dlhs8954 Contrary to another review, just because a storyline seems meaningless, doesn't mean it is.Most good stories have at least one subplot. In this episode the subplot provided some comic relief to an otherwise very serious episode. I was in stitches!The fact that it reunited a couple of dear old friends made it much more special - especially to us fans of The Mod Squad. Because The Mod Squad was a very serious show. To have it's two male stars (Clarence Williams III as series regular Philby, and Michael Cole as Desmond) in a more comical situation was a treat to me!In this episode, while Samantha is off looking for her birth mother, a silly, but fun little subplot has a couple of old spies (Philby & Desmond) get together to free a Russian spy who landed in the local jail.Philby decides to get himself arrested, so he can tell the Russian spy how he's going to be busted out.It's the 'how' that is hysterical. The police chief, who has a semi-adversarial relationship with Samantha and Philby, is befuddled when he has to arrest Philby for breaking a window.Desmond then, comes in 'under cover' to help break both Philby & the Russian spy out of jail. What ensues is like The Keystone Cops. It is hysterical, and so much fun!

heathentart While not being my favorite genre of mysteries - I prefer puzzles such as those Agatha Christie's "Hercule Poirot" solves - cozies have their own, intense fan group.A "cozy" mystery is typified by a nice setting, no grit, no gore - or not much gore. It's evenly paced, with few car chases and no walks down the seamier side of life.The "Mystery Woman" series typifies just this genre, and does it mostly well. In this particular undertaking, there is a lot to squeeze into a two-hour (minus commercials) timeframe.Samantha Kinsey tries to find her birth mother, finds her, gets embroiled in a murder investigation and ties it all up neatly. Perfect "cozy" material. What was done well? They found an actress to play Sam's half-sister, Christine Lakin, who does bear a resemblance, especially around the eyes, to Kellie Martin. They're almost the same height, size, and have similar hair. Good job on that! There is a sub-plot pairing Clarence Williams' "Philby" with Michael Cole's "Desmond" as two old compadres from that mysterious past of "Philby's". We suspect a secret squirrel spy past, but we don't really know. For the middle-aged crowd, for whom these "Mystery Woman" films seem to be aimed, it's a fun little ride back to our younger days watching "The Mod Squad." This is Miss Martin's 3rd directing job, and it's not a bad one. The scenes are set up neatly, but there are few surprises."Mystery Woman: At First Sight" won't win many awards, but it's a pleasant way to spend two hours. It is a LOT better than watching endless re-runs of movies we've seen hundreds of times.It's a pure pleasure to have something to watch that isn't muddled, befuddled or a stupid reality show. The Hallmark Channel does me very well with their "Crime-Time Sunday" line-up, and I'm enjoying every minute of it.

bob the moo A date with a doctor and an offhand comment about the health of her parents, sees Kellie reveal to Cassie that she was adopted and suddenly now wants to find her real mother. She follows up a few leads and gets an address but, on arriving at the house of the woman she believes is her mother, she finds her standing over a dead body. Kellie pretends to the police that she was soliciting for donations and they happily accept this despite all the obvious flaws in that alibi. As her "mother" Hannah is taken away as the main suspect, Kellie stays to help. Meanwhile, back at the bookstore, Philby's quiet time alone is ruined when a man from his past turns up.So with a shoe horn the size of a canoe, Kellie is set up with a new mystery to try and solve. There is a slight insult to the audience's intelligence by having her suddenly announce her revelation, brush away a tear, suddenly decide to track her down and, after doing it surprisingly easily, she just happens to have turned up minutes after a murder has occurred, but I suppose with daytime TV you can never overestimate the audience's intelligence. So off we go on the usual superficial mystery that never aspires to be more than daytime filler. It drifts forward with unsurprising and dull "twists" and revelations in the plot and the main thing I felt was boredom. This isn't helped by the stupid mood music played throughout as well.It isn't like the mystery is even enough to fill the film, because we are also treated to a pointless subplot that runs throughout the film that just seems to exist to give Philby and Connors something to do. Done well the two threads would have the film bulging and it is telling that even with them both it is still baggy and boring. The cast don't help much. Martin is cute but that's about it. Siemaszko continue her trend of doing very little while Williams yet again takes his paycheque for strolling round in the background being all mysterious about his past. Harrold is OK but Lakin looks like an actresses keen to make the most of her opportunity and forces it throughout. Sander also does his usual charisma-free turn to no good effect while Podell is smarmy to the point where my stomach churned.Overall then a dull and boring Mystery Woman film; and I say that as someone who has found some of the other films OK. The main mystery isn't much cop, while the subplot is pointless. Die-hard fans might like it but even for the casual daytime TV viewer this is pretty weak.

Maurice_Rodney This production had an attractive protagonist, a cozy middle class middle American setting, a small cast of journeymen actors, and two prime time television hours (minus commercials) to work with. Yet, in the end, I felt completely let down.First of all, a significant portion of production resources were diverted into a totally meaningless sub-plot involving Clarence Williams III and Michael Cole, who starred together in "The Mod Squad", back in 1968. I kept expecting Peggy Lipton to show up, but I gather she has been able to find work on her own.In this episode, Samantha Kinsey ventures out to explore her own roots. Of course, the "Mystery Woman" lives up to her moniker by the end of the two-hour drama, at which point we expect her to explain it all to us. But there is no revelation of "family ties", no exploration of "family values", no knitting together of loose ends, and no answers to pertinent questions. In fact, the most obvious questions about Samantha's roots are not even asked. She simply walks away.Even if the writers had devoted 100% of their budget to the main plot line, it is not clear that they would have known what to do with these characters. It seems they had not started out with the first requirement, a good story that would involve an audience in the lives of well-drawn characters.I was left with the feeling that this entire production crew had frittered away a great deal of time, money, and effort, and I had just wasted two hours of a Tuesday night.