Rich industrialists are being systematically murdered. President Grant is concerned that their holdings may end up concentrated in the wrong hands, endangering the U. S. economy, so he assigns West and Gordon to investigate. They find a clue which leads them eventually to Miss Emma Valentine (Agnes Moorehead), a hostess and matchmaker who specializes in finding young, beautiful wives for wealthy older men - including the four men who recently ended up dead. She is in town to arrange yet another marriage; West and Gordon work to save the life of her victim and to discover, then foil, her even more grandiose schemes.
Guest star Agnes Moorehead's performance as the week's Big Bad resulted in the show's only Emmy Award (Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series).
Disguises used by Artie: Jewish Tailor
(35:30)
Tropes present in this episode:
- Ambiguously Jewish: Artie's Funny Foreigner disguise as a fussy tailor who attempts to disrupt Lambert and Michele's upcoming wedding.
- Arranged Marriage: Valentine specializes in these. Also, her planned first act as Queen of America is to outlaw all marriages that she has not personally arranged.
- Blackmail: How Emma keeps her brides under her control. One of them, Michele (Sherry Jackson), admits that she was jailed for committing one theft in her native France "because I had to", and Emma could put her back in prison if she gets out of hand.
- Casual Danger Dialog: Artie snarks his way through the scene where he and Jim escape from Emma's Death Trap.
- Evil Redhead: Emma is the episode's Big Bad and has red hair. Her Giggling Villain henchman also qualifies.
- Giggling Villain: Emma has a redheaded henchman who apparently finds everything hilariously funny.
- Grievous Harm with a Body: Valentine plans to kill Paul Lambert, her last target, by dropping West and Gordon on top of him.
- Heel–Face Turn: Michele, a Minion with an F in Evil throughout the story, confirms her essential goodness by preventing Emma from shooting Jim.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: At the climax, Emma escapes Jim and Artie, but in the epilogue we learn that she was captured.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Michele's supposed to be French, but you'd never know that from hearing her.
- Off with His Head!: During the print shop fight, an unconscious Artie is placed in a guillotine-like paper cutter, as shown in the lower left hand corner of the page image. Jim saves him just in time.
- Straw Feminist: Emma Valentine, who wants to avenge every slight ever made against women by men. Also she wants to be Queen in order to bring about equality for women - her version of equality, anyway.
- Theme Serial Killer: Valentine decides to eliminate her victims in alphabetical order and on holidays only. She hopes to misdirect the authorities into protecting the wrong men when she comes to her last victim, but it nearly trips her up on her next-to-last victim when the agents arrive almost in the nick of time.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: Valentine comes on to Jim. He slaps her down pretty hard.
