when he didn't know who he was dealing with, he seemed rough, stating that he followed evidence and didn't want to listen to guesswork. To me, that's realistic. He didn't know what a whiz Jessica is. After that, he was open and professional with her, yet he didn't need to turn around and say "Please tell me how to do my job, Jessica. I'm hopeless without you."
Seeing Gregg Henry's familiar face once again in the opening made me immediately check imdb to see how many MSW episodes he was in. No surprise to see that, excluding actors playing recurring characters like Grady or Dennis Stanton, Henry is in the top 5 for most appearances playing different people. He is certainly good at playing slimeballs.
The plot with the dog was a little goofy but I can't fault the writers for trying something different and it did play into solving the crime. Overall, the ins and outs of the actual mystery this episode were pretty conventional and underwhelming. But some of the cast, especially Lainie Kazan, and the original plot points made this a very enjoyable episode.
