Jessica's vacation to Honolulu becomes chaotic when the son of her host vanishes during a hotly contested U.S. Senate election.Jessica's vacation to Honolulu becomes chaotic when the son of her host vanishes during a hotly contested U.S. Senate election.Jessica's vacation to Honolulu becomes chaotic when the son of her host vanishes during a hotly contested U.S. Senate election.
Photos
Ted Henning
- Jeff Kinkaid
- (as Ted W. Henning)
Steve Ruge
- Honolulu P.D. Detective
- (as Steven Ruge)
Ryal Haakenson
- Desk Man
- (uncredited)
Vern Monnett
- Soundtrack Contributor
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDanny Kinkaid Robert Duncan McNeill is best known for playing Lt. Tom Paris in Star Trek: Voyager (1995)
- GoofsWhen Danny is on the beach just before he goes swimming, he is wearing green shorts, but as he runs into the water, he is wearing navy-blue shorts with a brighter triangle at the back (and appears rather more tanned).
- Quotes
[first lines]
[filming a man and woman from a hiding place]
Boone Aldridge: That's nice. Now, how about you give me something I could really use?
[the man leans in and kisses the woman]
Boone Aldridge: [laughs] That's it. This guy's as good as dead. Gotcha!
- SoundtracksMurder She Wrote Theme
Written by John Addison
Featured review
A rather camp but not particularly mysterious deadly excursion to Hawaii
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.
"Death in Hawaii" entertains reasonably, if more for its vast camp appeal than as a mystery (which actually does put it above other episodes with ridiculous or underwhelming mysteries with no intrigue, entertainment or camp appeal to back them up, a prime example being the previous season's "Time to Die"). The set up is pretty good, with some nice political intrigue and a unique attack scene involving sharks.
The cast on the most part add to this. Angela Lansbury is great as always, and particularly spicing things up in the entertainment value are zesty Nina Foch and formidable Ken Howard.
Location is striking, 'Murder She Wrote' doesn't get much more exotic than Hawaii, and the production values are slick and stylish. The music 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. There are signs of thoughtfulness and light-heartedness in the writing.
Unfortunately, the mystery could have been much stronger. One can just about suspend disbelief (a little) at Jessica being as trusted as she is in the type of family featured here when they didn't appear in Jessica's previous endeavour to Hawaii in "Magnum on Ice". The mystery however appears too late and the investigation felt rushed.
Also felt that after such a promising set up that what things appeared to be (everything involving Danny) was abandoned for something far less convincing or interesting, with the actual victim being pretty underdeveloped and things getting increasingly ludicrous, and initially irrelevant was a shame. The denouement was surprising but was silly and not very well acted. There are exceptions to the acting. They were Ata Scanlan, inexperience coming through loud and clear, and Tamlyn Tomita who was stiff and never seemed sure what to make of her lines. Dialogue also seemed overripe in places.
In short, watchable but for a good mystery look elsewhere. 5/10 Bethany Cox
"Death in Hawaii" entertains reasonably, if more for its vast camp appeal than as a mystery (which actually does put it above other episodes with ridiculous or underwhelming mysteries with no intrigue, entertainment or camp appeal to back them up, a prime example being the previous season's "Time to Die"). The set up is pretty good, with some nice political intrigue and a unique attack scene involving sharks.
The cast on the most part add to this. Angela Lansbury is great as always, and particularly spicing things up in the entertainment value are zesty Nina Foch and formidable Ken Howard.
Location is striking, 'Murder She Wrote' doesn't get much more exotic than Hawaii, and the production values are slick and stylish. The music 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. There are signs of thoughtfulness and light-heartedness in the writing.
Unfortunately, the mystery could have been much stronger. One can just about suspend disbelief (a little) at Jessica being as trusted as she is in the type of family featured here when they didn't appear in Jessica's previous endeavour to Hawaii in "Magnum on Ice". The mystery however appears too late and the investigation felt rushed.
Also felt that after such a promising set up that what things appeared to be (everything involving Danny) was abandoned for something far less convincing or interesting, with the actual victim being pretty underdeveloped and things getting increasingly ludicrous, and initially irrelevant was a shame. The denouement was surprising but was silly and not very well acted. There are exceptions to the acting. They were Ata Scanlan, inexperience coming through loud and clear, and Tamlyn Tomita who was stiff and never seemed sure what to make of her lines. Dialogue also seemed overripe in places.
In short, watchable but for a good mystery look elsewhere. 5/10 Bethany Cox
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- TheLittleSongbird
- Nov 26, 2017
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