Mind Over Mayhem

It's one of the better ones but it has a strange setting. Dr. Nicholson played by Hollywood actor, Lew Ayres, is an aging doctor with a young, attractive but equally successful psychologist played by Jessica Walter (mom from Arrested Development) and Jose Ferrer as the chief suspect in the crime. Even COlumbo has his work cut out for him because all of these intellectuals are geniuses as well. Anyway, COlumbo surrounded by geniuses has been done in another film. But in this episode, it's a small community. Jose Ferrer plays a devoted father but his son is keeping secrets from him that will not only destroy his career but his father's as well. The pressure must be unbearable in their community. Anyway, the story works fine with great actors like Lew Ayres, Peter Falk, Jessica Walter, and Jose Ferrer.

PLOT: The director of a cybernetic think tank (José Ferrer) runs down a colleague after he threatens to expose his son as a fraud (Robert Walker Jr.); he makes the crime look like a murder/robbery. Jessica Walter, the psycho-biyatch from "Play Misty for Me" (1971), is on hand as the young man's therapist and wife of the victim.

COMMENTARY: The cybernetic institute filled with geniuses, researchers and militarists is an interesting setting. The torso half of Robby the Robot from "Forbidden Planet" (1956) shows up, as does "Dog" in a few amusing scenes.

It is stressed that the young wife (Walter) genuinely loves her older husband, but she curiously doesn't grieve much and doesn't seem overly interested in helping the investigation. The way Columbo stages an abusive false accusation at the close is disturbing, but it shows that he cares about justice above legal correctness and social niceties, which is also emphasized in "Strange Bedfellows" (1995).

GRADE: B

The plot was good but the writers for Columbo don't do Sci-Fi/mystery all that well. The Institute is a gee wiz think tank that is a little too much to believe. Add in the Robot and real world is kind of pushed aside. Add in the pre-pubessant genius and it steps even farther away from the real world. I won't say it was dreadful, it stretches reality a bit far. I keep waiting for the robot to wave its arms while shouting, "Danger, danger, rum Will Robinson" Even the military gathered around the game board is very far from what it would really be like. That much brass in that room brings huge egos that tend to shout and posture a lot. This war game was way too sedate and quiet. It is interesting to watch Lt Columbo navigate thru a think tank that is way too fake.

The episode is not a total loss as the Lt. does what he soes best, chew through the misplaced Sci-Fi BS to find the perp.

I may be biased, as I have always loved Columbo, but I really liked Mind Over Mayhem and found it very entertaining. Is it one of the best Columbos? No. But it is far from the worst. The story is very clever and absorbing overall, but has some implausibilities, I was confused about the purpose of the brandy glass and I didn't find it very easy to believe that a murderer so intelligent would trip himself up so badly and obviously with the cigar. I think these two could have been avoided, if the episode was 5 minutes longer. On the other, as usual it is a beautifully shot episode, with a fitting music score and great episode, Cahill's "...you have a very transparent mind..." being the best of the entire episode. Peter Falk is as ever sublime as Columbo, with great comic timing and his scenes with Ferrer's Cahill beautifully dynamic. Jose Ferrer is excellent, his character Cahill very intelligent and pompous. Robert Walker Jnr and Lew Ayres also give good performances, and it was a joy seeing Robby the Robot and he is well used. The reference to Steven Spielberg is unsubtle I give you that, but I didn't see it as much of a problem. All in all, entertaining and definitely worth seeing. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Dr. Marshall Cahill (José Ferrer) is the director of a government institute that employs various scientific geniuses, including the elderly Dr. Nicholson (Lew Ayres) who knows that Cahill's son Neil (Robert Walker, Jr.) has plagiarized a dead man's theory of molecular structure. When Nicholson threatens exposure, Dr. Cahill murders him and cleverly makes the killing look like the job of a heroin junkie who needed his fix. But clever or not, another kind of genius is on the case: our rumpled Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk).

Alf Kjellin directs a script by Steven Bochco and Dean Hargrove and delivers a fine "Columbo" episode. Ferrer is a fascinating actor, who achieves a great deal with minimal affectation: his performance is a treat. Robert Walker, Jr., the son of the "Strangers on a Train" star, proves to be interesting: his face make him look like a combination of his father and Boris Karloff. Jessica Walter, the psychopathic one-night stand in "Play Misty for Me," has a more sympathetic role here: as Nicholson's young wife and Neil's psychiatrist. A boy genius played by Lee Montgomery is named Steve Spelberg: add an "i" and you have the director of "Columbo: Murder by the Book." (But he hadn't yet made "Jaws.") Columbo's basset hound, Dog, makes one of his infrequent appearances. But the best supporting performance comes from Robby the Robot of "Forbidden Planet" and the TV series "Lost in Space." Here he's an accomplice to murder!

Best line: Cahill pompously telling Columbo, "You know, you have a very transparent mind, which in no way implies clear thinking." Don't be too sure, doc.