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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 274951" data-attributes="member: 23">Death Lends A Hand / Dead Weight continuedEven by this point in the series, Lt. Columbo feels like an old friend when he arrives on the scene. And he always hits the ground running. I love all the little details that make him far less than a perfectionist in almost every area not relating to his work. Such as when he’s stopped by a traffic officer for having a tail light out. He then produces his police badge, which the officer points out to a surprised Columbo is due to expire the following week. When it’s cleared up, he’s offered an escort to the scene, which he accepts on the condition the officer doesn’t drive too quickly. We see him pull up outside Hollister’s house to be shooed away by an officer on guard, telling him the space is reserved. Columbo is about to comply when he suddenly seems to realise that he’s the one for whom the space is being held. In Death Lends A Hand, Columbo joins Brimmer for lunch at his office. They talk about the case as they eat, but Columbo keeps stopping, first to ask how the dish is made and - a minute or two after Brimmer has offered to send the recipe - to make sure the recipe will be sent to his house and not the station. Shortly afterwards he walks over to Brimmer’s side of the table and leans over to emphatically discuss something, only for Brimmer to brush Columbo’s tie out of his side salad with some disgust. “Oh, I got a little tomato on it”, Columbo beams, tucking the tie back in. In addition to disliking planes and helicopters, we learn Columbo has a similar aversion to boats when Hollister takes him out to sea. And it did look particularly choppy so who can blame him. We also revisit Bert’s diner where Columbo is still on the chilli. It’s a nice bit of continuity and I hope we see more of Bert. The cat and mouse angle remains thrilling. From working together with the killer who offers him a private detective job to get him off the case in Death Lends A Hand, to showing up on the dock outside Hollister’s house with his little fishing rod in Dead Weight, there’s always a fun arc of seeing Columbo toy with his key suspect. Turning down Brimmer’s job offer, he smilingly gives the reason he wants to stay on the Kennicut case because he’s sure he knows who the killer is and he’s looking forward to proving it. Hollister, meanwhile, tells Columbo to find another place to fish, because he’s not going to catch anything. It’s all very euphemistic and threatening without actually threatening. And I’m looking forward to more variations on this theme. Robert Culp is such a great Columbo villain. It's easy to see why he came back for more. He's assured, confident and charismatic while still having an air of cold unpredictability and also an ability to blend in and seem almost Milquetoast-esque. He's got the charm and the intelligence to potentially get away with his crime. At the same time it's easy to see why his employees aren't too fond of him and why Lenore would rather risk the wrath of her husband than even considering working with him. There’s a little question over some of Columbo’s methods. Such as telling Brimmer that Lenore was missing one contact lens that he is sure will be in the killer’s home or car, leading to Brimmer giving himself away. Columbo later reveals that she wasn’t actually missing a contact. The one Brimmer found in his car boot was either planted or left there by someone else. Which raises an interesting question in real world terms. Would Brimmer actually be let off, despite his confession, due to the way in which the confession was forced? Or does the end justify the means? </blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?