Hello, and welcome to MSWSW’s analysis of “Hit, Run and Homicide.”
There are four parts to this episode guide:
- Part 1 includes the setting, characters, and context of the episode.
- Part 2 is a detailed timeline of the episode’s events.
- This is Part 3, my analysis of the episode.
- Part 4 is a collection of fun extras that I like to call Bonus Features.
Show Your Work
Pencils ready!
How does this episode’s mystery stack up? Is it plausible? Does it make sense? Can the audience solve the mystery by the time Jessica does?
Fair Play Pause Point
Jessica has her epiphany while playing the arcade driving game Spy Hunter. By this point in the episode, which I call the fair play pause point, can the audience solve the mystery?
The Wrong Man?
This episode uses a popular mystery and suspense convention, the frame-up. The central mystery is whether Daniel is being framed for a murder he didn’t commit, rather than the murder itself. So, my analysis will focus on whether we, the audience, can figure out if Daniel is being framed, and if so, by whom.
Clues!
The Remote Controlled car
A driverless car wielded as a weapon is already stretching this plot’s plausibility nearly to its breaking point right out of the gate.
Thankfully, everyone readily accepts that this is a remote controlled vehicle, rather than some sort of supernatural phenomenon, which keeps us from veering off into Scooby Doo or Steven King territory.
Daniel readily acknowledges that he openly worked on similar designs in the past. Katie, his former WAMCO colleague, corroborates this.
Charles’ Unbroken Bones
Charles Woodley manages to out run a car. He escapes serious injury, too. Yet, he’s in so much pain he must remain in the hospital.
Dean’s Chartered Boat
This is my favorite clue this episode. It’s very subtle. It doesn’t make it into Jessica’s summation at the end of the episode, which is a shame.
When Dean Merrill disembarks in Cabot Cove, he says his partner (Charles Woodley) told him to arrive by chartered boat.
Because the walk from the marina to the hospital is shorter than the walk to the nearest cab (at the train station), this forces Dean to walk a specific one mile stretch between the marina and the hospital, setting him up for his deadly encounter with the station wagon.
Daniel’s Phone Records
Jessica and Letitia do some snooping and discover that recent calls made from Daniel’s phone number include one to Charles Woodley’s office in Boston.
As Jessica is quick to point out, this doesn’t prove Daniel placed the call, only that someone used his line to do so. Alas, modern technology has since laid waste to the plausible deniability of landline phone calls. However, back in 1984, this cast suspicion on the four people who had easy access to Daniel’s landline: Katie, Tony, Leslie, and Daniel himself.
The Red and Gray Van
She may have seemed perfectly innocent at the picnic. Or, perhaps she was just very easy to miss. However, after Jessica’s wild ride, the link between the remote controlled station wagon and the red and gray van is undeniable.
I’m a little baffled that neither Jessica nor Ethan seem to make the connection after the car chase. They both understand the station wagon is being controlled remotely. Out at the lighthouse, the van is the only other vehicle present, so the van’s driver, or possibly a passenger, must be responsible for controlling the station wagon. Right?
Daniel’s Files
Files identical to Daniel’s designs for a remote controlled car are found in the station wagon. This is such weak evidence even Amos is dubious, but it’s not Murder, She Wrote unless an innocent person gets arrested before the denouement.
Leslie’s Unsolicited advice
I think I once read somewhere that unsolicited advice is always self-serving. There’s room in my worldview for the occasional altruist, but that’s not the case here. Leslie’s suggestion that Daniel may need psychiatric help is another subtle clue.
WAMCO’s Financials
Katie spills the tea about the WAMCO boys. They’re low on cash, and now that Dean Merrill is gone, Charles Woodley owns 100% of the business.
Daniel’s Estate
Tony is Daniel’s only living relative. He stands to inherit Daniel’s (modest) estate, with the exception of Daniel’s patents, which would to go the University of Maine.
$7.08 and a Rental Agreement
This could have been a terrific final piece to the puzzle, but instead it’s an unforced error that really spoils this episode for me. When Tony stops for gas, the total comes to $7.08.
