(TV Series)

(1994)

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9/10
An evil man targets Ben
reb-warrior19 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Really good one as Ben goes up against a man that tells Ben that he is planning a murder. He tells him when and where. There's not too much Ben can do except report to the police, which he does to his old pal Bob. The police can't do anything because technically no crime was committed.

I hate that they killed Bob off. I like him as a friend of Bens. Granted he never did have a huge part in the show, but was always fair and by-the-book, and he and Ben respected each other and joked around with each other at times.

I kind of agree with another reviewer who mentioned couldn't Ben have worn a wire or recorded his phone calls? Also, I'm not sure the police couldn't do anything. Wouldn't this be considered a threat? At the very least couldn't they have had officers patrol the area and/or surveil the man?

Terry O'Quinn, who played Locke on Lost, plays the man, Malcolm Engle. Why on earth is O'Quinn uncredited?? He played the main guest role. Other than Bob, I suppose. Anyway, Locke was one of my favorites on Lost.

Engle has a grudge against Ben because his family was killed many years earlier, and Ben got the perpetrator off as not guilty by reason of Insanity. Now Engle has cancer and only has 6 months to live and wants to settle old scores.

One of the things that disappointed me was the ending. I mean I love that Ben got him on the stand. That he figured this whole thing out. But wouldn't have been more interesting and satisfying if they flashed forward a couple of months and Ben was seen reading the news that Engle died in prison. Or, a second idea, might have been a couple of months after the trial, if they cut to a scene, where Ben is visiting Engle in jail where the audience finds out Engle's cancer is in remission and now he has to spend the rest of his probably long life in jail. And Ben is there to tell him how happy he is that his cancer is in remission. Lol. I can't help it. That man was evil He killed Bob, a random stranger to him, for no reason other than to stick it to Ben. I didn't like that the man had the last word, and mocked what was Ben gonna do since he was already dying.

Anyway, a really different one. Good and compelling. 9/10.
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10/10
Matlock is challenged to solve the perfect murder
nmerlin13 August 2006
Warning: Spoilers
One of the fun aspects of this series was that the hero rarely lost, or if he did, there would be some last minute "Matlock moment" where the villain would confess, or the crucial evidence would be revealed. In this episode, however, the audience sees a very different outcome for Atlanta's favorite son. Malcolm Engle (played by Terry O'Quinn from Lost) is a wealthy man whose son was put to death for a capital crime, and Matlock was the defense attorney who represented him. One day, the father (who is bitter about his son's death) invites Matlock to his home for dinner and then challenges him to solve the perfect murder. By the end of the episode, Matlock wins, but in an ironic twist of fate, the bad guy has only six months left to live, and he has already succeeded in killing Matlock's good friend, Bob Brooks.
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6/10
A great idea but not well written.
tles75 June 2018
Warning: Spoilers
1. For a guy who is a billionaire, the murderer has no servants, a small house and an office that says he is doing well but not billions.

2. Just to find out how a motion detector works, Matlock has one installed in his house?

3. Why didn't Matlock just use a tape recorder to record the phone calls when he picked them up.

4. Why didn't Matlock have his two stooges listen in on the calls as witnesses.

5. Matlock could have asked the police to record his calls.

6. Why didn't Matlock wear a wire every time he talked to the billionaire in person.

7. Simply, why didn't Matlock just have investigators watch the billionaire all day to track his movements.

The murderer was convinced Matlock wasn't smart and the writers confirmed it in this episode in most of the scenes.
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