Written by: Tracy Friedman
Directed by: Jerry Jameson
Mysterious newcomer Mariah Osborne arrives in Cabot Cove just as the community theater's putting on a play about Rachel Abbott, a real life woman executed as a witch. Mariah stirs up some controversy when she gets the lead role and shows a great deal of sympathy to Rachel Abbott. While there's more to Mariah than meets the eye, Jessica has to figure out if she's also capable of murdering a local judge.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- An Offer You Can't Refuse: Willard Clinton tried to pressure Monica Walker into sleeping with him in exchange for getting the theft charges dropped. She refused and got the full sentence.
- Anachronistic Clue: Jessica identifies that a suspect's ring is not a family heirloom as she claimed because it features a brilliant cut diamond: a cut not developed until the 1920s.
- Asshole Victim: Willard Clinton helped Lydia Winthrope frame Monica Walker, and even went as far as to proposition Monica for sex to get the charges dropped. Lydia kills him when it looks like he's going to confess after realizing Mariah's the daughter of Monica.
- Bad "Bad Acting": Some of the women in the play have less than stellar acting abilities, much to Seth's displeasure since he has to sit through their auditions.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Most people assume Mariah's a witch for real due to her dark appearance, desire to live in a creepy house, and her sympathy for Rachel Abbott. It's not helped that she first appears at the auditions in a gust of wind, and church bells ominously ring just as she finishes reading a line announcing the same thing. It of course turns out Mariah's innocent.
- Destination Defenestration: The way Judge Willard is murdered... OK, it's out of a wooden panel on a bell tower and not a glass window, but they both get about the same results.
- Disappeared Dad: Mariah/Mary Lynne's father is never mentioned, although it's possible Mr. Winthrope was her father if his wife was right about the affair.
- Frame-Up:
- Lydia Winthorpe did this twice to the Walker women, first framing Monica for stealing her necklace and then trying to frame Mariah for Judge Clinton's death. It worked the first time, but Jessica exposes Lydia for both crimes later.
- It's largely implied Rachel Abbott was framed too, but unfortunately she didn't have an ancestor of Jessica Fletcher to clear her name.
- Freudian Slip: While discussing moving into the Walker house, Mariah tells Jessica she's trying to make it look the same as it does in "the old photos." When Jessica asks which old photos she means, Mariah mentions photos of old houses in general. Jessica later learns Mariah's the daughter of the woman who previously owned the house, so she had pictures of when her mom used to live in it.
- Green-Eyed Monster: The reason Monica Walker was framed for the jewelry theft is because Lydia Winthorpe suspected her of having an affair with her husband. Whether or not she was right is a bit ambiguous.
- Hidden in Plain Sight: The diamond from the stolen necklace was placed inside a ring Lydia Winthorpe claims she inherited from her great-grandmother. Jessica points yes, she got the ring from her great-grandmother, but the diamond in it is newer than the setting.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The wig Lydia wore to frame Monica provided evidence to have her arrested when strands were found at the crime scene. Once the analysis revealed they're synthetic, Jessica asks why a dark-haired woman would wear a dark-haired wig? Unless the wig wearer's trying to set up the aforementioned dark-haired woman.
- Mind Your Step: Robert Vaughn's character is laid up in a wheelchair because his stairs were being refinished and he forgot about it; this resulted in him falling down the stairs and fracturing his leg in multiple places.
- Obfuscating Disability: Mr. Winthrope's injury isn't nearly as bad as he's pretending, and he is able to stand and walk without issue. Jessica tricks him into revealing this by moving a gluestick he's using to build a model ship onto the mantle of his fireplace, which he can't reach from the chair, and then stepping out of sight just long enough for him to get up.
- The Reveal:
- Mariah's real name is Mary Lynn Walker, and she came to Cabot Cove to prove her mother was innocent of stealing Lydia Winthorpe's jewelry.
- Lydia Winthorpe framed Monica Walker for stealing her jewelry because she feared Monica was trying to steal her husband. Lydia got Willard Clinton to help with framing Monica and had the diamond from her necklace placed in a ring. When Lydia and Clinton deduced who Mariah really was, Lydia murdered Clinton to stop him from confessing to their previous crime.
- Something about a Rose: The Rachel Abbott case mentions the convicted woman asked for rose petals to be strewn on her grave once a year, to commemorate the execution of an innocent woman. When someone seemingly breaks into the Winthorpe house, they leave rose petals around the open safe.
- Start to Corpse: This has one of the longest gaps between the start of the episode and the murder in the series; it's about halfway through the episode when Judge Clinton gets shoved out of the belltower.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Mariah mentions feeling a lot of sympathy for Rachel Abbott as a woman who was ganged up on by a small town. This turns out to be due to Mariah's mother, Monica Walker, having gone through a similar situation that left her jailed for several years.
- Throw It In!: In-universe, Mariah embellishes her rehearsal by including dialog from Rachel Abbott's actual court case. While she claims she did it for authenticity, Mariah subtly did it to make a dig against Lydia Winthrope for her role in her mom's incarceration.
- You Killed My Father: Or rather, You Framed My Mother. Mariah's revealed to be the daughter of a former Cabot Cove citizen who was imprisoned for stealing a diamond necklace. After being released, her mother never set foot in the town again and Mariah's been trying to learn who framed her mom.
