Another non-typical Columbo episode, this one is based on a story by Ed McBain (according to the screen credits), it features the annoying time stamp feature of a previous episode based on another story by the same author. It definitely diverts from the standard Columbo formula and seems more focused on being a treasure hunt than solving a murder (or, in this case, several murders).
The story concerns a double homicide where two men kill each other and one is found clutching and cut out piece of a photograph. A man claiming to be an insurance investigator comes into the police station as Columbo and another detective are discussing the case and fills them in about their being a robbery which ends in a car crash where all four robbers are shot dead. The piece of the photograph is one of many that is supposed to identify where the money was hidden.
Now here's the problem and the giant plot hole (a spoiler?): The photograph when reassembled near the end of the episode turns out to be an aerial shot of a pier with an "X" on it marking the place where the money is hidden. There are a number of problems with this, considering the information given about the robbery. Why is it an aerial shot? The pieces were given BEFORE the robbery. How could it mark where the money is hidden if the money hadn't even been stolen yet? In the time between the bank robbery and their car slamming into another with them dying in a shootout with police, just when would they have the opportunity to hide this money in this remote location? The episode is entertaining but not really a Columbo episode. It was fun seeing Columbo go undercover, especially with the first criminal type he encountered, but he never seemed like he was trying to solve a homicide, which what he's all about. It was only near the end of the episode where he tried to do this and I saw little effort on his part to examine the scene of the crime for most of the murders that happened.
It's definitely not the worst episode but hardly the best. It's a fun diversion from what we expect from a Columbo episode at best.
The story concerns a double homicide where two men kill each other and one is found clutching and cut out piece of a photograph. A man claiming to be an insurance investigator comes into the police station as Columbo and another detective are discussing the case and fills them in about their being a robbery which ends in a car crash where all four robbers are shot dead. The piece of the photograph is one of many that is supposed to identify where the money was hidden.
Now here's the problem and the giant plot hole (a spoiler?): The photograph when reassembled near the end of the episode turns out to be an aerial shot of a pier with an "X" on it marking the place where the money is hidden. There are a number of problems with this, considering the information given about the robbery. Why is it an aerial shot? The pieces were given BEFORE the robbery. How could it mark where the money is hidden if the money hadn't even been stolen yet? In the time between the bank robbery and their car slamming into another with them dying in a shootout with police, just when would they have the opportunity to hide this money in this remote location? The episode is entertaining but not really a Columbo episode. It was fun seeing Columbo go undercover, especially with the first criminal type he encountered, but he never seemed like he was trying to solve a homicide, which what he's all about. It was only near the end of the episode where he tried to do this and I saw little effort on his part to examine the scene of the crime for most of the murders that happened.
It's definitely not the worst episode but hardly the best. It's a fun diversion from what we expect from a Columbo episode at best.