This 1978 Columbo episode has immense historical value: it was the last episode in the original series and it is certainly well worth watching.
The outstanding feature of this case is the wonderful interplay between Columbo and the murderer, Joe Devlin. Clive Revill gives a charming performance in his role as an outwardly typical Irish man - witty, fun-loving and jovial - whose transformation from a youthful terrorist in Ireland to a writer in America has not been total. In fact, there are one or two memorable moments when he mutters aggressively to himself after Columbo speaks to him (notably after they meet for the first time).
The two main characters get a massive amount of screen time together, thus ensuring that the episode bears at least one trait that made the Columbo series so successful - the development of the relationship between the detective and murderer. Their scenes together in the Irish pubs are really enjoyable and it's almost like the script-writer is giving you a "time-out" from the serious stuff in the episode....
Columbo's last words in this story as he replicates the murderer's scratching of the whiskey bottle and his dialogue are "this far..and no farther"; perhaps a thinly veiled reference to the fact that he was hanging up his mac for good....well at least until 1988!
The outstanding feature of this case is the wonderful interplay between Columbo and the murderer, Joe Devlin. Clive Revill gives a charming performance in his role as an outwardly typical Irish man - witty, fun-loving and jovial - whose transformation from a youthful terrorist in Ireland to a writer in America has not been total. In fact, there are one or two memorable moments when he mutters aggressively to himself after Columbo speaks to him (notably after they meet for the first time).
The two main characters get a massive amount of screen time together, thus ensuring that the episode bears at least one trait that made the Columbo series so successful - the development of the relationship between the detective and murderer. Their scenes together in the Irish pubs are really enjoyable and it's almost like the script-writer is giving you a "time-out" from the serious stuff in the episode....
Columbo's last words in this story as he replicates the murderer's scratching of the whiskey bottle and his dialogue are "this far..and no farther"; perhaps a thinly veiled reference to the fact that he was hanging up his mac for good....well at least until 1988!