May 5, 2025: The Columbo rewatch continues with “Mind Over Mayhem”!

This episode aired February 10, 1974.

The computer room set was a re-use from The Andromeda Strain (1971).

Robert J. Walker, who played Neil Cahill, is perhaps best known for portrayal of Charlie Evans in the Star Trek episode “Charlie X”.

Jessica Walter, who portrayed the enigmatic Margaret Nicholson, would later play the matriarch Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development.

The pivotal “burnt match” in this episode proved to be Peter Falk’s favorite clue in the show’s run. Said Falk: “Great clue. Really great clue. One of the few that really stands out.”

My thoughts on this episode in chronological viewing order…

Man, war-games have come a long way since this episode was shot.

“We will postpone the rest of WWIII until after lunch, gentlemen.”

This Dr. Nicholson is just begging to get himself murdered: “It’s on paper in my filing cabinet. The evidence.”

The collars on some of these shirts!

Hey, it’s Robby the Robot! Twilight Zone, Lost in Space, now Columbo. It’s great to see he found steady work after Forbidden Planet.

Steven Spelberg, Boy Genius, was of course, a tip of the hat to wunderkind Steve Spielberg who directed the show’s first episode, “Murder by the Book”.

The file can be found under either F for Finch or P for Plagiarism.

Love this scene of Dog being kicked out of the canine academy. Not only is he expelled, but he isn’t even allowed to stay for a few hours while Columbo investigates. “I’m sorry he demoralizes the other students.” My favorite line in this episode.

The only thing missing from the crime scene is a can of heroin. But, to be fair, I’m always misplacing mine. Did you check the back of the pantry?

“He’s my husband, not my father.” Ouch.

This episode is oddly directed. And oddly edited.

It’s not surprising that Columbo suspects the murder scene was staged – and sloppily at that. Should’ve enlisted the help of that boy genius.

The Mystery of the Missing Pipe.

Aha! Columbo clocks the cigar. Boy, clues here are so clunkily introduced that even the West Midlands Police could solve this one.

Love seeing Dog lively and happy. And licky!

Getting the car pool mechanic to take the kid to the movies was clearly not the genius move he thought it was at the time.

Aha! The odometer discrepancy.

Boy, Cahill really didn’t think this one through. This is, by far, the sloppiest murder committed on this show to date. And this guy is supposed to be brilliant?

Dog has separation anxiety. Just like Sharky!

“Looks like this pipe has been run over by a car.” A bit of a leap, but okay. “This pipe looks like it was run over by a midnight blue 1968 Mustang convertible!”

The injuries were consistent with those of a hit-and-run victim!

Columbo is able to wipe the shoe polish off the scuffed door. Man, Nicholson must have really slathered those shoes right before his murder.

The Boy Genius was too smart to be a cop.

Any normal dog would be freaked out being walked like that by a robot.

Who would know that it was heroin as it was labeled with its chemical designation? Rather than clearly being labeled “HEROIN” or “GET SUPER HIGH WITH THIS!”.

Columbo pays Neil a visit, questions him, then the dead man’s wife shows up and Columbo leaves. Uh, what kind of relationship does the bereaved have with boy half her age?

Why didn’t Dr. Cahill kill Margaret too? After all, it was made clear early on that she also knew the truth and was trying to convince Neil to come clean.

Maybe the robot can help figure out the murder through its computational powers of deduction.

“Oh, something just computed,”says Columbo in probably not the best line in this episode.

“We’ll discuss this later, young man. You get back to your lab.” This one got a chuckle though.

“When a case get too tough, I got to talk to my wife,”says Columbo. It’s the same with a tricky script!

Columbo arrests the wrong man. On purpose?

Yes. And uses the prospect of a murder charge to squeeze a confession out of his father. Not sure about the ethics of that move.

Well, I’m glad that’s over. Boy, season 3 has been a roller coaster with some lofty highs and lowly lows. And this episode was pretty low. Setting aside the dated “futuristic set-up”, this episode had a lot not going for it. Cahill stages the murder to look like a drug robbery but, at the same time, also makes it look like a falling out between friends. Why the need to do both? Well, the reason is obvious. The writer needed the crime scene to look like a falling out so that Cahill could smoke the cigar and leave the match behind that would later incriminate him. Sort of. Meanwhile, Margaret Nicholson, the dead man’s less-than-grieving widow remains a mystery throughout, inexplicably standoffish about her husband’s death. And don’t get me started on the Gotcha! that hinges on Columbo knowingly arresting an innocent man in order to force a confession. I cannot believe I’d watch an episode this bad so soon after Candidate for Crime. In the end, not even Dog could save this one.

My revised episode rankings: 1. Any Old Port in a Storm, 2. Double Exposure, 3. Double Shock, 4. A Stitch in Crime, 5. Death Lends a Hand, 6. Suitable for Framing, 7. Publish or Perish, 8. Dagger of the Mind, 9 Requiem for a Falling Star, 10. Prescription: Murder, 12. Murder by the Book/Ransom for a Dead Man (tie), 12. Lady in Waiting, 13. Etude in Black, 14. The Most Crucial Game, 15. Blueprint for Murder, 16. Lovely But Lethal, 17. The Most Dangerous Match, 18. The Greenhouse Jungle 19. Dead Weight, 0. Short Fuse, 21. Candidate for Crime, 22. Mind Over Mayhem.

Finally, let’s consider whether or not Columbo has enough evidence to make the murder charge stick. Will Cahill be found GUILTY or will his defense secure an ACQUITTAL? Well, on the one hand the evidence against him is circumstantial. On the other hand, he did make a confession. BUT he did so under duress and if his lawyer hammers Columbo on his unscrupulous tactics in forcing that confession, then the argument could be made that he confessed to a crime he did not commit in order to protect his son. In which case it’s an ACQUITTAL.

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