Murder, She Wrote (TV Series) Death Goes Double Platinum (1996) User Reviews

"Oh, the Ice Pick Needs a Scarf, Babe ~ Hit and Run Car Zooms from Sight ~ Just a Jackknife Has the Hit-man ~ And the Screams Pour Through the Night"

[WeatherViolet · 7/10 · 29 April 2010]

This episode marks the last television appearance by Ray Young, who had been acting in film and on television since 1951.

When Iza Decalde (Rosanna DeSoto) invites the New York City-based Latin band "Ortega" to perform at her dinner club, her reasoning must be something along the lines of...well, let's see.... Iza's late husband had pioneered the popularity of NYC Latin orchestras, and now that her son has joined the band, and her daughter has been seeing the music producer, what could possibly go wrong?

Desi Ortega (Tony Plana) leads the group bearing his name, to release a hit single entitled "Philamena," and now plans to record an entire album of songs for a potential compact disc release. A sight-impaired Desi has been married for six years to Amy Ortega (Amy Stock-Poynton), and now they expect their first child very soon.

Luiz Decalde (Marco Sanchez), the son of the widowed Iza, performs guitar and background vocals for Ortega, while he studies English as Manhattan University, under the tutor-age of Amy and Desi's dear old friend Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who personally delivers Luiz' homework assignments to his mother's club because he's busy rehearsing, and trying to keep the premises clear of thugs who want to control the band and his sister.

Sam Desoto (Ramón Franco) also serves as a band member and song mix technician, while admiring from afar Iza's lovely daughter, Patricia Decalde (Jacqueline Obradors). When Sam proposes to Patricia, she laughs it off, not for one moment taking him seriously.

Alex Lebron (Jsu Garcia) serves as a producer for Moontide Records, which has released the "Philamena" recording, and Alex stands by Desi and company to ward off thugs if only for the sake of Patricia, who has captured his heart although at times he expresses the notion to Jessica that he doesn't deserve her affection, while Patricia confides that she is not good enough for Alex to Jessica, who disagrees with them both.

Tomas Aguilar (David Labiosa), on the other hand, schemes for ways to regain Patricia's favor. Now that he has mob ties, Tomas considers ways to overcome his negatives in Patricia's eyes, to take him back into her loving arms after she has dumped him a year ago.

Max Daniels (Robert Clohessy) hires Tomas as his right-hand man, using Tomas' past with Patricia to influence her to tighten the grip on Desi Ortega, for Ortega to sign a shady deal with Max's record label, using whatever measures that may require if the thugs and hit man do not work out well enough.

Culligan (Ray Young) approaches Desi at Decalde's club one evening in the presence of a frightened Amy and a curious Jessica, to cart Desi in a limousine to meet with Daniels and Aguilar, but Desi holds his ground and refuses to compromise.

Updike the Hit-man (Dee McCafferty) calls Alex to meet him in a secret location to discuss Daniel's "deal," when Tomas sneaks into Patricia's to inform her that unless she succumbs to his charms, then Updike the Hit-man will stab Alex. Fearing that she'll lose Alex either way, she agrees with Tomas, to spare Alex's life, and so Tomas telephones Updike the Hit-man to close his penknife instead of stabbing Alex when he walks by.

Jessica invites her dear old friend Wilson Sloane (Jason Bernard), owner of Paragram Records, to listen to Ortega's performance, to consider signing the group for a potential recording contract.

But when Wilson arrives at Decalde's club, for practice sessions as well as for the night of the concert, Jessica must continuously apologize for every interruption, as altercations begin to erupt once everyone gathers to perform, to serve, or to listen.

NYPD Lieutenant Abbe Esposito (Maria O'Brien), a friend of Jessica's, who addresses her Manhattan University classes on occasion, arrives at Decalde's after very loud screams are heard to interrupt the concert, once Ortega performs "San Juan Nights." After the lighting is restored, a body is discovered, having been stabbed by an ice pick.

Well, Abbe Esposito certainly proves tireless, as she investigates all of the feuds and lovers' quarrels, as she awakens a judge at 2:00 AM to obtain search warrants, and as she has the police laboratory to identify fingerprints immediately even though suspects aren't fingerprinted, but she is also very arrest-happy and apprehends one suspect after another into custody before Jessica experiences her sudden realization.

