you ve simply been outdone. oh. (chuckles) wow. what did, uh, olivier say to that? he said. (imitates laurence olivier) my dear girl, you have the makings of a theater critic. (martha and castle laugh) (normal voice) and so here i am. yes, indeed, you are. oh, by the way, i don t know if i told you that recently, i opened my own acting school. martha. how wonderful. thank you. how good of you to share your years and. years of experience with a new generation. yes, we are very proud. and i was wondering, perhaps you might consider stopping by and sitting in on a class or two, and then if you felt so inclined, mentioning our little school in one of your wonderful columns. i d be happy to do that. you just tell me where and when. well, that s lovely. i just hope you re not teaching your students
of maggie in cat on a hot tin roof, are you? that was 1983. i think i m over it. martha rodgers as maggie the cat is more of a helpless kitten, mewing and flapping her hands when she doesn t get her way. you memorized it? i couldn t help it. you walked around the apartment quoting it for months. mother, i m just saying, maybe it s not a good idea to ask an important favor of someone who s been so. unkind to you in the past. the operative word here is past. i think i can rise above. besides, my acting school is more important to me than some old grudge. well, that s very mature of you, mother. thank you. if tennessee williams knew what crimes martha rodgers had committed against this audience in his name, he would have her arrested for assault. (exhales) rising above. (beckett) come on, castle. how mean can this critic be? i m just afraid that she s gonna get her heart broken, you know? i mean, you know my mother. on the exterior, she s a tough cookie. but underneath all that
fat chance of that. just remember, martha, those who can t do teach. and those who can t teach become theater critics. ha! ha! (door opens and slams) gram. oh. ohh. could ve been worse. (castle) it couldn t have been worse. my mother exposed her gooey center, and oona marconi drove a stake through it. well, tell her, i feel her pain. thanks. i will. anything new on the case? yeah, unis found the cafe that odette went to at 11:00 a.m. the day that she was killed. scoring drugs off her mystery man? more like scoring a fat-free latte. she met up with a friend for coffee. suzanne steiner. a friend? leaving the studio on show day was a very big deal. what was so important that it couldn t wait? according to suzanne, she just wanted to talk about old times. hey, we got a fax from the lab. that clear vial of liquid that we found at odette s apartment? it wasn t illegal drugs.
your little trick of tilting your head before delivering an important line of dialogue. (chuckles) i don t do that. well, you did it when you played maggie the cat. oh, and you fluttered your hands like little bird wings. i kept waiting for you to take off. who wants pie? alexis, would you mm-hmm. thank you. i believe that was the year that i was nominated for a tony. well, perhaps the american theatre wing is more tolerant of head tilting and hand fluttering than i am. (exhales) oh, martha, i m just teasing. you can t possibly still be upset about that old review. let s not say anything we ll regret. that was no review. that was a hatchet job. it was vicious and it was uncalled for. and it was also accurate. (lowered voice) rise above. rise above? you know what, oona? i rescind my request. there is no way i would accept your endorsement of my school now if you begged me.