Soap: Episode 25

Soap: Episode 25
ABC
March 28, 1978
Dramedy
DVD
B+

Carol asks Jodie to live with her, shortly before Dennis shows up.  His wife has left him and he's realized he still loves Jodie.  Father Tim tells Corinne he's leaving the priesthood and wants to marry her.  (Eunice has to leave the room because she's laughing too much.)  And Mr. Lefkowitz wants Danny to marry Elaine in three weeks' time, or else he'll kill Danny's family.  Mallu confesses his love to Jessica, who pretends to be teaching Mallu the Hustle when Chester walks in.  And the jury finds Jessica guilty, although Rod Roddy, in one of the best cliffhangers ever on TV, tells us that Jessica Tate did not kill Peter Campbell, but one of these five people did: Benson, Burt, Chester, Corinne, or Jodie.

I got chills watching and hearing that in '82, but at least I didn't have to wait months to find out the answer.  (I think it was just the weekend, since Soap aired every weekday in syndication.)  Assuming you already know, I won't put spoiler space as I talk about the plausibility of each:

• Benson could've possibly killed Peter because he is fond of Jessica and to a lesser extent Corinne, and he might've done this out of protection.  Still, I just can't see Benson committing murder.  Going over and beating up Peter, or at least devastating him with a put-down, sure.  If he had been guilty, then his scene where he promises, with few words, to take care of the family if Jessica is jailed, is less touching and more Machiavellian.
• Would Burt kill his own son?  Yes, he killed Johnny Dallas, but that was in self-defense.  Burt was thrilled to have both his sons in town after not seeing them in years.  Also, we saw Burt discover the body and he was devastated by grief for weeks.  Furthermore, that was the night that he finally made love to Mary again and he celebrated the next morning by making pancakes.  Not exactly the behavior of a murderer.
• Chester seems not to have known that Peter was having an affair with Jessica, although he could've been pretending that he didn't find out until after Peter's death.  Would he have been upset enough about Peter shacking up with Corinne that he'd have killed Peter to defend the honor of his far from virginal daughter?  Unlikely, but possible.
• Corinne did threaten Peter and she certainly had motive enough.  Of the five, she's the one I probably would've put my money on, although she likely didn't expect her mother to be sentenced for the murder.
• Eunice said of Jodie, "Please, the man couldn't even kill himself."  I suppose it's possible that Jodie used the date with Nurse Nancy as a cover to kill Peter, but then why would he admit skipping the date?  And what's his motive?  Hypothetically, he could've been dating or wanting to date Peter (there's no proof one way or the other that Peter wasn't bi and he would fit the stereotype of an "anything that moves" bisexual, which was particularly strong in that era), but it's hard to imagine that going on at the same time that Jodie was planning to get a sex change as a way to hold onto Dennis.  Of the five, Jodie is the least likely suspect after Burt, although I may be influenced by how sweet and likable Crystal is in the role.

Tim Rossovich again plays the Bodyguard and, without any lines, manages to have a funny moment with Jodie.

Well, I enjoyed the first season much more than I expected.  Perhaps enough time had passed, or maybe seeing it in context with other shows of its era helped.  Also, I know that the last season is weaker, so maybe I'd forgotten how good Soap could get in the early days.  In any case, except for the misstep of the "Elaine rapes Danny" episode, I gave out mostly Bs, in a B- to B+ range.  It's one thing for Three's Company to average a B in its six-episode first season, but this is really impressive.  I don't recall if Season Two is this good, but I recall some threads and moments I liked.