Joseph Mallozzi's Blog, page 11

June 1, 2025: Sharky Sunday!

Sharky’s Time Loop Adventure – Part 1

Sharky’s Time Loop Adventures – Part 2

Sharky’s Time Loop Adventures – Part 3

Sharky’s Time Loop Adventures – Part 4

Green bean…

sharky-green-bean-mp4

Crazy playtime…

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May 31, 2025: The Saturday Update!

Back in Montreal, mom has been moved to a convalescent home where she will be undergoing geriatric physiotherapy to help her get back on her feet and mobile.  The long-term goal is have her back home within a month.  Best case scenario of course because if she’s not fully mobile, there is o way she’ll be able to negotiate the stairs to reach the bathroom.  A solid lesson for anyone considering the possibility of being old some day…Buy a bungalow!

While away from home, mom was missing her old dog, Caramel – so sis arranged for him to visit her, brightening her days.  Sadly, recent tests revealed an enlarged spleen that was poised to burst so the difficult decision was made and this is a picture of Caramel’s final visit with mom.

Busy on the work front – meetings, writing, and some consulting.  Also finishing up the last of about three dozen crime books so I can put together an informed choice for My Favorite Crime Books of 2024.

So I’m thinking that once we’ve completed Columbo’s fifth and sixth seasons, we actually go ahead and do the seventh as well as it marks the final year of the show’s original run on NBC before moving to rival ABC ten years later.  Once we’re done with Columbo, I’m thinking of switching things up and doing a “Best Episode Of”-themed watch where we watch the single best episode of about twenty different sci-fi shows.  What do you think?

Finally, I discovered this little gem online a while back – Chris Judge during that Vagina Monologue scene…

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May 30, 2025: The Columbo rewatch continues with…Playback!

This episode aired March 2, 1975.

This was actor Oskar Werner’s sole television appearance. Peter Falk traveled to Switzerland to personally convince him to accept the role of Harold Van Wick.

This is the only episode in which Columbo actually fires a gun.

Peter Falk considered this episode one of his favorites.

Actor Herbert Jefferson Jr., who played Baxter in this episode, also played the part of Lieutenant Boomer in the original Battlestar Galactica.

My thoughts on this episode in chronological viewing order…

Aha! Making it look like a break-in. Shades of “Lady in Waiting”.

“Mother dear, have you done something to your hair?”
“No.”
“That’s what I thought.”
The venom!

To be fair, she is kind of the mother-in-law from Hell.

Interesting that we have a wheelchair-bound character. Very rare for the 70’s.

Hmmm. So she’s coincidentally firing him on the day he plotted her murder. What foresight!

They’re so wealthy that they have a security guard monitoring their indoor movements 24/7!

My mother has one of those chair lifts.

I love the wife played by Gena Rowlands. What a sweetheart.

Doors open with a clap of her hands. They are truly living in the future!

Wow. This is one intricately plotted murder.

I find it funny the way he clumsily draws attention to the time, with the guard at the gate and then at the party. That would immediately set off anyone’s alarm bells.

Why does Columbo have a cold in this episode? Will this play into the investigation and pay it off in some unexpected way. [Spoiler: No.]

Wonder if those doors open by just pushing them open the old-fashioned way as well?

I like Columbo gallantly helping her with her wheelchair.

When Elizabeth mentioned the presence of her brother, I initially thought she was referring to Harold who, to be fair, resembles her more than Arthur. I was like – wut?

While I do like Columbo announcing his presence with a sneeze, I have to wonder how long he stood undetected behind those curtains.

“I have a special watch that prints out the numbers.” HE is living in the future!

Does body heat really activate the video machine? Looks like that system is on constantly judging from the guard shack

“That’s fantastic,”he remarks upon seeing the footage of the old lady getting gunned down. “Absolutely fantastic.” Look at how she takes it in the back!

“Of all the dumb luck.” If only he had walked three more feet into the room. “Do you think he knew where the camera was?” Columbo has already figured it out.

