This episode for aired November 22, 1992

This is the only episode where Columbo is actually at the scene to witness the murder.

This is the only episode where Columbo must contend with THREE murders.

The football footage shown pitting the fictional Stallions against Elks at the beginning is actually old footage from the Canadian Football League featuring the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Edmonton Eskimos…who eventually changed their name to the Elks.

Holy! Our old friend Don S. Davis in the opening titles!

Written by Jackson Gillis who scripted classics like “Suitable for Framing”, “Requiem for a Falling Star”, “Double Shock”, and “Troubled Waters”. This bodes well!

It’s BJ from BJ and the Bear!

And Cagney! Or is it Lacey?

Whoa! I thought Delores was his mom – up until the point where she kisses him full on the lips.

Kicking on third down? This IS the CFL.

Oh, man, I feel his pain. My Snow Monkey are floundering in my fantasy football league.

A thrilling but highly implausible turn-of-events for the Stallions.

Clearly marked “EXPLOSIVE POWDER”. Not exactly an inspired name for the product.

It’s a manual titled “How to Make a Pipe Bomb”. The subtle foreshadowing! Next let’s have a scene of him online checking out the article: “How to kill your wealthy football team-owning uncle”.

What?! Big Fred was the victim of a hit-and-run? What a twist!

Harold driving onto the estate with the grief-stricken widow looks…mighty suspicious. They seem very…close.

Finding Columbo in the car is a funny bit that also adds some tension when you realize it contains the bomb.

“And if we have to move it, I’m sure we can find the key.” Uh oh.

Loving this tense little sequence. That car bomb is like Chekov’s Gun.

Someone stole the gardener’s truck to commit the hit-and-run!

Another wonderfully suspenseful little moment of Harold ALMOST retrieving the bomb – only to be interrupted.

Well, all these cars can back up…OR someone could move the Rolls.

Oh no! Poor Fernando, blown to smithereens.

Delores wants to fire GM Don!

The camera crew has footage of the bomb going off. I suspect this will come in handy down the line.

The poor salesman as Columbo crawls under the car and asks for a pair of pliers.

Why is he drawing a crowd of onlookers? What is so amusing about him crawling under a car? This bit is just weird.

Aha. The scuff marks his heels left on the showroom floor!

Why are these people applauding? I guess this is supposed to be…funny?

“If he’s left-handed, like you are…”Columbo tells Harold.

“Those Beverly Hills cowboy boots. The ones I’ve seen you wearing.” Oh, he is so cooked.

Delores finally cuts Harold off. The gravy train has stopped running! Is he going to have to kill her?

No. Worse (for him). He’s going to blackmail her because he knows she’s responsible for Big Fred’s death.

Who is going to kill who first?

She packs away…her milk?

“But, Harold – this is the last time.” As she racks the slide on her gun.

Police have been called to the scene. Harold is dead. This is a fun episode!

Columbo is running late because he’s been working on a crossword puzzle. Wonder if one of the crossword answers will figure into a crime scene revelation. [Spoiler alert: It does not.]

It doesn’t look like the usually sympathetic Columbo is buying Delores’s sob story.

Why is Columbo instructing the photographer to snap photos of Dolores’s car? Dolores is clearly uncomfortable.

Aha! The 2:30 to Chicago was circled. How convenient.

Looks like the bed wasn’t slept in.

5k found in his boot. Where else would you keep your cash? Loose change goes in your shoes.

The way Columbo is handling those damp, cheesy socks makes me shudder.

Okay, with the invitation to the poker tourney we’ve clearly established this guy never went to bed.

“Either Harold was lying to Dolores, or Dolores was lying to us.”

In reviewing footage of the car bomb going off, we note that Harold flinches BEFORE the explosion. Not really, but close enough I guess.

Columbo is laying it out for Delores, catching her out on her lies. This is the clever Columbo I have missed.

Also, Columbo admits his feet sweat: “Very bad”.

Aha! Freshly cut hairs inside Harold’s cowboy hat found at her place upends her timeline!

“You’ve been a big help, Bertie. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.” But don’t feel sorry for Bertie. He will some day go on to command a secret military operation beneath Cheyenne Mountain.

Her outfit makes her look like the statue of liberty. Assuming that was intentional?

Well, I really enjoyed this episode. I think one of the big reasons is that, aesthetically, it didn’t FEEL to me like a 90’s episode. It had all of the charm and look of classic Columbo. It also helped that we had a terrific script from series veteran Jackson Gillis, a story with some fun twists and turns that, while atypical for the show, was still very much in the spirit of its predecessors. Sure, some of the clues and detective work felt a little clunky and easy, but that’s on par with Columbo’s. There were, admittedly, a few grips – the crowd of bewilderingly delighted spectators to Columbo’s show room antics, and the fact that neither Harold nor Delores possessed the gravitas or charisma of past murderers – but still, all in all, a surprisingly enjoyable episode.

Will the next episode, “It’s All in the Game”, continue the show’s current win streak? Written by Peter Falk and guest-starring two of my favorites in Faye Dunaway and Claudia Christian. This also bodes very well.

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