Very good episode indeed! I'm watching season 6 in order and this is without doubt the best episode of the season. Besides having a nice cameo from Sid Haig, who fans of b-movies will recognize, there is another familiar face to horror film fans. Candace Hilligoss, the star of "Carnival Of Souls", the classic cult film has a nice cameo in this episode, although not a speaking part. It appears to be her last credited screen role. Also, Carolyn Jones was not very well at this point - she died 2 years after this role from colon cancer. I believe she was already being treated for it at this point and it shows in her appearance and gestures. I didn't know this until watching the episode and, becoming alarmed looked her history and bio up here on IMDb.
5 Reviews
The best episode from season six.
poolandrews18 July 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Quincy M.E.: Stain of Guilt starts with Los Angeles medical examiner Quincy (Jack Klugman) moonlighting in Hollywood as a technical adviser on a film dramatising the infamous case of Victoria Sawyer (Carolyn Jones) murdering her husband Harland several years earlier. While examining actual crime scene photo's in order to set the scene properly Quincy notices discrepancies between the police reports & what was said to have happened & the blood splatter evidence contained in the photo's. Quincy talks to Victoria who has spent the last six years in San Remos women's prison & is convinced she is innocent, taking his suspicions to the DA (William Harrison) his ideas are rejected as too flimsy but that doesn't stop him as Quincy is determined to catch the real killer & free an innocent woman...
Episode 8 from season 6 this Quincy story was directed by Ray Danton I have to say that I personally think Stain of Guilt is the best single episode from the sixth season by a fair margin. Stain of Guilt is yet another new type of story for Quincy & it just show's how versatile the format of the show was, I found this a fascinating episode & a real forerunner of show's like CSI in which it's not so much the autopsy that solves the case but all the little tell tale clues left at the crime scene which paints the picture of what happened. From tiny blood splatter patterns Quincy realises that an innocent woman is in prison & sets out to free her but there is no body & the case is six years old so has to rely on crime scene evidence to make his case. I think this is the only time in which Quincy actually proved a case through crime scene evidence alone & recreation complete with mannequin & dowling rods to show the trajectory of the bullet, in fact Stain of Guilt is one of the very few Quincy episodes which doesn't feature an autopsy at all. At only fifty odd minutes in length the pace is good, the story is intriguing & probably one of the first of it's kind, there's a decent murder mystery here although I don't understand why the killer would wear those strange shoes which would surely lead the police straight to them, there's some nice humour & the whole making a film within a film type scenario is also a first for Quincy as he gets to be a technical adviser in Hollywood & pit his wits against a young ambitious director. A great episode & a personal favourite of mine.
Here it is said the reason for Quincy to moonlight is that his boat is infested with termites & needs to be fumigated while there's a running comedy subplot about him constantly falling asleep. There's a comedy ending at Danny's in which Quincy reveals that the director wrote a small apart for him in the film to which everyone laughs & says 'what do you know about acting?' which I found rather ironic since Klugman has more acting ability & talent than anyone else there put together. Cult exploitation actor Sid Haig appears as a bad guy who gets murdered himself while veteran actor Ed Begley Jr. makes the third of his three guest appearances on the show as a stand-up comic.
Stain of Guilt is surely the best episode from the sixth season of Quincy which has been variable to say the least, fans of the show & crime dramas in general should love this one as much as I do although the actual murder plot might have been a little better now that I come to think about it...
Episode 8 from season 6 this Quincy story was directed by Ray Danton I have to say that I personally think Stain of Guilt is the best single episode from the sixth season by a fair margin. Stain of Guilt is yet another new type of story for Quincy & it just show's how versatile the format of the show was, I found this a fascinating episode & a real forerunner of show's like CSI in which it's not so much the autopsy that solves the case but all the little tell tale clues left at the crime scene which paints the picture of what happened. From tiny blood splatter patterns Quincy realises that an innocent woman is in prison & sets out to free her but there is no body & the case is six years old so has to rely on crime scene evidence to make his case. I think this is the only time in which Quincy actually proved a case through crime scene evidence alone & recreation complete with mannequin & dowling rods to show the trajectory of the bullet, in fact Stain of Guilt is one of the very few Quincy episodes which doesn't feature an autopsy at all. At only fifty odd minutes in length the pace is good, the story is intriguing & probably one of the first of it's kind, there's a decent murder mystery here although I don't understand why the killer would wear those strange shoes which would surely lead the police straight to them, there's some nice humour & the whole making a film within a film type scenario is also a first for Quincy as he gets to be a technical adviser in Hollywood & pit his wits against a young ambitious director. A great episode & a personal favourite of mine.
