June 23, 2025: The Columbo rewatch continues with…Last Salute to the Commodore!

This episode aired May 2, 1976.

“Last Salute to the Commodore” was written as a possible series finale as Peter Falk had made it clear his heart lay in features.

Peter Falk on this episode:: “That really had a different tone to it. Patrick put his stamp on it. There was a slightly different sense of humor to it. He had other wonderful ideas about where to take Columbo. I’m sorry we didn’t get him back to do more.” Me, not so much.

According to director Patrick McGoohan: “When we did that episode the series had been on for a while. We discussed it and said “The Columbo character is fairly well defined. Let’s take the character a step further.” That made Peter apprehensive, but he was willing to try it.” Hmmmm.

Also, according to McGoohan: “I wanted the young guy. That character wasn’t in the original script. It was a special relationship that helped to add a little dimension to Columbo. It’s a tiny other area – an association he hasn’t had before.” Ah, so we have McGoohan to blame for this wholly superfluous character.

Anthony Hopkins was originally offered the role of Charles Clay but turned it down.

This episode marks the second guest appearance of Wilfred Hyde-White. He previously appeared as Tanner the blackmailing butler in “Dagger of the Mind”.

My thoughts on the episode in chronological viewing order…

The boat is named the Titanic? Well that’s ominous.

Man, these are some wild-looking sailing outfits.

Commodore Curmudgeon!

Ah, Robert Vaughn. I’m automatically assuming he’s the murderer.

Diana Baker as the drunken Joanna Clay delivers an alarmingly over-the-top performance.

Oh, did we skip the murder? Apparently so.

Checking the time with the gate guard to establish alibi. Shades of “Playback”!

Dressed as the Commodore, again to establish alibi. Shades of “Ransom for a Dead Man”!

Wow. That’s an abrupt Columbo intro.

Why is Columbo involved if there’s no body?

Columbo has to give up smoking because his wife claims it’s bad for the plants. Checks out.

Is this Theodore character the sidekick long-requested by the network?

“Mac, you’ll probably need some practice driving in case we ever have to give chase.” Wut?

Why are they all squeezed into Columbo’s car?

This sail talk is all gibberish to me: yawl, mizzen boom, jibed self-steering vane!

“Gotta have my eight,”says Columbo. Me too!

What is the point of this shouty-noisy scene? I question director McGoohan’s sense of humor.

Half an hour in and this episode feels strangely discordant.

How could he have not spotted Lisa meditating in plain view?

I do like the scene of Columbo asking for her assistance in crossing his legs.

Columbo takes the call and a seat beside Vaughn, throwing his arm around him. A lot of silliness in this episode.

Aaaaand the wife is drunk again.

Hmmmm. He presents his wife with her brooch he picked up at the murder scene. Is he covering for her? “Don’t drink!”

Aha! The Commodore was dead before he went into the water.

Columbo questions why he would have checked the time with the gate guard since Clay had a much nicer watch. Hmmmm.

Why is Columbo sprawled out on the dock like that? Are we supposed to assume he’s high for the duration of this case?

Where did these stencils come from? How long does it take for Columbo to spell out A-S-S?

Okay, we establish the murder could have scuba swam the length of the channel.

The fortuitous broken watch. Shades of “Candidate for Crime”!

Why is the Sergeant still holding that lamp. Unbearably silly.

Aha! No dust on that belaying pin!

Some huge assumptions lead them conclude this was the scene of the crime.

Oh damn. Charles Clay is dead. THAT is a surprising twist!

All signs point to the wife!

Wait. Is Kittering’s alibi that he was seeing a prostitute at the time of the murder?

Again, wildly over-the-top drunk. One-note performance.

What a weird sequence of Swanny getting up, touching her face, and leaving.

What’s with the SWISH PAN to the Molly J?

The suspects are gathered for a true whodunit payoff.

How did Swanny get off that boat and inside so fast?

So Clay based his entire assumption that his wife killed the Commodore on the simple fact that her brooch was at the scene? Hmmmm.

Why was Clay killed?

The LISA S. She was in love with a man old enough to be her grandfather? Wut?

Who is the cackler in this scene?

We conveniently find out about the new will from Lisa.

And we suddenly find out Swanny would have the most to gain.

While I do like the atypical narrative structure and twist to a whodunit, this Gotcha moment is absolute ass. Why the hell would Swanny say “Tisn’t?”.

“Thought you were going to quit.”
“Not yet. Not yet, Sergeant. Not yet.”
A hint at Falk’s return for another season?

It’s wonderfully appropriate that the finale concludes on This Old Man with Columbo heading off to met his wife at the yacht club.

This episode is considered a low-point in the series by many – which is hard to believe given some of the later installments – and I can empathize to a certain degree. I actually loved the atypical twist that sees the standard howdunit formula subverted so that we suddenly realize we are actually watching a whodunit, but the script and direction are simply not up to the task. The fact that McGoohan went on record to state he essentially had to “fix” the script, including adding the completely superfluous sidekick detective, is pretty galling. Add to that his annoyingly self-indulgent directorial style and you have an episode that is ultimately not only unsatisfying but, at times, downright annoying. It’s no wonder he was not invited back.

Here is my revised episode rankings: 1. Forgotten Lady, 2. Now You See Him, 3. Negative Reaction, 4. Any Old Port in a Storm, 5. Double Exposure, 6. A Friend In Deed, 7. Double Shock, 8. A Stitch in Crime, 9. Death Lends a Hand, 10. Suitable for Framing, 11. Publish or Perish, 12. Dagger of the Mind, 13. Requiem for a Falling Star, 14. Prescription: Murder, 15. Murder by the Book/Ransom for a Dead Man (tie), 16. By Dawn’s Early Light, 17. Swan Song, 18. Troubled Waters, 19. Lady in Waiting, 20. An Exercise in Fatality, 21. Etude in Black, 22. Playback, 23. The Most Crucial Game, 24. Blueprint for Murder, 25. Lovely But Lethal, 26. A Deadly State of Mind, 27. The Most Dangerous Match, 28. The Greenhouse Jungle 29. Identity Crisis, 30. Dead Weight, 31. Short Fuse, 32. A Case of Immunity, 33. Candidate for Crime, 34. Mind Over Mayhem, 35. Last Salute to the Commodore.

Finally, it’s time to consider whether Columbo has enough evidence to send Swanny up the river? Well, considering the case against Swanny is motive and shaky opportunity I would say…T’isn’t. ACQUITTAL. And Swanny sails off into the sunset.

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