Amy (Dee Wallace) has a problem. A mentally unstable man has been stalking her and making her life miserable. Yet, she says, the police will do nothing. Now I know cops back in the day weren't as likely to act in many domestic cases, but considering Amy doesn't even know the guy and he's this crazy, their unwillingness to help is perplexing. What is also perplexing is how when she seeks help from Barnaby's office, Jedediah makes some very inappropriate comments...such as asking her if she REALLY wants the guy to stop!! What a pig...and occasionally in this series, Jedediah acts like a pig...and the writing for his character were often spotty throughout his time on the show.
Following this meeting, Jedediah follows Amy as she goes about her day. Soon he sees the creep (John de Lancie) come into the bank where she works and he will not leave her alone. So, she leaves...telling her boss she is sick and must leave. On the way out, the creep follows her and at the park, there's a confrontation between him and Jedediah and Jedediah decks him *, At this point, the guy not only wants the girl, but he wants revenge against Jedediah. Oddly, Jedediah seems surprised when the creep and his friends soon begin pursuing him and Amy as they try to go on a weekend getaway. Can Barnaby find them and come to their aid? And, when Amy and Jedediah take refuge in an empty house, why did it take them so long look for a gun or a knife or some other weapon?! And when Amy called the police and her call was cut off, why didn't the police do ANYTHING or think something might be amiss?? Later, when Barnaby asks the dispatcher if he received any unusual calls, he never mentioned this disconnected call and only talked about it when Barnaby saw the call log!
If the previous episode, "Uninvited Peril", had not been the worst episode of season six, I might have nominated "Terror on a Quiet Afternoon" for this dubious distinction. Often the writing is just bad and makes little sense...and Jedediah's sexist remarks seemed boorish and out of place compared to how he behaved during the rest of the episode. The only plus is at the end, as Jedediah actually isn't useless!
This show could have been a sensitive and intelligent look at stalking which could have educated the viewer. Instead it just came off as poorly written and dumb...and a bit sexist.
*Mark Shera appears to be about 5'7" or so, and according to IMDB, John de Lancie is 6'4". While such a small guy might be able to deck the big guy, it did seem a bit unlikely.