So, families begin to fight among themselves and with one another, accusing one another as they question whodunit, especially after the unseen driver of an automobile aims a speeding car at two potential victims, and so Jessica has plenty of young love to champion in the process, as couples question the feelings of their counterparts once "Death Goes Double Platinum."

This represents the second of two "MSW" appearances for Jsu Garcia, and the third of three for Rosanna DeSoto, the only two members of its guest cast to perform in other "MSW" episodes.

In addition to Ray Young, Jason Bernard, acting since 1969, has also unfortunately passed, soon after the original broadcast of this episode.

The murder victim was a jerk...so I say no crime was committed.

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 13 September 2023]

Jessica is hanging out with her Hispanic friends...something she's done quite a few times on "Murder, She Wrote". In this case, she's hanging about with a blind musician who is on the verge of hitting it big after many years of hard work. But now that he's nearly there, a group of thugs arrive and want a piece of the action...or else.

During a concert, one of the baddies is stabbed to death with an ice pick. But this was in a nightclub...and the place was packed. So how was the killing done? And, Who dunnit?! And, does anyone care since the victim was a real jerk!

This is a decent episode and it kept me guessing. It also is interesting and worth seeing.

Jessica in the City

[safenoe · 6/10 · 25 October 2016]

Here Jessica is in New York City, two years before Sex in the City debuted. Jessica gives a helping hand to a Latin music band (I don't mean e pluribus unum Latin, but Hispanic if you know what I mean).

The band is on the verge of massive stardom, but murder and lust complicates things, with an ice pick (similar to the one famously used in Basic Instinct three years earlier) being Exhibit A.

It may always be sunny in Philadelphia, and Murder She Wrote is no exception. It's always sunny wherever Jessica is, whether it be Cabot Cove or New York or wherever.

It's encouraging to see the ethnic diversity, albeit when Murder She Wrote was winding down. I guess that when the series debuted in 1984, it was at the peak of Reaganism, but no doubt the election of Bill Clinton in 1992 sent the message to Hollywood scriptwriters that it's okay to have ethnic diversity on our screens.

Jessica felt very comfortable being in The Big Apple, and probably because she was oblivious to the fact that she wouldn't be the subject of racial profiling by the police. So Jessica could move about as she pleased without being hindered by the broken windows policy.

I liked it for its Latin flavour

[coltras35 · 6/10 · 12 August 2022]

While in New York, she helps out a struggling band, but things become complicated when the sister of the band's bassist is implicated in the murder of a local extortionist.

A standard MSW episode, yet I enjoyed it; the Latin music industry, cutthroat thugs wanting to run the music business and misunderstandings. The characters were quite spirited, the mystery was ok, though I kind of guessed who punctured the ice pick in to the creep's back. But sometimes with mysteries, it's not the outcome that is enjoyable but getting to the end.

Doesn't even have enough for single platinum

[TheLittleSongbird · 3/10 · 31 December 2017]

Have always been quite fond of 'Murder She Wrote'. It is a fun and relaxing watch that makes you think as you try to unwind in the evening. If one wants more complex, twisty mysteries with lots of tension and suspense 'Murder She Wrote' may not be for you, but if you want something light-hearted and entertaining but still provide good mysteries 'Murder She Wrote' fits the bill just fine.

Not only, from personal opinion, is "Death Goes Double Platinum" one of the worst episodes of Season 12, it is one of the low-points of 'Murder She Wrote' in general. It is not a complete waste, but music-themed 'Murder She Wrote' episodes don't get much worse than this and there is not much to recommend. Apologies for going against the tide here and my opinion is to be taken with a pinch of salt, but "Death Goes Double Platinum" didn't do it for me at all. Good idea, executed poorly.

There are plus points. The production values as always are slick and stylish. Some of the scoring has energy and has presence but also not making the mistake of over-scoring, while it is hard to forget or resist the theme tune.

Angela Lansbury is as always terrific, Jessica Fletcher being one of her best-remembered roles for very good reasons.

On the other hand, she is very ill-served by one of the show's worst supporting casts, and not just from a few members, this is everybody we're talking about. The younger cast members are especially dire and are testament to that 'Murder She Wrote' was very variable when it came to casting younger actors, and "Death Goes Double Platinum" is one of the worst cases.

