This episode has been recapped well already, so I won't pollute the reviews with another recap. The episode was not my favorite, but still entertaining and worth watching. I'll start with the not-great aspects, which should be taken with a huge grain of "I am not a detective" salt.
- The story line is easy to follow, but the details are a little vague for me. I'm still not sure how the price tag would be such a clear giveaway to him as a clue.
- There were a lot of obvious mistakes - for example, her nails are bright red when she dresses the first time as "Lisa", then she goes into the music party as her normal Dr. Allen Self. Her nails are a nude mauve color. She goes into the restroom to change, and suddenly, bright red talons! In the next scenes, the nails toggle between both colors, and this is all a giant sign that I'm obsessed with nail colors, but still, this was a bit of a miss.
- Here is a biggie for most of us: the tuba scene. It. Made. No. Sense. Why? What was the point? His eccentricity? For sure, C is an eccentric guy, but there were many other ways to convey it, as most of the episodes do flawlessly. (Cracking his breakfast hardboiled egg on the hood of a dirty vehicle? Yep, he did that on another episode!). Bottom line to the tuba: weird and worth seeing because it is so weird.
- The disguise: it was unclear to me why she had to delay tossing it. Was this for effect, to show that she still wanted to play that Lisa role, or was there a real clue impact? Not sure (remember, novice detective here).
- Lack of backup to the side affair: was David just with the assistant (red-ribbon Cindy) to satisfy his physical whims? There is no reason or understanding of why Cindy would do this with him, or motive for her to be so removed from her friendship with Doc Allen. It's easy to chalk it up to jealous women, but a woman in real life is more likely not to do this without a little more context.
- the taped bag underneath the sink: there had to be a better way to hide her outfit or disguise how she transported it. It was not practical, and I lost track of why she had to leave it behind or risk it being found.
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On other levels, this show had many great moments:
- The actress playing Dr. Allen was great - she sounds like a voice-double for Kathie Lee Gifford, and had similarities in her appearance; I found her presence to be comforting, so it made this show more appealing to me.
- The awkward, bashful moments with Columbo's aversion to 'frank' talk was just hilarious. His voice, his facial expressions...pure joy for me.
- As a child of the 80s, I enjoyed seeing how this show released old concepts that would be absolutely unreal today, like the fact that they had that "sex room" for therapy, or that people would use it for their own needs when they could just as easily get a hotel -- super campy and fun.
- The best: the oh-so-campy wind instruments that helped set the stage for this lascivious plot: you can practically see the Nigel prints in the living room without ever opening your eyes. Coupled with the bold synthesizer strokes and sizzling saxophone, it's nothing but 80s to the max.
As always, Peter Falk is a true gem, and nothing changes that for me, no matter which episode I'm seeing.
