Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Day 247: Columbo, Murder, Smoke and Shadows




Show: Columbo
Episode Particulars: S8EP2, “Murder, Smoke and Shadows”, original airdate February 27th, 1989.

 Summary: Alex Bradey (Fisher Stevens) is a successful young director who’s let the success get to his head. So when his old friend Leonard Fisher (Jeff Perry) shows up with proof of a past misdeed that could ruin Bradey’s career, Bradey sets things up so that Fisher winds up electrocuted on the big city set. Then he dumps the body on the beach and tries to make it unrecognizable to the cops. Of course, something like that isn’t going to stop Columbo, although it’s aided and abetted by a book about Bradey’s movies that fell out of Fisher’s pocket that just happens to have Bradey’s private number in it. And while Bradey does his best to feign mild interest in Columbo’s case, Columbo knows just how to get under Bradey’s skin, especially by entering and exiting right on cue…


Standalone Thoughts: Here’s a shocker for you; while I appreciate some of the little glimpses into the world of movie-making, it’s not enough for me to give this episode a pass. While I’m not entirely sure who to blame for the biggest problem I have with the episode, I can pinpoint exactly what the problem is—Alex Bradey.

On paper, it seems like a fun idea. Given that Bradey’s a hotshot young director who’s made some enormous successes, I have the very distinct impression that he’s supposed to be a riff on Steven Spielberg, and there could have been some neat little homages in there, maybe even a nod to the fact that he’d been involved with Columbo before. Or given the repeated discussion of special effects, maybe Bradey could have used special effects to disguise or hide the murder, and thus have it tie in more with his profession. Instead, the murder is relatively pedestrian (make a few tweaks and this could have been a rich man killing someone after having his gardener hose down the driveway) and Bradey comes across as an egotistical jerk. I’m sure that was part of the intent (although that then makes me wonder what the writers had against Spielberg), but I also feel like Fisher Stevens wasn’t a very strong actor, making the role even more unpleasant to watch. And since we spend the majority of our time with him, the episode winds up dragging.

It doesn’t help that it feels like Columbo isn’t in the episode all that much. Other than one or two scenes, all the attention seems to be on Bradey and his work, thus keeping us from the normal Columbo routine. And when they do interact, it’s mostly bland, with Columbo bringing up his evidence while Bradey impatiently snaps at him and waits for him to get on with it. The one exception to this is a scene where Bradey uses special effects to illuminate a picket fence while he and Columbo discuss the case. In another story, this could have been a brilliant “dancing around the issue” scene, but here it just comes across as pretentious and unrealistic, because while camera tricks and editing can make the scene work for the audience, it wouldn’t have actually been appearing the way it did to Columbo, so it’s a meta moment that completely falls apart. I really wanted to like the scene, given my interests, but I just can’t in this context.

While I won’t say this episode is outright bad, it’s certainly not very good either. It might be entertaining enough if you catch it on TV, but I wouldn’t go out of your way to check it out. At least, not when there are several other, better Columbos involving TV or movies that you can watch instead. I’d go for “Fade in to Murder”, myself.

Number of “Columbo-isms”: We get another perfect 6/6 today. The car pops up several times, there’s a literal “Just one more thing”, Dog makes a cameo, there’s a large scene involving fumbling, Mrs. Columbo gets mentioned once or twice, and although you have to listen carefully, “This Old Man” plays on the soundtrack. I didn’t expect to get another perfect score again, but I’m certainly not complaining.

Other: *To answer a question from my previous review; the music was light on the synths today, and the lighting was much warmer, which suggests there’s not going to be a trend in the 80’s episodes. I guess the crew just wanted to give off a creepy vibe for “Columbo Goes to the Guillotine” for some reason.

*When Fisher spots Bradey on the studio lot, he hops out of the tour bus he’s on and runs after him. My problem with this is, shouldn’t someone have said something? The tour guide probably saw him do it and I’m guessing this sort of thing isn’t allowed. It would have been much more believable if the tour had been on foot and he’d slipped away, or if he pretended to go to the bathroom after the tour was over and snuck in that way. As it is, it breaks my suspension of disbelief slightly.

*I had no idea that money belts used to be literal belts with secret pockets, instead of the large pouches I’m used to. I guess that explains where the term came from, but I never would have thought that’s how they got started. Live and learn.

Would This Hold Up in Court?: I don’t think so. Columbo obtained his two major pieces of evidence without a warrant (though one of these is more egregious than the other), and he outright admits that he staged a situation to trap Bradey, a situation that doesn’t necessarily prove anything anyway. It’s suspicious, but not damning, so while there’s a chance he might get convicted, it might be a lighter sentence than he deserves. Still, given Bradey’s name and wealth, the odds are even higher he’ll be able to beat the rap. Or perhaps he’ll find a way to pull a disappearing act…


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