Writing doesn't flow well and is neither thought-provoking or amiable. The mystery is a weak one, very dull and obvious with one of the biggest examples of "it could only have been one person" murderer identities, therefore it's one of the show's most unsurprising denouements. The mob tactics added nothing to the story, felt out of place and should have been left out entirely. The featured Latin music would have been out of date even in the 90s and on its own doesn't appeal on the ear.

In summation, didn't work. 3/10 Bethany Cox

I just called to say I hate you

[feindlicheubernahme · 2/10 · 31 October 2023]

Man, oh man, oh man. What a pathetic excuse for an episode. I don't care if Murder, She Wrote is only intended to be gentle, family-friendly viewing; there's no excuse for the total lack of effort, thought and originality we're subjected to here.

Episode, how do I hate thee? Let me count the ways:

1) An opening featuring the very worst of all the awful songs we've been aurally assaulted by during the MSW music episodes.

2) The groan-inducing cliche of the brilliant blind musician.

3) A group of Jessica's friends we're obviously supposed to sympathise, with but who, never become likeable enough to make us care about them at all.

4) The clear indication that a woman is constrained to sleep with a man she hates in order to protect her boyfriend. (In my opinion, despite having a female lead, MSW's portrayal of women has always betrayed a 40s/50/60s scriptwriting mentality that was, thankfully, already being outmoded elsewhere even before the series began. Apart from Jessica, women are there to gossip, be sad single mothers, stand by their adulterous husbands, be commanded, seduced, cheated on, harassed or assaulted by men. If a woman has any proper agency, then she's most probably a supercharged Cruella de Vil type - which can be be entertaining once or twice, but not when it's almost every time. (At least the writers allowed women to be killers too; otherwise, things would have gotten very boring very quickly.))

4) A murder which is carried out in such circumstances that the viewers' suspicions immediately fall on one particular person - and they're right. (Even worse if you've seen season 3's "Murder, She Spoke" in which a person with the same job uses the same modus operandi to commit the murder.)

5) A police lieutenant who, even when she speaks to Jessica for the first time, actually seems to be reporting to her, and then spends the episode treating Jessica like her boss.

6) The cliched blind musician having such preternaturally heightened other senses that even while playing loud (ghastly, terrible) music on stage with his band and with CO2 jets blasting out all around him, he can not only hear the sound of a small piece of tape being ripped off an audience member's chair, he can also pinpoint the exact location of said chair and identify its occupant.

7) Jessica's case-solving Eureka moment being the wondrous realisation that sticky tape makes a certain sound when ripped off.

8) The what-was-the-point-of-of-making-her-pregnant wife going into labour at the very end. Oh, that was the point!

1 star for remembering that Hispanics exist in the US, and 1 star for having the decency to make this the shortest episode of the series, as far as I've noticed.

Who knew Jessica Fletcher knew Jose Feliciano

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 3 October 2017]

This episode of Murder She Wrote has Jessica Fletcher kicking back and enjoying some of her students of Hispanic ancestry who have gotten together a band. The singer is blind Tony Plana and gee whom did they have in mind when his character was created?

They've got a nice sound and record mogul Jason Bernard would like to sign them. So would very crooked Robert Clohessy.

David Labiosa plays one of Clohessy's associates who has history with Plana and several others in the band including Jacqueline Obradors. During a live performance when the lights go out, Labiosa gets an ice pick stuck in him.

Not the best whodunit in the series as only one person would have had the technical knowledge to pull this off during a performance.

Still it's a good ensemble cast at their best for this episode.

Whoops!

[hinkletrey · 4/10 · 30 March 2024]

I think I have caught agoof in this episode - but can't be absolutely sure if it's a real goof, or something that was written in the script by the writers. Maybe someone can help me out.

So when Jessica makes the call to the police, she identified herself as Jamie Fletcher. Is this a hoof - or am I missing something?

I admit I'm not an afficiando of the show, but tune in from time to time. So I'm not sure if some times Jessica calls herself Jamie. I haven't seen any list of goofs for the episodes... so maybe someone has already identified this as a goof.

It was a good episode, though. Loved seeing Jefe from The Amigos!

I'm glad that there is a channel on that has died like Murder She Wrote and Quincy and things like that. Much more my speed anymore!