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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 275637" data-attributes="member: 23">Lady In Waiting continued The power-mad aspect with Beth is far from subtle. Partly this is necessary because of the episodic nature. But it also goes to effectively show how untouchable she feels. A unique angle with this episode is that Beth was tried early in the episode and the jury found the killing to be an accident. Because of this, Beth now feels she can do as she pleases with impunity. Her angry dismissal of Columbo after humouring him for a period of time feels very truthful because, in the eyes of the law, she is technically a free woman. This does raise the question of whether she is, in fact free. I’m not too au fait with the law here so I’m not sure how accurate this is. From time to time it’ll be mentioned in certain shows that someone can’t be tried for the same crime twice, but I’ll assume that this isn’t the case here. Perhaps because the charges would be different, or in light of new evidence. I also have to say that the evidence doesn’t seem very concrete to me. Naturally, Columbo notices lots of little things: the new porch bulb that was supposed to have burnt out; the lack of grass on Bryce’s shoes suggesting he had in fact entered the house through the front door (there’s a cute and funny little moment where two perplexed household staff members watch Columbo walking gingerly on the grass before taking off one of his shoes to look at the bottom); the late edition newspaper on the table by the front door (again, a sign that Bryce had entered through the main door); the imprint of the spare key in the hanging planter by the front door. The key piece of evidence comes from Peter himself, who remembers hearing the gunshot before the alarm was set off. It’s all good detective work, but in terms of reopening a case like this, I’m not sure how definitive this evidence would be considered.  Is Columbo’s dogged pursuit of evidence actually harassment? It’s hard to say, because Columbo almost always seems to be a lone wolf. But I’d have to assume (if only to stop me over-thinking things) that the department is behind him on his continued investigation. There was lots to like about this episode: the plan for the killing; killer being up-front about having pulled the trigger; the initial “not guilty” verdict. Unusually for this series, some of my favourite Lt. Columbo scenes were not between he and the killer but with the supporting characters, Peter and Mrs Chadwick. The family and relationship dynamics got into soap opera territory at times. But I’m not averse to a bit of soap, and it certainly made this a very character-driven episode. Always a good thing in my book. </blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?