This was an exceptional show. It tackled a topic which plague many families. The acting by the mother and her young daughter were especially noteworthy. In the show, as the young girl recounted something she had experienced, I found myself tearing up. It was hard to believe she was only performing. I even found myself paying close attention to the regulars of the show, their acting seemed to have risen to a new level in this particular episode. I love watching In the Heat of the Night, but this episode stood out. Quite emotional. I highly recommend it for all fans of Carroll O'Connor and/or In the Heat of the Night.
4 Reviews
Great acting
lisama_us26 June 2022
A story too close to real life. I love it when Gillespie's girlfriend tells him What makes him think the mother didn't know about the molestation?
One thing I didn't like, Althea Tibbs is always getting involved in everybody's else's life. Why didn't she help this family? They actually needed her kind of intervention. No one had fought for the daughter and granddaughter before.
One thing I didn't like, Althea Tibbs is always getting involved in everybody's else's life. Why didn't she help this family? They actually needed her kind of intervention. No one had fought for the daughter and granddaughter before.
It happens next door
kellielulu10 September 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The episode is centered on one family. A family of means but not as showy as some of the towns wealthy people are. But they have the ugliest of secrets. It's going through the generations . The parents are well respected but shouldn't be their daughter played brilliantly and achingly by Susan Blakely is considered wild and trashy but is actually misunderstood and unable to cope with the trauma of her childhood. She however has a close and loving relationship with her teenage daughter.
The family in question are Stuart and Bernice Merrill , their daughter Claudia and granddaughter Mary Lynn . The episode starts with an unveiling of a statue to honor Stuart ( yeah really!) later that night there is a family fight and the next morning Stuart is found dead, murdered. Claudia is the prime suspect but of course it's not her but she is determined to protect her daughter. Secrets are soon revealed. Virgil suspects the truth. Bill must come to terms with some ugly truths not just about his old friend Stuart but his wife as well. Joanne Bill's lady friend wakes him up to an uncomfortable truth about Bernice as Virgil does concerning Stuart.
It all comes out as the focus turns to Mary Lynn . Althea makes a discovery of her own and Bill proves to be a rock for Claudia to get through it.
One of the best episodes of the series and an important one that didn't flinch on the subject of sexual abuse and incest .
The family in question are Stuart and Bernice Merrill , their daughter Claudia and granddaughter Mary Lynn . The episode starts with an unveiling of a statue to honor Stuart ( yeah really!) later that night there is a family fight and the next morning Stuart is found dead, murdered. Claudia is the prime suspect but of course it's not her but she is determined to protect her daughter. Secrets are soon revealed. Virgil suspects the truth. Bill must come to terms with some ugly truths not just about his old friend Stuart but his wife as well. Joanne Bill's lady friend wakes him up to an uncomfortable truth about Bernice as Virgil does concerning Stuart.
It all comes out as the focus turns to Mary Lynn . Althea makes a discovery of her own and Bill proves to be a rock for Claudia to get through it.
One of the best episodes of the series and an important one that didn't flinch on the subject of sexual abuse and incest .
The women in his life
bkoganbing18 December 2020
Solid pillar of the Sparta community Wallace Wilkinson and good friend of Chief
Gillespie has just presented a statue of a local Confederate hero and there's a
big banquet to celebrate. But the rest of the family which is wife Muriel Moore
daughter Susan Blakely and granddaughter Suzanne Vanderlett decline to attend.
The next day Wilkinson is murdered and it's grisly crime scene, the kind that Howard Rollins saw too often in Philadelphia. Later on AnneMarie Johnson saves Vanderlett from a suicide in Sparta High.
Blakely comes off best among the guest stars as one dissolute hedonist, but she has a reason to be.
As for this family reference the movie Chinatown.
The next day Wilkinson is murdered and it's grisly crime scene, the kind that Howard Rollins saw too often in Philadelphia. Later on AnneMarie Johnson saves Vanderlett from a suicide in Sparta High.
Blakely comes off best among the guest stars as one dissolute hedonist, but she has a reason to be.
As for this family reference the movie Chinatown.
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