#4.6.24

Yeah so here's something different. Very directly as a consequence of me mostly watching anime I don't enjoy recently, but then neither wanting to rewatch anything and being apprehensive about starting something new for a variety of reasons, I felt I needed a change of pace. Just launch myself into something completely different, that I could hopefully be invested in. And Columbo is what I ended up with. It's been implanted into my mind with its somewhat recent resurgance on tumblr, randomly getting recommended the blog Columbophile, seeing the very nice looking DVD boxset for sale in hmv, and the final nail in the coffin being some even more recent twitter memes regarding the series. "Let's watch Columbo" I decided. And here we are.

So, this is my first introduction to Columbo, with its pilot episode. And I liked it! Quite a bit! This is a very different type of media in general for me, so I don't know how much I'll have to say about any given episodes just because they're completely not what I'm used to, but certainly I like where we're at right now.

There's a lot of time well spent on merely setting up the murder - I believe this is what's famous about the series anyway but it's entirely not a whodunnit - we see exactly how the murder happens, exactly who does it, pretty much every part of why they did it, and even a lot of time spent on clean-up. Honestly at the beginning of the episode, Flemming is so meticulous that you begin to wonder how he's even gonna be caught. And throughout the episode they answer that very well, and very very gradually.

It turns into this clash of personalities really, two bright minds up against one another, one intentionally demeaning himself and the other so prideful that he basically admits to everything. But the pair have a read on one another as well - Columbo knows Flemming did it and Flemming basically explains Columbo's entire shtick to us anyway. Undermine himself, present as small, unkempt, distracting, downright annoying most of the time. Flemming gets the read on him but even then Columbo is so persistent and annoying that the man cracks.

Although per the episode's own calling attention to it, Joan was the real weak link in the entire ordeal - frankly she was just less invested than Flemming was, tripped him up because of it. I do think the final scene that plays out to get the confession was maybe a little contrived - wasn't really a conclusion to the bouncing pride and intelligence of Columbo and Flemming, rather just a scenario that came up to end the story, but like, eh. I appreciate that Joan... doesn't quite get off scot-free or anything but she could've had it worse, I think Flemming would rather she had it worse. This ending ends up working the best narratively for pretty much everyone involved. Like if she died it'd be unfair that she had the worst fate even though she was hesitant, you know? This was good.

That's pretty much the main things I've got to say about the episode. Fascinating as a more general statement to go back to a live action show from this long ago - honestly there are devices I don't even recognise, an aesthetic so far removed from my life but recent enough to feel real, or something. It's neat. I don't usually watch anything this old or anything live action to begin with, so like, yeah.