Dear readers, it’s time for some math. I promise to keep it short and sweet. In 1984, the U.S. national average price for a gallon of gas was $1.13. So, Tony’s $7.08 would have bought about 6.27 gallons. The fuel economy for a Ford convertible would have been around 20 miles per gallon. Assuming that the driver (Leslie) always filled up the tank, that implies that the car had been driven about 125 miles since the last fuel stop.
Wait, how far away were all those Portland appointments, again?
Right, 100 miles round-trip, thanks Tony.
So, on its face, the $7.08 fill-up is totally plausible. And that’s assuming Leslie never got gas in Portland before heading back to Cabot Cove. Well, never mind. What’s important is that the pitstop inspires Jessica to snoop in the glove compartment for the car rental agreement.
Ok, great!
Let’s all take a look-see at this important clue.
If you’re disappointed that we didn’t get to see that odometer, chin up! The writers have one more clue for us. It’s intentionally ambiguous, but it’s full of thematic appeal.
The Arcade Game
While playing Spy Hunter, Jessica realizes…. well, something about driving too fast? Or maybe driving too slow? The audience doesn’t get to find out exactly what Jessica’s epiphany was until after she confronts the killer.
Ok, they also use this scene to explicitly state that the station wagon was operated from the red and gray van, but, like, duh.
J’accuse!
The Reenactment
Following her aha moment, Jessica and Sheriff Tupper arrange for a reenactment of Charles Woodley’s encounter with the station wagon on the softball field. In classic MSW style, Jessica is able to trick the killers into revealing themselves, and triumphantly confronts them with proof of their guilt.
Fair Play?
We’re back on the softball field, but are the writers playing ball?
At this point in the episode, we already know that Jessica believes Daniel is innocent, but we don’t have all the facts. Specifically:
- What was the convertible’s odometer reading? The $7.08 worth of gas is inconclusive on its own.
- What was Jessica’s big revelation during the arcade game? She’s enlightened, but the audience is still in the dark.
Can we conclusively identify the guilty without this information?
- Katie was forthcoming with potentially incriminating information about WAMCO. Further, she has no motive to either kill off the WAMCO boys or frame Daniel, so she can reasonably be cleared of suspicion.
- If we’ve been paying close attention, there are enough clues to implicate Charles Woodley, but he must have had an accomplice who controlled the station wagon.
- Woodley’s accomplice could be Tony or Leslie. Until the reenactment, we don’t have enough information to determine which one it is. It might even be both of them.
Guilty!
So, no, this is not a fair play episode. Fair play is a style choice, and does not necessarily determine the quality of the storytelling. A high quality mystery can be engaging, precise, novel, comedic, you name it, without using fair play.
Unfortunately, in my opinion, that’s not the case here. At MSWSW, we’re sticklers for plausibility and precision. The characters’ choices must make sense. The clues must be relevant. The explanation of the puzzle must be complete.
This episode’s shortcomings are all in evidence at the reenactment:
First, how did law enforcement find the red and gray van? And in finding it, certainly its location, registration, plates, VIN, etc. would be important, and possibly conclusive, evidence as to who killed Dean Merrill. So important and conclusive, the whole reenactment might not even have been necessary. While we’re on the subject, those same identifying features (registration, plates, VIN) for the station wagon would also probably be edifying. And if not, we the audience should be told why not.
Jessica confronts Leslie with Tony’s gasoline tab. Not only is this a meaningless figure, as we’ve already established, but how TF would Leslie know what Jessica’s even talking about? She wasn’t at the gas station.
Yeah, maybe you did, Jessica, but we didn’t. Why force fuzzy math about gasoline on us, when you could just show us the odometer and do some nice, simple math about those 100-mile trips back and forth to Portland?
I’m with you, Amos.
Episode Rating
For me, the most appealing aspect of this episode is its location. Like most MSW enthusiasts, I have a soft spot for Cabot Cove and her denizens. Otherwise, I found this episode to be pretty mediocre.
Even though this episode was only ok, I hope you won’t let that stop you from going on a joyride with me in Part 4: Bonus Features!
Murder, She Wrote, She Wrote 