Marking his 2nd of four appearances, Robert Culp guest stars as a man who murders the owner of the team in a very clever way, by luring the victim into his pool, clocking him with a chunk of ice, and leaving him to drown. One quick toss of the ice in the pool and boom, no murder weapon.
Columbo's method of figuring it out is quite good, and the episode features great support from Susan Howard, Valerie Harper in a brief appearance, Dean Jagger as the family lawyer who doesn't get along with Culp's Paul Hanlon, as well as some "Repeat offenders" including Val Avery, who made a number of appearances in the series, James Gregory as a Coach (Previously a victim in "Short Fuse") And Dean Stockwell is the victim, and later returned as a framed third party in "Troubled Waters".
But the real stars here are Peter Falk and Robert Culp, and once again, they make the episode. Falk never put in a bad performance as Lt. Columbo, and you really have to hand it to Robert Culp for creating such 3 vividly different murderers for the series. Not only to each of his characters look different (Cassidy never bothered much with an attempt to look different in his three appearances) But each one is a completely different characterization. I felt pity for his Investigator Brimmer, contempt for Paul Hanlon, and reveled in his third visit to the series, as Bart Keppel in "Double Exposure". Truly some of the best interplay between Columbo and the killer ever in the series.
On first viewing, I liked Culp's three episodes, but that was it. Now having seen them multiple times, the chemistry between Falk and Culp shows and all three of his appearances are among my favorite episodes.
This one is definitely worth a look, as are Culp's first appearance in "Death Lends a Hand" and his final appearance as the killer (But not the series) in "Double Exposure" (Culp returned to the series one more time as an innocent 3rd party in "Columbo Goes to College")
Columbo's method of figuring it out is quite good, and the episode features great support from Susan Howard, Valerie Harper in a brief appearance, Dean Jagger as the family lawyer who doesn't get along with Culp's Paul Hanlon, as well as some "Repeat offenders" including Val Avery, who made a number of appearances in the series, James Gregory as a Coach (Previously a victim in "Short Fuse") And Dean Stockwell is the victim, and later returned as a framed third party in "Troubled Waters".
But the real stars here are Peter Falk and Robert Culp, and once again, they make the episode. Falk never put in a bad performance as Lt. Columbo, and you really have to hand it to Robert Culp for creating such 3 vividly different murderers for the series. Not only to each of his characters look different (Cassidy never bothered much with an attempt to look different in his three appearances) But each one is a completely different characterization. I felt pity for his Investigator Brimmer, contempt for Paul Hanlon, and reveled in his third visit to the series, as Bart Keppel in "Double Exposure". Truly some of the best interplay between Columbo and the killer ever in the series.
On first viewing, I liked Culp's three episodes, but that was it. Now having seen them multiple times, the chemistry between Falk and Culp shows and all three of his appearances are among my favorite episodes.
This one is definitely worth a look, as are Culp's first appearance in "Death Lends a Hand" and his final appearance as the killer (But not the series) in "Double Exposure" (Culp returned to the series one more time as an innocent 3rd party in "Columbo Goes to College")