Dissecting a Columbo script and examining the Columbo formula

A Ghost from the past © Wilson/Young Enterprises 2006

Scene 1 & 2: Shows a snapshot into the murderer's way of life and a snapshot of the victim's. The motive is established.

Scene 3 & 4: The murder is committed. The murder is planned and executed. The planning of the murder and the lengths to which the murderer goes are an intricate part of Columbo. Those few episodes where the crime is committed on the spur of the moment and aren't planned (ie Death Lends a Hand) are less effective because of the lack of planning involved.

Scene 5: Lieutenant Columbo examines the crime scene. Even at this early stage he has learnt several things. He has deduced from the stain in the carpet that the victim was in the middle of cleaning the stain when he was killed. Also he has found the tie. He has built up a picture in his mind about the victim's private life. Finding crucial evidence at the crime scene is Columbo's speciality. In Agenda For Murder, Columbo finds that the blood beneath the gun had dried, which is crucial in establishing whether the victim committed suicide or was murdered.

Scene 6 & 7: Columbo has followed the tie lead and has managed to established the victim's friends when he was at school. He has now established a link between the murderer and the victim.

Scene 8: Columbo's first encounter with the villain. At first the villain normally assumes Columbo is conducting routine enquiries. Columbo asks standard questions and tries to obtain as much information as he can. Also, in nearly every case he works on, Columbo analyses the people he meets. Although he has little evidence at this stage, he has already deduced that McFarlane is the sort of person who would be capable of murder. He has also noticed that McFarlane is being slightly evasive. At the end of the scene McFarlane offers Columbo vouchers, seemingly as a goodwill gesture, but actually in the hope of buttering Columbo up. This is a commonly used tactic. Even quite late on in the case, the villain often offers Columbo some sort of gift. In Identity Crisis Nelson Brenner pays for Columbo's petroleum at the gas station. However, Columbo later returns the money. Sometimes the villain is overly courteous to Columbo in the hope that he will 'go easy' on them, but Columbo sees through every ruse.

Scene 9: Columbo's second encounter with the villain. Since scene 8, Columbo has found out about the New York trip. McFarlane never mentioned the trip, which makes Columbo very suspicious. By now McFarlane is firmly at the top of his list of suspects. Columbo starts making insinuations. McFarlane is beginning to feel awkward in Columbo's presence. Some killers are very smug when they first meet Columbo (McFarlane is not a classic case of this). They see this scruffy looking man in a battered old raincoat driving a battered old car, they notice how Columbo has mislaid a pencil or seemingly loses his train of thought, and they assume that Columbo is a fool. This can often lead to them slipping up and revealing something they shouldn't. McFarlane, however, is on to Columbo quite quickly. He knows Columbo only has one purpose in questioning him and sees Columbo's insinuations for what they are.

Scene 10: Columbo asks Mrs. Balderdice whether it is normal for students not to speak to each other for years, because he knows she has many years experience as a teacher. He knows that he can use what she says in his next interview with McFarlane.

Scene 11: Columbo's third encounter with the villain. By now McFarlane is getting very irritated by Columbo's frequent visits and has a feeling Columbo thinks he is the culprit. This visit Columbo has no new evidence and is merely speculating on the likelihood of McFarlane and the victim not speaking for years when they were at school. By now Columbo is making a pest of himself, as he often does. Another example of this is In Lady In Waiting, when he turns up and asks about a light bulb, irritating Beth Chadwick. This is when the killer's patience is tested. By now the battle lines are clearly drawn. Columbo knows the killer did it and the killer knows they are the chief suspect. However, the killer probably believes at this stage that Columbo can be made to believe someone else is the chief suspect, if there is some dirt on someone else. This is wrong, as Columbo is already sure McFarlane is the killer.