Here it is said the reason for Quincy to moonlight is that his boat is infested with termites & needs to be fumigated while there's a running comedy subplot about him constantly falling asleep. There's a comedy ending at Danny's in which Quincy reveals that the director wrote a small apart for him in the film to which everyone laughs & says 'what do you know about acting?' which I found rather ironic since Klugman has more acting ability & talent than anyone else there put together. Cult exploitation actor Sid Haig appears as a bad guy who gets murdered himself while veteran actor Ed Begley Jr. makes the third of his three guest appearances on the show as a stand-up comic.
Stain of Guilt is surely the best episode from the sixth season of Quincy which has been variable to say the least, fans of the show & crime dramas in general should love this one as much as I do although the actual murder plot might have been a little better now that I come to think about it...
A return to the shows of seasons past.
planktonrules14 May 2013
During seasons five and six, "Quincy" changed quite a bit. Instead of focusing on crime and crime investigation, the show had become a sounding board for many social issues. It also, as a result, became quite preachy! Fortunately, here with "Stain of Guilt", the show returns briefly to its old ways.
The show begins with Quincy working with a film studio on a real-life crime drama. It's about the Sawyer Case--where a woman (Carolyn Jones) was convicted of killing her husband. Quincy, like everyone else, assumes the woman was guilty. However, in preparing the set for the bloody finale, he realizes the way the crime officially occurred could not have been the way the murder took place. So, for the rest of the show, Quincy does his best to prove the woman's innocence as well as determine who did it and how.
While the real killer seemed a bit hard to believe, otherwise this is a very solid and enjoyable episode. And, I just mentioned the most important word..ENJOYABLE--something they forgot to include on many of the preachy social issues shows. Well worth seeing and Sid Haig fans should be happy to see him in his brief cameo.
The show begins with Quincy working with a film studio on a real-life crime drama. It's about the Sawyer Case--where a woman (Carolyn Jones) was convicted of killing her husband. Quincy, like everyone else, assumes the woman was guilty. However, in preparing the set for the bloody finale, he realizes the way the crime officially occurred could not have been the way the murder took place. So, for the rest of the show, Quincy does his best to prove the woman's innocence as well as determine who did it and how.
While the real killer seemed a bit hard to believe, otherwise this is a very solid and enjoyable episode. And, I just mentioned the most important word..ENJOYABLE--something they forgot to include on many of the preachy social issues shows. Well worth seeing and Sid Haig fans should be happy to see him in his brief cameo.
Fabulous Performance by Miss Jones
amylovestv10 March 2022
Finally a good murder mystery episode!
rayoflite2414 November 2015
Stain of Guilt begins with Quincy (Jack Klugman) serving as a technical contributor on a movie set where the script is based on a highly publicized case of a wife, Victoria Sawyer (Carolyn Jones), who was convicted of murdering her husband. During filming, Quincy notices some contradictions in the evidence which lead him to believe that there was a staging of the crime scene and Victoria might be innocent. Quincy teams up with a defense lawyer, Cassie Spencer (Susan Powell), to try and have the case reopened while also investigating who committed the crime, but he comes up against big obstacles with the District Attorney's office and a tough judge, not to mention the producer of the movie who wants to complete the project based on the conviction.
This is a good murder mystery episode and such a refreshing change from prior Season 6 episodes which have mainly dealt with social problems and public health issues. Here we have a crime committed by an unknown party, a compelling investigation with plenty of suspects, good guest star performances, the big reveal which features a twist, and then a nice, light-hearted scene at Danny's as the conclusion to end things on a positive note. This episode is an example of everything I like about the Quincy series and I just wish more of the plots in the latter seasons were like this.
We see several familiar faces returning to the series as guest stars in this episode including Carolyn Jones, Ed Begley Jr. and William Sylvester who have all previously appeared in different roles. I thought Carolyn Jones gave a particularly good performance as the wrongly convicted woman who has been languishing in jail and given up hope that she will ever be freed. Sadly, this is among her final performances before her untimely death from colon cancer in 1983.
Overall, this is a quite interesting, entertaining and enjoyable Season 6 murder mystery episode of Quincy which I highly recommend viewing.
This is a good murder mystery episode and such a refreshing change from prior Season 6 episodes which have mainly dealt with social problems and public health issues. Here we have a crime committed by an unknown party, a compelling investigation with plenty of suspects, good guest star performances, the big reveal which features a twist, and then a nice, light-hearted scene at Danny's as the conclusion to end things on a positive note. This episode is an example of everything I like about the Quincy series and I just wish more of the plots in the latter seasons were like this.
We see several familiar faces returning to the series as guest stars in this episode including Carolyn Jones, Ed Begley Jr. and William Sylvester who have all previously appeared in different roles. I thought Carolyn Jones gave a particularly good performance as the wrongly convicted woman who has been languishing in jail and given up hope that she will ever be freed. Sadly, this is among her final performances before her untimely death from colon cancer in 1983.
Overall, this is a quite interesting, entertaining and enjoyable Season 6 murder mystery episode of Quincy which I highly recommend viewing.
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