- Title: A Nero Wolfe Mystery – Death of a Doxy
- IMDb: link
Throwback Thursday takes us back to mid 20th Century New York and the private detective offices located at 454 W. 35th Street. While the two-part Second Season premiere is still a passable episode, “Death of a Doxy” certainly wouldn’t rank among my favorites. The story feels a bit forced in order to be a “big” episode, with everyone (in front and behind the camera) trying a bit too hard, and the murder plot itself feels like it could have been truncated to a single episode without loosing much. The episode centers around Orrie Cather (Trent McMullen) being charged with the murder of a woman he was seeing on the side. While attempting to do Orrie a favor, Archie (Timothy Hutton) stumbles upon the body. That, plus circumstantial evidence, has even those within the brownstone questioning Orrie’s innocence.
The two-parter is memorable for Kari Matchett playing separate roles (with the use of a questionable wig to help us tell them apart). Along with her recurring role as on-again/off-again gal pal Lily Rowan, she also takes on the role of the smart, but more than a little ridiculous, Julie Jaquette (who ends up agreeing to put her own life on the line to help nab a killer). There’s also an odd musical sequence that feels out of place for the series. Despite initial doubts by Nero Wolfe (Maury Chaykin) and Archie, the investigation leads to several suspects involved around the life of the kept woman including a potential client who offers a tidy sum for Wolfe to keep his name out of the investigation while also clearing Orrie of any murder charges. Unable to provide Inspector Cramer (Bill Smitrovich) with proof, Wolfe provides leverage to do the murder in (and likely causing another murder that the police are not likely to investigate too closely).
