MovieChat Forums > Soap (1977) Discussion > why was Burt on the list of those who ki...

why was Burt on the list of those who killed Peter?

posted 15 years ago by wermuth601
11 replies | jump to latest

At the end of one of the "who killed Peter?" episodes, the narrarator says "Jessica did not kill Peter. One of the following did...", and five different characters were shown, Burt being among them. But Burt was the first one to know of the murder, and his reaction was shown. He came to Peter's apartment, saw him dead, and was shocked. He shouldn't have been one of those suspects.

Sure, he could have been the killer in the same way Chester was, with him losing memory, but at the time viewers wouldn't have known that the killer had a memory problem.

[–] sarahllsjones 15 years ago

Police chief Tinkler had called each and everybody, including the dummy, a suspect, which is why the narrator calls Burt a suspect.

by the way, loved the way Tinkler says to Benson that he (Benson) is a suspect simply because he is black!!!

[–] wermuth601 14 years ago

I wasn't talking about the episode where the cop first tells everybody that they are all suspects, but the episode form closer to the end of the season. The narrarator says "Jessica Tate did not kill Peter. One of the following did...", before listing Burt, Chester, Jodie, Benson, and Corine.

[–] valboyz2000 14 years ago

I understand what you are saying, especially since Burt found Peter.
My guess would be that it added to the suspense as a cliffhanger.
I guess making Burt a possible suspect (out of the 5) really made some people wonder and think back on the season, maybe looking for clues they missed.

Plus we already know from the season that Burt did kill someone, self-defense or not.

[–] macpro75 14 years ago

Plus we already know from the season that Burt did kill someone, self-defense or not.

It's been a while but I thought that while there was a self-defense angle, the actual fall was literally an accident.

"It's a real burden being right so often." Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Firefly

[–] apri89-1 14 years ago

ah ah Benson wasnt a suspect only because he was black...it was because he was the butler and everybody knows the butler always did it where do you think the expression comes from?

[–] bbraat 12 years ago

You're right. The police chief said it was both because he was black and the butler.

[–] rebound4july 12 years ago

The thing that never made since about the whole interrogation scene by Tinkler was that he keeps asking everyone if they had someone who could vouch for where they were that night, and nobody did; but when he names Burt and Mary as suspects he doesn't ask them that question, and they don't bother to tell him that they were together that night even though they were (it was their first night of sex after Burt's impotence ended).

One of my favorite parts of that scene is when Tinkler tells Jodie that he's a suspect because he's gay, Benson says "That's almost as good as my reason."

[–] bbraat 12 years ago

Benson had most of the best lines of that show! It was too bad that he had to play more of a straight man in Benson. On Soap he was a great wisecracker.

[–] TheFatDruidofNacyl 12 years ago

Well they could have had Burt diagnosed with a "multiple Personality Disorder", which would give him two distinct personalities. One personality kills him, and the other finds the body and is shocked.

Come visit my blackrosecastle.com
stephentheblackroseenterprises.com

[–] happipuppi13 12 years ago

I thought it was far more ridiculous that Jodie was a suspect.

I watched the show back in the 70s on ABC,I always knew it was Chester.

happipuppi13 *arf,man!*!

[–] TheFatDruidofNacyl 12 years ago

Well Jodie could have been a suspect if he made a pass at Peter in private and Peter became violent or abusive as a response.

Come visit my blackrosecastle.com
stephentheblackroseenterprises.com