Re: the logs – “You know when a person does something one way and he suddenly does it another way I immediately think…I’m sure it doesn’t mean anything.” He’s already forming a theory. Now he just needs to put the pieces together.

Not one but two “One more thing’s”.

I like Columbo’s discussion with Dog. Always great to see the affable hound.

No imprints in the mulch from a fleeing prowler and no mulch inside the house from the break-in. Almost as if…there was no break-in or prowler.

“Maybe he took his shoes off?” Columbo smiles and nods knowingly. “Thank you. I’m embarrassed.” Oh, he is so playing this guy.

“9:42 exactly” when he got there. “I’m a meticulous man, lieutenant.” I’m sure Columbo is thinking “Oh, I bet.”

Dog gets the run of the property and comes across Elizabeth who is so sweet to him. Love ’em both.

She thought she heard a noise but her husband dismissed it as her imagination. This guy is so done.

“Marcie, have you been smoking something awful?”
“We have a customer with a cigar.”
What the heck did she think Marcie was smoking?

“Could you explain this?”
“We don’t explain art. It’s just something you feel.”
“This doesn’t do anything for me.”
This art gallery scene is brilliant. I’m thinking that once we complete this rewatch, we should assemble a list of the funniest Columbo scenes.

Love Columbo’s increasingly shocked reactions to the price tags.

The art piece is called Ghost of a Dead Dog.
“Well in the right setting it will be very effective.”
This is the second time the show skewers the modern art scene after “Suitable for Framing”.

“Now this here I see it doesn’t have a title.”
“That is the ventilator for the air conditioning.”
Brilliant.

“My wife she paints a little.”
“Yeah she buys those canvases with the numbers on them.”
At least she didn’t try to sell them as originals like Luciano Pavarotti.

“It was 9:28.”
“I’m positive. He had a super watch that printed the time in red letters. He showed it to me.”
When you’re obviously trying a little too hard.

Harold (Can I just say he does NOT look like a Harold) shoots down her suggestion that she take over the chairmanship of the company because he doesn’t want to be subservient to his wife. This is one of those relationships that make you wonder how she could have possibly ended up with this guy.

Columbo admits: “I hate guns.”
As he prepares to shoot, he warns Harry who assures him “I can handle it.”
“I wish I could say the same,”says Columbo, then blocks his ears before firing.

The gunshot causes the door to open? Presumably every door in the house?

“But if the noise your wife heard was a gunshot, that means the shooting took place before nine thirteen.” Aha!

It’s funny how the second he turns off the light, the room becomes pitch black.

The fact that she couldn’t have possibly seen the clown in the chair because the room was dark feels like a huge reach. Even in the darkest of rooms, your eyes eventually adjust.

Why is Columbo behind the bar looking for catsup?

Aha, the football replay twigs something. He demands his own instant replay.

Columbo breaks down exactly how he did it.

That crystal clear zoom on the invitation is sharper than my iPhone camera 50 years later. You can even see his name written on it!

Of all the places in the house he could have left the invitation, he left it on that desk in frame of the murder scene. What rotten luck.

I feel sorry for his wife. She deserved better.

I ended up liking this episode more than I expected as I seem to recall being unimpressed with it on initial viewing many years ago. As is customary with Columbo, there are some terrific guest performances, several standout scenes (the art gallery bit comes immediately to mind), and, of course, Falk is always at his best. While I admired the complexity of the murder, I thought Harold was scuppered by some preposterous assumptions (the assumption his wife would not have been able to see the clown-in-the-chair in that dark room) and ridiculously bad luck (his leaving the invitation in the one place he shouldn’t have). Again, not a bad episode but not one I would place amongst the show’s best-to-date.

