Written By: Tom Saywer
Directed By: John Llewellyn Moxey
Jessica is suspicious when the appearance of the ghost of a long-dead witch burned at the stake coincides with the release of a book on the very subject. Guest starring Brad Dourif as an exorcist, Roddy McDowall as a publicity-seeking author of books about the paranormal, Bill Maher as his shady press agent, and Scream Queen Dee Wallace.
Tropes:
- Alliterative Name: Rick Rivers.
- All for Nothing: Adam murdered "Irene" because her appearance meant he and Mildred would receive only half the inheritance. She wasn't the real Irene, and wasn't planning to claim the inheritance anyway.
- Bittersweet Ending: The mystery has been solved and justice done, and Mildred has inherited enough money to make her comfortable for the rest of her life. However, she's alone given that her sister Irene has been dead for years without her knowledge and that her fiancé only wanted to marry her for the inheritance. Furthermore, the imposter Irene was murdered for no reason and the man dating her was heartbroken.
- Bludgeoned to Death: Irene/Annie was killed with a blow to the head with a hammer.
- Bluffing the Murderer: While having dinner with Mildred and her fiancé Adam, Jessica tells them that Metzger intends to return to the barn tomorrow to find incriminating evidence Fairchild left. She has correctly deduced that Mildred's fiancé was actually the killer, and Metzger and his deputy are waiting when Adam emerges.
- Burn the Witch!: The killing of a woman for witchcraft in the 17th century sets up some of the plot in this episode, as Seth sees her "ghost". In the present day, there's The Witch Hunter priest, who of course is the first suspect when one of the witch's descendants, Irene Terhune, ends up dead. He didn't do it.
- Dead Person Impersonation: The real Irene died along with her aunt and guardian about twenty years ago; the one who turned up is an out-of-work actress hired by Fairchild's publicist. When Mildred finds out, she says that she doesn't know if it's worse that Irene died years beforehand or that the lady got murdered.
- Disappeared Dad: It's never mentioned what happened to Mildred and Irene's father. He was married to their mother, as Mildred has a wedding picture. It's heavily implied that he was already dead or out of the picture when their mother died (four days after the real Irene was born). Jessica comments about how Mildred had taken care of her pregnant, dying mother by herself and couldn't take care of baby Irene herself.
- Disguised in Drag: Rick Rivers dresses up as the ghost of Patience Terhune to torch the barn when "Irene" feels guilty and refuses to continue her impersonation.
- Gold Digger: Adam Frobisher learned six months ago that Mildred would inherit a fortune, so he pursued her and was about to be married to her when Jessica found out about it.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Sheriff Metzger tries to intimidate a suspect by telling him that his deputy, Floyd, has a terrible temper and he might not manage to restrain him. Floyd forgets he's supposed to be the bad cop, and in any case, the man is unconcerned, correctly deducing that it's Metzger who has the temper.
- Hollywood Science: Jessica states that you don't get jet lag when traveling west-to-east. This is untrue. Jet lag is present in both east-west and west-east travel (and arguably sometimes worse for those traveling west to east).
- Inheritance Murder: Adam killed "Irene" because he was worried she'd take half of the inheritance, and he didn't feel like splitting it
- Jerkass:
- Gordon is remarkably dismissive of Jessica, transparently eager about peddling his book in his first scene. Even after the murder he isn't the least bit sad or guilty and merely blackmails a shaken Rick into staying in town with a smug, mocking tone of voice and expression.
- Dr. Overman the fiery exorcist rudely insults the townspeople for not being quiet during his exorcism, makes a veiled threat towards Irene and refuses to shake hands with Gordon (although that last one might be forgivable). He also viciously mocks and insults Seth for just starting to question if the witch is real.
- Love at First Sight: The taxi driver who brings in the fake Irene becomes awfully close with her in just about a day, and feels devastated when her body turns up in the ruins of the barn.
- Nice to the Waiter: Since the writer abruptly turns his behavior around upon realizing Jessica is also a well-known writer, she gently rebukes him by saying "In Cabot Cove, we like to be polite even to nobodies."
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Mildred tells Jessica that she had intended to put the house in both her and Irene's names, and Irene cried when she heard it. Initially, Mildred thought that the display of belonging moved her to tears, but it turns out that "Irene" was an actress impersonating the real deal. She cried because Mildred's gesture unintentionally increased her guilt over what she was putting her through.
- Oh, Crap!: Rivers is pretty shaken by the discovery of Irene's body.
- Recognition Failure: When Gordon Fairchild arrives, he gushes over Mildred's assistance in writing the book, completely ignoring Jessica even when Mildred tries to introduce them. His publicist chews him out, saying that Jessica is the closest thing Cabot Cove has to a celebrity and he just blew a major possibility for good publicity by brushing her off. Afterwards, Gordon tries to get into her good graces, saying that he had no idea she was important. Jessica doesn't find this attitude impressive.
- Shout-Out: The title refers to a famous scene in Macbeth involving the witches.
- Sinister Minister: Reverend Fordyce. He isn't the killer but he is very creepy in his rallying against the threat of witchcraft.
- Some Nutty Publicity Stunt: Patience's ghost appearing and Irene seeming to become possessed by her was intended to stir up interest for Gordon Fairchild's new book, Patience Terhune, the Witch of Cabot Cove.
- Spanner in the Works:
- The arrival of "Irene" was this for Adam's plan to gain five million dollars by marrying Mildred. If another heir turned up, the money would be split, so he had to kill her.
- Irene was also this for Rick Rivers and Gordon Fairchild. They planned to drum up publicity for Fairchild's book by having Irene pretend she's a witch, but she had a Curious Qualms of Conscience.
