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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 283159" data-attributes="member: 23">Murder, Smoke and Shadows continued As with the previous episode, this instalment suffers badly from filler, cheesy moments and an overuse of gimmickry which badly dilutes the story and makes viewing range from less interesting to downright dull. The scene with Brady’s spiel about light and shadows while he pretends to walk past an endless fence is an example. Not only was it silly to begin with, but Columbo was immediately on board with the performance, making the whole thing far too contrived and theatrical.  It helped not that it ended with Brady talking intensely about his power to kill while looking into Columbo’s eyes, all but confessing before the lights come on and he’s all smiley. This echoed an earlier moment where he gravely “joked” to Lenny that he was going to kill him, before doing just that, which was another I found jarringly unbelievable. Perhaps because of his age, I don’t feel Fisher Stevens had the requisite gravitas to carry off either of those moments. In fact the Brownstone Street scene leading up to the murder - in which Brady tap danced and swung round lampposts while talking about the magic of film was just embarrassing. It was just a set, for God’s sake. Even in 1989, viewers were far too sophisticated to be impressed by that alone. And that’s even putting aside the irony of the big talk about great filmmaking taking place in a sub-par episode that fails to deliver magic and surprises on any level. Then there’s the endurance test scene of the episode: Brady taking Columbo up on the crane and having his crew move it up and down, back and forth until the Lieutenant is completely nauseated. It’s not a bad idea in principle, but it drags on and on - all to the tune of Strauss’s On The Beautiful Blue Danube. What could have been shown to us in fifteen seconds goes on for several minutes until it can’t feel like anything but tedious filler. It adds nothing to plot, has nothing in terms of character and doesn’t even interest visually. It’s a mediocre scene that, for reasons unknown, seems determined to thrust its mediocrity down the viewer’s throats until they gag. Not even the Gotcha is spared such guff. Setting the antagonist up up by using Brady’s colleagues as bait and a bunch of Columbo’s colleagues as extras-cum-witnesses is extravagant, but in character for Columbo. So is projecting footage of Brady’s original sin onto the screen as he lowers the boom. But then the officers then take bows under in the spotlight as canned applause rings out, with Columbo briefly being shown in a ringmaster’s costume as he takes his. The lily is well and truly gilded. And it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I can't help feeling these new episodes would be so much better if they were half an hour shorter and they stopped trying so hard to be clever. </blockquote>

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