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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 288318" data-attributes="member: 23">Columbo Likes The Nightlife continuedDespite Vanessa Farrow being the cause of the first death, she ends up being very much sidelined by the end of the first act as Justin Price commits the episode’s premeditated murder to cover up the initial murder. It’s a fairly simple transition on paper, but because the first death in Columbo is usually the key one, it does make things feel a little off-kilter in terms of setting up the episode’s main antagonist as Justin goes from accessory after the fact to cold-blooded killer. Not helping the situation is that twenty nine year old Matthew Rhys doesn’t have a particularly strong presence to my mind. Certainly not the presence, intensity and/or charm I’ve come to expect in Columbo killers. There’s a certain kind of naturalism to his performance that would probably make him right for a contemporary soapy drama (I’ve never seen Brothers & Sisters due to my aversion to Callista Flockhart but it seems he was well-received there). But here he never got there in terms of being a memorable adversary. It’s not all down to him, though. The plot called for young trendies and so the die was cast. It's also worth noting that, while owning and running a nightclub is an achievement, Price lacked the kind of real influence or power that often makes Columbo antagonists feel more challenging to catch. There was never any question of Columbo being pressured into stopping (in fact, the powerful and dangerous influences were well and truly on Columbo's side this time round) and no element of doubt that he'd catch this young man.  The good news is that while the writing created a situation with some challenges to the formula, it also overcame most of them to a lesser or greater degree. There were two words Price kept using that irritated me no end as the episode went on. One was “babe”, which he repeatedly called Vanessa during all their conversations. The other was “Lieutenant”. The latter being because one of my bugbears is British people using American pronunciations which invariably sounds a bit silly and childish (and at worst is cultural appropriation). But then I suppose it could be argued that he’s living in Los Angeles, and when in Rome…It’s a slightly surreal treat to hear a Cardiff accent on Columbo. It’s an underrepresented accent on TV and film even in the UK. It’s almost a shame none of the characters commented on it. continued...</blockquote>

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