Scene 12: Columbo's fourth encounter with the villain. By now McFarlane doesn't even want to talk to Columbo. Sometimes, as in this case, Columbo tricks the killer into talking to him by a ruse of some sort. This time Columbo implies that once he knows more about what happened on the New York trip his loose ends will be tied up and he will leave McFarlane alone. McFarlane knows Columbo suspects him, but hopes forlornly that by telling him what he wants to know that he will be thrown off the scent. Columbo has already explained that he will hound him until he does find out the truth, so he considers that he might as well tell him. He knows Columbo has no evidence linking him to the crime scene, so is not too worried about Columbo making a murder charge yet.

Scene 13: Columbo's fifth encounter with the villain. By now McFarlane realises that Columbo will not be put off the scent. McFarlane's only crumb of comfort is the fact Columbo does not have enough evidence for a conviction. Columbo has turned up merely to ask if McFarlane knew that the victim shopped at his store. McFarlane is getting irritated and does not want to speak to Columbo ever again.

Scene 14: Columbo's sixth encounter with the villain. This time he has some new evidence. By now McFarlane is showing open animosity towards Columbo. Columbo manages to conduct a search of the victim's house in search for a fawn raincoat, but McFarlane doesn't mind because he has already got rid of it. Mrs. McFarlane throws Columbo out and he realises that it will be unwise to visit McFarlane at home again, as his wife is openly hostile towards him.

Scene 15: Columbo's seventh encounter with the villain. This time Columbo does not need to make up a ruse to be admitted to McFarlane's office. McFarlane does not seem quite so irritated by Columbo this time. He lets Columbo look in his clothing cupboards searching for the elusive fawn raincoat because he knows Columbo won't find it. At the end of the scene McFarlane offers Columbo vouchers for his store. He has already hatched a plot to get rid of Columbo, hence his more relaxed attitude towards him.

Scene 16: McFarlane poisons the bottles of wine that he believes Mrs. Columbo will purchase. He has cleverly planned the whole thing out so that he won't be caught, but has made one mistake already. In the last scene Columbo twigged what he was doing.

Scene 17: Mrs. Columbo (who we don't see properly, just the back of her from a distance) purchases the poisoned wine.

Scene 18: The grand finale. Columbo's eighth encounter with the villain. Columbo explains that he has come to arrest McFarlane. He then explains that he hadn't been able to find any proof that McFarlane had been at the victim's house, so couldn't arrest him for that crime. However, he had the proof that McFarlane had attempted to kill him. This is very similar to Murder Under Glass. In that episode the slimy Paul Gerard had got away with murder. Columbo had found a motive and knew Gerard had the means to commit the crime but still didn't have enough evidence for a conviction. In the final scene, Gerard poisons Columbo's wine, but Columbo is wise to it. He uses the poisoned wine as evidence. Just as in that case, McFarlane was so keen to get rid of Columbo, that he unwittingly incriminated himself. Columbo thinks he's worked it all out, but McFarlane points out that the victim was responsible for the boy's death in New York all those years before, not him. Columbo has made an error. This happens sometimes, though not often enough. In The Most Crucial Game he makes the wrong assumption about Hanlon being responsible for the phone tap. In Publish or Perish, for some time he believes Greenleaf is being set up. In Columbo Cries Wolf, Columbo is led down the garden path and solves a crime that hasn't even been committed yet. These are all totally understandable errors. One annoying trait in some of the poorer Columbo episodes is when Columbo seems to be psychic and automatically jumps to the right conclusions for no apparent reason. Columbo is a brilliant detective. Even the best detectives can get things wrong. As long at Columbo's reasons for making these mistakes are logical then why should it matter? In this scene Columbo also feels a degree of sympathy for McFarlane for the first time. Columbo often feels sympathy for the killer, though this never stops him relentlessly pursuing them until he has enough proof for a conviction. In Try and Catch Me he tells Abigail Mitchell that he understands why she murdered her nephew. Mitchell tries to persuade Columbo that she is a harmless old dear who wouldn't ever do such a thing again. However, Columbo is unrelenting. She must go to trial just like anyone else.