My revised episode rankings: 1. Negative Reaction, 2. Any Old Port in a Storm, 3. Double Exposure, 4. A Friend In Deed, 5. Double Shock, 6. A Stitch in Crime, 7. Death Lends a Hand, 8. Suitable for Framing, 9. Publish or Perish, 10. Dagger of the Mind, 11. Requiem for a Falling Star, 12. Prescription: Murder, 13. Murder by the Book/Ransom for a Dead Man (tie), 14. By Dawn’s Early Light, 15. Swan Song, 16. Troubled Waters, 17. Lady in Waiting, 18. An Exercise in Fatality, 19. Etude in Black, 20. Playback, 21. The Most Crucial Game, 22. Blueprint for Murder, 23. Lovely But Lethal, 24. The Most Dangerous Match, 25. The Greenhouse Jungle 26. Dead Weight, 27. Short Fuse, 28. Candidate for Crime, 29. Mind Over Mayhem.

Finally, it’s time to consider whether Columbo has enough evidence to help secure a GUILTY verdict, or is Harold looking at an ACQUITTAL. Well, in this case, I think Columbo’s ability to take apart Harold’s carefully orchestrated plotting will be enough to get him that conviction. GUILTY!

*

Our Columbo rewatch will continue through seasons 5 and 6!

Our updated viewing schedule:

Friday, May 29th: Playback
Monday, June 2nd: A Deadly State of Mind
Friday,, June 6th: Forgotten Lady
Monday, June 9th: A Case of Immunity
Friday, June 13th: Identity Crisis
Monday, June 16th: A Matter of Honor
Friday, June 20th: Now You See Him
Monday, June 23rd: Last Salute to the Commodore
Friday, June 27th: Fade in to Murder
Monday, June 30th: Old Fashioned Murder
Friday, July 4th: The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case

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May 29, 2025: The Crime Writers’ Association shortlist nominees – my thoughts!

The Crime Writers’ Association shortlist nominees were announced today and, having read most of the titles longlisted, I have some thoughts…

The Crime Fiction in Translation Dagger

2 of my 4 favorites made the shortlist: Dogs & Wolves by Hervé Le Corre and Going to the Dogs by Pierre Lemaitre.  The Simple Act of Killing a Woman by Patrícia Melo missed the cut. Also sadly absent is The Silver Bone by Andrey Kurkov, a wonderful thriller set in post-WWII Kyiv.

The Ian Fleming Steel Dagger

Both of my favorites in this category – Lou Berney’s Dark Ride and Garry Disher’s Sanctuary – made the cut.

The Historical Dagger

Again, both of my favorites made the shortlist in this category, Poor Girls by Clare Whitfield and The Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola.

The Twisted Dagger

Only one of my two favorites in this category made the shortlist. The delightfully twist-turny The Stranger in Her House advanced but Sharon Bolton’s equally twist-rich The Neighbour’s Secret did not.

The Whodunit Dagger

The fact that Tess Gerritsen’s The Spy Coast did not make the shortlist in this category is an absolute shocker. Of the 85+ books longlisted for the Daggers this year, it was one of my absolute favorites.

Of the two other longlist titles I enjoyed in this category, Andreina Cordani’s Murder at the Christmas Emporium made the cut while Tom Spencer’s The Mystery of the Crooked Man did not.

The Golden Dagger

Another enormous disappointment was not seeing Ben Creed’s Man of Bones on this shortlist. It’s an incredibly
compelling, character-forward thriller set in 1953 Leningrad.

My two other favorites in this category, R.J. Ellory’s The Bell Tower and Anna Mazzola’s Book of Secrets (also receiving the nod in the Historical Dagger category, were shortlisted.

Winners will be announced July 3rd.

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May 28, 2025: Amazing Covers!

A few that caught my eye this week…

Deadpool/Wolverine #5 – cover art by Alex Ross

The Infinity Watch #5 – cover art by Inhyuk Lee

Ultimate Spider-Man #17 – cover art by Ivan Talavera

Absolute Wonder Woman #8 – cover art by Sanford Greene

Batman #`160 – cover art by Frank Quitely

Green Lantern #23 – cover art by Mirko Colak

Green Lantern #23 – cover art by Mark Spears

So, which were YOUR favorites?

