I kind of feel like every episode exists within its own continuity. How else can you explain Jessica Fletcher stumbling upon 200 + murders over the period of 12 Years? Any episode that is a sequel to another would exist in the same world as its prequel.
Each episode exists in its own universe, like the DC Comics crisis on infinite Earths.
That or she is the Angel of Death.
shareNot many spies save the world from evil as often as James Bond or James West, either. Some people are just lucky. And some shows, like Bones, deal with more serial killers in a season than have probably existed in the last 100 years. LOL
shareI like your multiple-universe theory!
What about multiple episodes with the same main guest character -- e.g., does Harry McGraw exist in just one universe, or one universe per episode?
In a way, this is analogous to somebody's theory (in another thread) that each episode actually occurs in Jessica's head as she works out the plot for her next novel. Of course it'd be highly unusual for any one author (especially one who didn't start writing till late middle age) to write, what, 12 x 20-some novels in their lifetime -- but perhaps only a small percentage of her plots actually make it into book form.
Eh, that's how the "cozy" murder mystery genre runs, some random caterer, housewife, or bookshop owner who lives in a small town happens to have 20-30 of their nearest and dearest horribly murdered, and between including recipes in the books, nails the murderer ahead of the police every single time! Mystery fans just accept the ludicrousness of it all if they like the book, because they're just having a bit of fun and not studying for a PhD.
Except the books are a lot more complex and interesting than an episode of this show, which pays homage to all the cliches of the genre without having the time to build a solid story to support the cliches. So the show can play like a parody of the mystery genre.