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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 283158" data-attributes="member: 23">Murder, Smoke and Shadows continued One unfortunate (though presumably intentional) aspect of Fisher’s young age was to highlight how much older Peter Falk now is. It’s not something I’d care to see too often, but it’s well-played here. There’s a nice lighthearted moment when Columbo leans back in a bean bag and struggles to get back up. It creates a very different dynamic from what we’d have got in earlier episodes. Lady In Waiting’s Beth Chadwick was possibly even younger, but it was a non-issue then because Columbo himself was almost two decades younger. There’s even a bit of a theme relating to age, perhaps best highlighted in one of my favourite scenes in the episode, a simple exchange Columbo has with Brady’s secretary, Rose Walker in which she laments about directors seeming so old when she was a young secretary, and how young they all seem now that she’s old. Empathy is writ large on Columbo’s face. Rose is the standout character of the episode for me. It’s not a large role, but there’s a bit of an arc including a bit of blackmail (which, as it turns out is set up by Columbo à la Ransom For A Dead Man), and she’s snappily played with a nice edge by Nan Martin. How funny that Molly Hagan should show up just three episodes after I mentioned that Kay Freestone had a Haganesque look to her. I know her best as young Miss Ellie on Dallas: The Early Years and her brief recurring role on Knots Landing as Meredith, the young researcher at Abby’s cable station PWC. She’s another of those comfortingly familiar faces and probably a qualifier for the “Actors that deserve a better career” thread. She does nice work with little material. Just as well, really.I’ve already briefly mentioned Jeff Parry. He’s not an actor with whom I’m familiar, but he’s terrific here and sells his role as victim Lenny Fisher a man facing up to the friend he’s discovered was present when his sister died and covered it up. I really believed his anger and heartbreak. It’s particularly refreshing to see someone who isn’t comfortable with confrontation, but who is doing it because he has to face the truth, all the while hoping he’s somehow wrong. It all adds a vulnerability to him and makes the following murder completely believable. Sadly, he had too little screen time, and I found myself thinking that his intense desperation would have made Jeff a great Columbo killer. continued...</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?