P.S.: New Akemi-ism just dropped – “You sneeze, you lose!”

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May 27, 2025: The Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Award longlist – Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and Historical Dagger Categories! Plus my favorite 2024 that didn’t get longlisted!

The Crime Writers’ Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award longlist titles.

My favorites…

Sanctuary by Garry Disher

Master thief Grace is on the run and seeks refuge in a quaint rural antique shop run by mysterious Erin. But as Grace’s past threatens to catch up with her, she’ll come to discover that she’s not the only one with a perilous history.

A suspenseful page-turner by two very compelling characters in the Machiavellian Grace and the enigmatic Erin.

Dark Ride by Lou Berney

When 21-year-old slacker Hardy Reed suspects that two young children are being abused by their father, the part-time amusement park actor sets out to help them, little realizing the dangers this selfless act will unleash.

I’m a big fan of Edgar-winning author Lou Berney and I’m pleased to tell you his latest thriller sees him firing on all cylinders. An enormously entertaining read.

*

The Crime Writers’ Association Historical Dagger Award longlist.

My favorites…

Poor Girls by Claire Whitfield

Serve, marry or steal. That is the future young Eleanor Mackridge can look forward to in 1920’s London. She chooses the latter, joining the notorious Forty Elephants, a female crime gang with a taste for champagne, diamonds, and pilfering.

1920’s London comes alive in this rousing and raucous novel abounding with humor, colorful characters, and narrative aplomb. A tough one to set aside once you’ve started.

Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola
(Note: This title is also long listed in the Golden Dagger Award category, so it’s making a second appearance in the Historical category as well)

Lieutenant governor Stefano Bracchi is dispatched by the Papal authorities to investigate a mysterious affliction that is killing the men of Rome, an uncanny malady that hints at supernatural influences…but whose true cause will lead Bracchi to question the very notion of justice.

Another one I don’t want to say too much about at the risk of giving anything away, but rest assured it’s a fascinating historical thriller with some great twists and a very satisfying ending.

*

There were a few books I missed on this read-a-thon. Couldn’t track down Dr. Spilsbury and the Curse Bride, All Us Sinners, and The Three Deaths of Justice Godfrey. Non-fiction crime isn’t for me and nothing really stood out in the First Novel category. Was unable to track down most of the short stories longlisted, but did find it odd that 9 of the 10 stories came from only two collections. Finally, to cover my bases, I checked out a bunch of titles that weren’t longlisted by the Crime Writers’ Association yet made other Best of 2024 lists. Of those, this was my favorite…

First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston

Evie Porter isn’t her real name. It’s just one of many identities she has adopted over the years in service to her boss, the mysterious Mr. Smith. But her latest assignment has Evie asking questions, the type of questions that can get you killed.

A terrific cat-and-mouse thriller with a fascinating protagonist in our chameleon Evie.

*

The Crime Writers Association announces their Dagger Awards nominees on Thursday.  Curious to see how many of my favorites make the cut.

The post May 27, 2025: The Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Award longlist – Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and Historical Dagger Categories! Plus my favorite 2024 that didn’t get longlisted! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.

May 26, 2025: The Columbo rewatch continues with “Troubled Waters”!

This episode aired February 9, 1975

The episode was shot on an actual cruise ship, the Sun Princess, and cast and crew mingled with actual cruise ship passengers. In 2016, the ship was abandoned off the coast of Thailand where it sank. Direct Ben Gazzara recalled: “We sailed from San Francisco to Puerto Vallarta, and about the only thing that wasn’t fun was the vomiting. We had a storm. The sound man would say “Action,” and you got it.”

My thoughts on this episode in chronological viewing order…

It’s actor Bernard Fox, last seen serving Scotland Yard in “Dagger of the Mind”.

Love our harried Columbo desperately seeking his ever-elusive wife.

Your Captain John Steed!

Napoleon Solo looking dashing in that leisure suit.

At first, I thought Danziger was vacationing with his mother. It’s his wife!

