Sometimes Columbo solves a case by tricking his suspect into giving himself away, and other times by discovering a damning piece of evidence against him. In this episode – and I'm going to give the ending away, so stop reading now if you haven't seen it – he does the latter. But the "damning" evidence is the flimsiest thing I've seen yet in a "Columbo" episode, and it partly spoils an otherwise excellent script.
The crime itself is splendid. The manager of a football team (Robert Culp) murders the swinger (Dean Stockwell) who inherited the franchise. Culp sets up his alibi by calling Stockwell from his booth at the stadium, having discovered that Stockwell's lawyer (Dean Jagger) recently had his own client's phones bugged. He persuades Stockwell to take his exercise in the pool – right away. Next, he disguises himself as a Ding-A-Ling ice cream truck driver, drives halfway to Stockwell's house, and calls him again from a phone booth. When he gets to the house, he takes a piece of ice, goes to the pool and knocks Stockwell out with it. He throws the ice into the water as the unconscious man drowns. Brilliant. Looks like the guy hit his head on the diving board or something. An accident. Only our rumpled Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) is on the case, and he has good reason to believe it was no accident.
You have seen this one, right? Because I'm spoiling everything. Anyway, it's excellent right up until the last moment. Not only is Columbo's evidence flimsy, but you realize the motive is never fully explained. Maybe I'm obtuse, but why was it necessary for Culp to murder Stockwell? I can see how he'd benefit from it. "The kid," as Culp calls him, is clearly a nuisance. But murder? Was it because the lawyer was going manipulate Stockwell into firing him? Were Culp and Stockwell's wife having an affair? I've seen this twice now, and it's still not clear to me.
Robert Culp and Peter Falk work beautifully together, which explains why Culp guest stars so often in this series. And as I said, the murder is splendid. There's a funny role for Valerie Harper as a call girl. This is even the episode where Columbo utters his most famous line: "What'd you pay for those shoes?" But that ending! Columbo discovers that Culp didn't make the second call from his booth because the clock in his booth would have chimed. But there are no chimes on the tapes made from the bugged phones. Big freaking deal! When Columbo reveals this shocking news, I expected Culp simply to make some excuse about the clock not working. Something. But then it turns out that's the end of the episode. Culp's alibi is destroyed? It's all over? Phooey.
Okay, I know, I know. The damning evidence in mysteries often requires a suspension of disbelief. In real life, some fancy lawyer would make short work of most of the proof offered in fiction. And I know Columbo has other evidence against Culp's character. But still clock chimes! Give me a break.
The crime itself is splendid. The manager of a football team (Robert Culp) murders the swinger (Dean Stockwell) who inherited the franchise. Culp sets up his alibi by calling Stockwell from his booth at the stadium, having discovered that Stockwell's lawyer (Dean Jagger) recently had his own client's phones bugged. He persuades Stockwell to take his exercise in the pool – right away. Next, he disguises himself as a Ding-A-Ling ice cream truck driver, drives halfway to Stockwell's house, and calls him again from a phone booth. When he gets to the house, he takes a piece of ice, goes to the pool and knocks Stockwell out with it. He throws the ice into the water as the unconscious man drowns. Brilliant. Looks like the guy hit his head on the diving board or something. An accident. Only our rumpled Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) is on the case, and he has good reason to believe it was no accident.
You have seen this one, right? Because I'm spoiling everything. Anyway, it's excellent right up until the last moment. Not only is Columbo's evidence flimsy, but you realize the motive is never fully explained. Maybe I'm obtuse, but why was it necessary for Culp to murder Stockwell? I can see how he'd benefit from it. "The kid," as Culp calls him, is clearly a nuisance. But murder? Was it because the lawyer was going manipulate Stockwell into firing him? Were Culp and Stockwell's wife having an affair? I've seen this twice now, and it's still not clear to me.
Robert Culp and Peter Falk work beautifully together, which explains why Culp guest stars so often in this series. And as I said, the murder is splendid. There's a funny role for Valerie Harper as a call girl. This is even the episode where Columbo utters his most famous line: "What'd you pay for those shoes?" But that ending! Columbo discovers that Culp didn't make the second call from his booth because the clock in his booth would have chimed. But there are no chimes on the tapes made from the bugged phones. Big freaking deal! When Columbo reveals this shocking news, I expected Culp simply to make some excuse about the clock not working. Something. But then it turns out that's the end of the episode. Culp's alibi is destroyed? It's all over? Phooey.
Okay, I know, I know. The damning evidence in mysteries often requires a suspension of disbelief. In real life, some fancy lawyer would make short work of most of the proof offered in fiction. And I know Columbo has other evidence against Culp's character. But still clock chimes! Give me a break.