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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 283319" data-attributes="member: 23">Sex And The Married DetectivecontinuedFortunately, with this episode it’s more good news than bad. It’s great to see Stephen Macht in a memorable role as ill-fated lothario David Kincaid. He’s most familiar to me from two of his Eighties roles: as Karen’s brother Joe Cooper in Knots Landing, and as Chris’s lover David Keeler in Cagney & Lacey. He’s always engaging and I find his natural style of acting quite fascinating. Every word feels spontaneous. Going on his appearance here, he also seems to get better looking with each passing year. It’s just a shame he was doomed to die in the first act here. Patrick Williams is on scoring duties and while he must take some of the blame for his part in the indulgent tuba scene (blame he shares with Falk, director James Frawley and writer Jerry Ludwig), he more than redeems himself with the rest of the score which feels like it would fit a Forties film noir. It’s quite different in tone from other Columbos, but not jarringly so as it fits the episode’s tone. There’s a fair bit of saxophone, which feels right for the female antagonist and the subject of sex which (it you’ll pardon the expression) comes up a fair bit. The key theme of the episode is especially good. It seems to use minor chords to make it sound more phantasmagoric and haunting and is incredibly effective. I’ve taken to calling it Lisa’s Theme as it’s used mostly in scenes where she appears, or in scenes when Joan is channelling her in some way. The theme of duality was interesting. At times it was almost getting into Val Ewing/Verna Ellers or Lisa Galloway/Jaime Sommers territory, with a pretended identity starting to become real in order to allow someone to behave and speak as they wouldn’t normally. There was an implicit question over Joan’s mental state, which could be an interesting angle (doctor, heal thyself). There was a little suspense with Joan carrying Lisa’s clothing round in her briefcase before trying to burn it. Columbo keeps finding reasons to pick up said briefcase, or to appear just as she’s about to throw the contents on to her fire. It was nicely written, but I feel could have been directed a little more effectively. Overall, the cinematography was nice in this episode, particularly in the final scenes which took place in the sex therapy room with its opulent colours (such an improvement from the bland pastels everywhere else this era), the roaring fire, low lights, and storm going on outside, with venetian blinds casting atmospheric shadows onto faces.The Gotcha was fine. While it may not have been the series’ finest, it did at least involve some common sense detective work from Columbo. And once the now-obligatory theatrics were over (this time involving a female police officer dressed as Lisa who vanished before Joan’s eyes. And a mannequin also dressed as Lisa), I appreciated the final conversation between Lisa and Columbo as they reached a moment of understanding. It was a nice moment for both. The difference between a good and bad Columbo episode can hinge on nothing more than the relationship between Columbo and the killer. And on that level, despite its flaws, this was a good one. </blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?