Young Al from Quantum Leap is a bit of a creepy stalker here. He could also use a hair and eyebrow trim. Now I’m curious whether Dean Stockwell ever played Albert Einstein.

Blackmailers inevitably end up dead on this show and I fully expect this trend to continue here.

Why is it called Montezuma’s Revenge? According to Grok: “The term humorously implies that the illness is a form of “revenge” by the Aztec ruler against foreign visitors, particularly those from Western countries, for the historical conquest and colonization of Mexico.”

Man, this is an unbearably long rendition of Volare. Or maybe I just hate the song.

Cool shot of the smoking gun.

I love the fact that Columbo initially thinks the Captain wants to talk to him about his wife who he presumes got carried away after a few drinks. She’s out partying without him!

Columbo just happens to be on the scene of a murder. How very Jessica Fletcher of him.

“My wife and I checked into a motel with a water bed. I thought I was gonna die.” Great line.

“No, sir, I think I’ll walk. The elevator is another one of my problems.” Heights, waves, and elevators. I wonder how he feels about spiders and public speaking.

Fortuitously finds a key on the infirmary floor.

The nurse serves him something she pours out of a test tube. Her science experiment?

Doctor Pierce admonishes Columbo for disturbing the patient. The poor man just suffered a heart attack!

The doctor already removed the bullet? Uh, shouldn’t you all be waiting for a proper autopsy?

“Oh I don’t know what that stuff is but it’s terrific.”

It WOULD have been easier to just toss the gun overboard regardless of whatever reasoning Danziger comes up with. Small wonder Columbo automatically assumes it was a frame job.

“Why does a man keep a receipt for a gun that he used to kill somebody with?” Great question. Danziger is just sloppy here.

“When people buy a gun they usually have a reason.” Another great line.

Liking Columbo’s impromptu police work here. Dusts for fingerprints. Matches the bullet to the gun. Shows his smarts.

Aha! Only a previous passenger would know the timing of the band break.

Aha! Danziger just happens to have a key cutter…that he brings along with him on cruises.

If he hid the gun, why not the gloves? Again, this was a very sloppy set-up.

The Mystery of the Missing Surgical Gloves!

I do like this sequence of Columbo chit-chatting with the cruise ship passengers (most of whom were no doubt actual cruise ship passengers) on his way to discovering those massive non-dissolving capsules.

The fluctuating heart rate is another fortuitous piece of evidence.

I like how Columbo talks to Danziger as if he’s just bouncing ideas off him when he is actually setting him up.

“I have to get back to my wife.” Oh yeah. His wife!

I bet he can’t he wait until he’s back on land and has a proper lab to dust for prints inside the glove rather than making a show and potentially contaminating the evidence.

I like how he can eyeball the prints and conclude they aren’t a match.

This episode could have also been called The Case of the Fortuitous Feather.

This one is apparently a fan favorite and I absolutely do love all of the humorous bits, especially those related to Mrs. Columbo who we almost see…but don’t. The clues that make up the case feel a little convenient, bolstered by a pretty inept attempt at framing someone. I think Columbo is at his best when he’s facing off against a worthy opponent and, as much as I love Robert Vaughn, Hayden Danziger is done in by his own incompetence. Still, I really did love seeing Columbo work his magic on those prints – and use some subtle psychology to get his man. A good episode but, for me, not a great one.

My revised episode rankings: 1. Negative Reaction, 2. Any Old Port in a Storm, 3. Double Exposure, 4. A Friend In Deed, 5. Double Shock, 6. A Stitch in Crime, 7. Death Lends a Hand, 8. Suitable for Framing, 9. Publish or Perish, 10. Dagger of the Mind, 11. Requiem for a Falling Star, 12. Prescription: Murder, 13. Murder by the Book/Ransom for a Dead Man (tie), 14. By Dawn’s Early Light, 15. Swan Song, 16. Troubled Waters, 17. Lady in Waiting, 18. An Exercise in Fatality, 19. Etude in Black, 20. The Most Crucial Game, 21. Blueprint for Murder, 22. Lovely But Lethal, 23. The Most Dangerous Match, 24. The Greenhouse Jungle 25. Dead Weight, 26. Short Fuse, 27. Candidate for Crime, 28. Mind Over Mayhem.

