This episode first aired March 31, 1990.
This episode was written by Peter S. Fischer who also wrote “Publish or Perish”, “A Friend in Deed”, “An Exercise in Fatality”, and “Negative Reaction”.
The wife of the home buyer in the opening scene is played by Rosanna Huffman, wife of series co-creator Richard Levinson. She also played the part of Tracy O’Connor in “Suitable for Framing”.
My thoughts on this episode in chronological viewing order…
Opening on Mrs. Columbo’s funeral is a gut punch. Poor Columbo looks broken.
This Voice Over and flashback are weird.
“There’s a game at the Sports Arena.” Ah, yes. And I’m sure he is a huge fan of “home team”.
Ah, the maudlin mourning of her husband. Longingly trailing her fingers over the framed photo.
She is out for revenge. Leaves her half-finished drink and cigarette at the crime scene. Doesn’t do a very good job of getting rid of the murder weapon. It’s like she wants to be caught.
Back to the funeral and more V.O., this time by a meaningless character. What the hell is the dead man’s secretary doing at Mrs. Columbo’s funeral?
Mrs. Columbo has a dead thumb. Should it be a brown thumb?
Columbo admits he loves his wife. He wouldn’t know what to do with her. Is he setting her up?
Vivian’s story doesn’t add up. They’ve arrested past murderers with less evidence.
Back to the funeral and another cheesy V.O., this time from Lovejoy. What hell is HE doing at Mrs. Columbo’s funeral? Is the post-burial buffet that good?
Whenever they say Falcon Ridge, I think Falcon Crest. Similar vibe.
“You got a guy called Heinrich to make chili?”
They changed the recipe and it’s not longer quite as good – like these new Columbos.
Wish this revenge plot had been related to an actual past episode.
Wait! Now Columbo is saying they don’t have children, contradicting what he said in a previous episode. Are the online theories correct? Is he actually delusional and only imagining he has a wife?
She’d like to meet Mrs. Columbo? Oh, I bet she would.
“You won’t need a lawyer. We aren’t accusing you of anything.” Is that how it works?
Boy, this angry suspect is OTT.
What the hell is she rubbing on her face and lips while watching this slideshow? It looks like a cat’s paw.
Columbo talks about killing the taste of the snails, but didn’t he happily eat snails in a previous episode?
Oh, no! Mrs. Columbo was found on the kitchen floor!
Back to the funeral and the wrap-up. Lonely Columbo asking Vivian back to his place should be a red flag for her.
Why is she initially panicked at the sight of him eating the poisoned marmalade?
Warm. Sweaty. Dizzy. Columbo is a pretty good actor for a cop.
Why is she giving him a massage while admitting to the crime?
“I don’t think so ma’am. This is not my kitchen floor. And this is not my house.” Gotcha!
Ah, the old secret recording trick, one of the most unsatisfying of mystery tropes.
Of course he had the marmalade tested as soon as he received it.
I do like the slap and I do feel kind of sorry for her. Kind of.
And we end on Columbo calling to check in on his wife? Or his imaginary Mrs. Columbo.
While I do like the fact the production wanted to try something new with these silly voice overs and flashbacks, it really felt like they lacked faith in the show’s established formula (here and in recent episodes). If it aint broken, don’t fix it!
Overall, I thought this episode was fine – but found the whole Mrs. Columbo funeral charade pretty ridiculous. Still, I did like Helen Shaver’s Vivian Dimitri and thought it was an enjoyable (albeit predictable) Gotcha!
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I don’t feel sorry for her.
I liked the episode. Was that an unreliable narrative?
This season has very elaborate murders.
All that rain and at the end of the funeral everyone was dry. The casket has a few drops.
Very satisfying gotcha! Absolutely no doubt on guilty.
The ending was very touching (phone call with the wife).
Excellent review!
We’re heading to Hot Springs to visit family this weekend. Hubs and I will be bar hopping the breweries. Afterwards, son (he doesn’t drink) will be making sure we don’t walk in front of cars on our way back to the hotel. 🤣
Nice. Safe travels!
I forgot to add that in Columbo’s fake house, I have a couple of those display dishes. They are hand painted depression era. Just thought that was nice.
The only thing I got from all that is that Columbo murdered his own wife! Probably.
The funeral bothered me. It’s pouring rain, and the supposed widower is 1 of 2 with no umbrella. Nobody gave him one? Nobody scooted over and shared one with him? It made the funeral seem off to me. I was not buying it.
It bothered me when he was sitting with the dinning Doctor. The lamp in the middle of the table cast a shadow on Columbo. I was irritated with the show crew for letting that happen. Come on lighting crew. Pay attention. Lamps don’t give off shadows. They cast light.
In the beginning, her chain smoking distracted me.
I liked when she said Columbo “hounded” her husband. I don’t think Columbo’s dog being a Hound Dog is a coincidence. They are both big snoops.
I also noticed this was rated PG. I think a PG-13 rating, or whatever they give TV, would have been more appropriate. These recent Columbos haven gotten rather risqué.
I was surprised when Columbo’s “house” turned out to belong to the much younger officer. It looked older, more like grandmas. I guess his taste runs old style.
A satisfying arrest.
It’s true! These later episodes HAVE been more risqué!
You should consider a second career as a director of photography.
I started out being worried for Columbo. His poor wife had just died! Then we get the voiceover from the murderer. Mrs Columbo was killed by a family friend or relative!? Why else would she be at the funeral?
Oh, she’s a realestate agent. Did the Columbos buy their house from her? I’m confused!
Then we go back to the funeral and get a VO from the secretary? OK, this has gotta be a fake out. Maybe it’s not Mrs Columbo’s funeral but the funeral of the guy we saw get shot? That would make more sense given the mourners. But Columbo seems really cut up about it.
Ian McShane is at the funeral as well? (To me he’s Winston from the John Wick movies. But good call with the Lovejoy reference. I’d forgotten about that show.)
Anyway, this episode had me doomscrolling Reddit around the half-way mark due to boredom. I’d figured out pretty early on that Mrs Columbo wasn’t really dead so the only reason I was sticking around was to find out what the funeral was all about.
Did the LAPD really stump up the cash to pay for an entire fake funeral just on the off chance the murderer would make an admission to Columbo? They already had the lab results about the poisoned marmalade. That’s enough to arrest Vivian for attempted murder. The admission of shooting her boss would have come out after about 5 minutes of interrogation.
I enjoyed Columbo explaining his methods to the young sergeant. He wasn’t just sending him on pointless errands like other juniors in other episodes. He seemed to legitimately want to teach the guy.
This episode was ridiculous. I feel like the writer came up with the title of the episode and then concocted a story around it.
Oh, I agree. I guess, back in the day, the LAPD was flush with cash and could afford to odd lavish fake funeral.