Finally, it’s time to look at the evidence Columbo has gathered and ask ourselves whether we think it’s enough to secure a GUILTY verdict – or will Hayden Danziger sail with an ACQUITTAL. Once again, a fair amount of circumstantial evidence, but the fingerprints inside the glove are pretty damning. GUILTY!

***

Our Columbo rewatch is scheduled to conclude next week, Monday June 2nd, with the season 4 finale, “A Deadly State of Mind”.  Seasons 5 and 6 have a combined 9 episodes.  What do you think?  Shall we keep going?

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May 25, 2025: Sharky Sunday!

Wake up!

Out and About: Pointe Claire Village…

Laugh therapy…

Out and about: The Station Cafe…

Out and about: Las Fincas…

Back to Toronto…

Sharky goes shopping…

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May 24, 2025: The Crime Writers’ Association Dagger Awards longlist – Golden Dagger category!

The Crime Writers’ Association Golden Dagger Award longlist titles.

My favorites…

Man of Bones by Ben Creed

In 1953 Leningrad, militia detective Revol Rossel investigates a hit-and-run that claimed the lives of two people. Caught between the ruthless MGB secret police warning him off the case and his superior officer pressuring him to press ahead, a reluctant Rossel must tread very carefully in his quest for the truth.

A riveting read that immerses us in its Stalinist Russian setting, an environment teeming with treachery, conspiracy, and dangerous secrets.

Book of Secrets by Anna Mazzola

Lieutenant governor Stefano Bracchi is dispatched by the Papal authorities to investigate a mysterious affliction that is killing the men of Rome, an uncanny malady that hints at supernatural influences…but whose true cause will lead Bracchi to question the very notion of justice.

Another one I don’t want to say too much about at the risk of giving anything away, but rest assured it’s a fascinating historical thriller with some great twists and a very satisfying ending.

The Bell Tower by R. J. Ellory

After being shot while on duty and forced into retirement, former Sheriff’s Deputy Garrett Nelson takes a job at a Florida Penitentiary. There he encounters a death row inmate he grows increasingly convinced is an innocent man.

The final reveal didn’t really offer much of a surprise, but what made this book special to me what the character of Garrett Nelson, a man a struggling to find truth and justice, two goals that, in the end, may well be at odds.

Next, we move on to The Crime Writers’ Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award shortlist.

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May 23, 2025: Our Columbo rewatch continues with “By Dawn’s Early Light”!

Our Columbo rewatch continues with…

“By Dawn’s Early Light”

This episode aired October 27, 1974

Peter Falk remarked on what made this episode vintage Columbo, referring to it as “‘the perfect balance between being both compelling and amusing’.

The campus scenes were shot at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina.

Patrick McGoohan won an Emmy for his portrayal of Colonel Lyle C. Rumford. “By Dawn’s Early Light” would mark the first of his record four appearances on the show. It was the only one of the three he did not direct. McGoohan fondly recalled this episode: “That’s probably my favorite. It might be my favorite role in the United States. It took a bit of work, but I thought it was excellent. It was on the basis of that experience that I agreed to do the others.”

Edward Asner was originally cast in the role of Rumford but ended up dropping out.

Actor Bruce Kirby, who played Sergeant George Kramer, was the real life father of actor Bruno Kirby, who played Cadet Morgan.

My thoughts on this episode in chronological viewing order….

Love the disconcerting hand-held camera opening.

Colonel Hard-ass.

Oh, no! A co-ed academy! I’m sure the cadets would hate that.

That’s a pretty spectacular murder.

“What’s he up to?”asks one detective watching Columbo sweeping his feet along the grass. He’s already looking for alternate possibilities.

Classic Columbo attempting to interview the Colonel DURING the prayer.

Wonder if any other detective would have noted the cloth.

“My wife says I need the exercise.” Guess the exercise program he embarked on in “An Exercise in Futility” was short-lived.

“He’s my boodle boy.” Uh, wut?

Love this bit of the hopelessly befuddled Columbo getting the complicated directions from the Colonel, then asking the secretary, and then getting immediately lost.

Why are the cadets running like that with their arms by their sides? Are they practicing for some Monty Python skit?

Columbo suspects young Springer is holding something back.

“I always have a light supper,”says Columbo. Yet one more thing we have in common.

I like how Columbo describes a character as “One of your officers. He speaks very slow.”

Odd moment of Columbo waking up in the middle of the night and then snacking on the various items from his pocket.

“I’m sorry I woke you.”
“I’m sorry too.”

“It wasn’t the sleeping, it was the waking up.” Isn’t it always the way?

“Do you have an extra pair of socks?” Uh, sure. Why don’t you keep ’em.

Minute traces of C4!

“We don’t use it here.”
“But that’s the point, sir. You don’t use it here.”

“Now we’re talking about murder.”
“That’s easy to say; hard to do.”
Nice little exchange.

“Anything else I can do for you?”
“I’d love a fresh pair of socks.”
Great.

Loved this entire sequence where Columbo pulls up to the school and quizzes the suspicious student…
“I’m looking for a girl.”
“Sure doesn’t look like a police car.”
“Are you sure that badge is real?”

Springer has an alibi while Haynes’ files, no doubt written by Rumford, notes his contrary nature.

The fact that only a few individuals had access to the arms room certainly narrows down the list of potential suspects.

“Well, we have similar jobs in a way. I wear a uniform. You wear…I suppose you could call that a uniform.” lol

Aha! Columbo realizes it’s a renovation in preparation for a potential switch to a co-ed facility.

The Case of the Missing Cider!

Why is Columbo so interested in the cider? Maybe because Rumford is so interested?

Have I missed something? Wouldn’t Rumford know whose room it belongs to since it’s been days since he glimpsed the booze hanging out that window? Does this track?

Aha! He had to be standing in that one specific spot at that specific time in order to spot the hooch. Unfortunate for him that they strung up the hooch on that one day between those specific times when he was setting up the murder. Hmmmm.

Patrick McGoohan’s steely performance ranks as one of the best to date and this episode while straighter than the norm, still manages to offer instances of humor that make it uniquely Columbo. Also, for a maxi-episode, it is fairly well-paced and doesn’t feel like it drags although I can see how some may feel it is a bit leisurely in its narrative progression. I did miss some of the more comedic sequences that marked some of my favorite episodes and I ultimately wasn’t that thrilled with the way the investigation finally came together, feeling a little contrived.

My revised episode rankings: 1. Negative Reaction, 2. Any Old Port in a Storm, 3. Double Exposure, 4. A Friend In Deed, 5. Double Shock, 6. A Stitch in Crime, 7. Death Lends a Hand, 8. Suitable for Framing, 9. Publish or Perish, 10. Dagger of the Mind, 11. Requiem for a Falling Star, 12. Prescription: Murder, 13. Murder by the Book/Ransom for a Dead Man (tie), 14. By Dawn’s Early Light, 15. Swan Song, 16. Lady in Waiting, 17. An Exercise in Fatality, 18. Etude in Black, 19. The Most Crucial Game, 20. Blueprint for Murder, 21. Lovely But Lethal, 22. The Most Dangerous Match, 23. The Greenhouse Jungle 24. Dead Weight, 25. Short Fuse, 26. Candidate for Crime, 27. Mind Over Mayhem.

Now it’s time to assess whether Columbo has the evidence to secure a GUILTY verdict, or will Colonel Rumford live to fight another day? This one’s a tough one but I think it’s another case of overwhelming circumstantial evidence. So, GUILTY!

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