Columbo: Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo

Rest in Peace Mrs Columbo is not one of my favourites of the brilliant Columbo series, but I still find it a very good episode. While it does drag in the middle, it is one of the more fascinating later Columbos, having an intriguing flashback-driven story, clever dialogue that is both amusing and tense and some great scenes especially the restaurant scene and the ending. Rest in Peace Mrs Columbo looks beautiful too, with some atmospheric scoring, slick editing and crisp direction. Peter Falk perhaps has given better performances of the series, but he is still gleefully enjoyable, and Helen Shaver is excellent in her meaty and quite unhinged role. Support roles are taken by Ian McShane and Roscoe Lee Brown and both are among the more interesting support performances of the later episodes.

In conclusion, fascinating. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Helen Shaver heads a cast including Ian McShane and Teresa Gangel in an episode that pounds the final nail in the coffin of "Mrs. Columbo." The TV series, not the . . . Person.

After the success of "Columbo" someone had the "bright" notion of "Mrs. Columbo." Though the great detective never appears, unstated connections were made in the opening credits. When the show faltered "Kate Columbo" divorced her never seen husband and I think the show finally died under the title "Kate Loves a Mystery." I may be inexact title-wise, but I don't care enough to look it up.

In this episode Columbo said he'd been married 28 or 29 years. Unless he's lying about a make-believe wife it really is "Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo."

As far as the episode itself, Shaver ties all the men in knots and Gangel doesn't have enough to do. But then, I really like her. And perhaps I've seen too much Columbo but the clues were too obvious. I figured it out early and I'm not clever about these things.

The good: Roscoe Lee Browne has a neat cameo. Great actor. It's too bad he never "did it" in a "Columbo" episode, to my knowledge. I'd like to see Browne and Falk in that duel.

This episode is one of the best 'new' Columbo-episodes. With perfect flashbacks the viewer sees how a insane woman is manipulating Columbo and trying to kill Mrs. Columbo and Columbo himself. The whole episode has an very sad atmosphere (especially the scenes of the funeral) but has also an happy end :) The Columbofans also learns a lot about the habits of Mrs. Columbo and that is also a nice thing. One of the best 1989's Columbo's. You must see it !!!

REST IN PEACE, MRS. COLUMBO is an atypical episode in the COLUMBO series and a not entirely successful one. Like UNDERCOVER and NO TIME TO DIE, it seeks to break the established format of the show - the format that made it so successful in the first place. The idea's a novel one, I'll give them that, but the execution here is only so-so.

What I did like was the idea of having the guest villain nursing a personal grievance against our detective hero. Helen Shaver isn't one of the series greats, but she does strive to embody her conniving character with depth and realism, so you have to give her that. The episode is also notable for featuring a couple of top character actors in support, namely Ian McShane and Roscoe Lee Browne. It's a pity they're both so underutilised.

What I did love was the way that the villain in this story makes it personal, but that's only in the last half an hour or so and the pacing is a little off before then. The middle section does feel dragged out. However, the Columbo's-family-in-peril stuff is great, and the last ten minutes in particular really picks things up for some exhilarating viewing. The bad thing about this is the structure, particularly the opening sequence with that confusing funeral which is returned to throughout the episode. It means that the story has to be segmented and told in flashback, which is just ridiculous (and why McShane would be at the funeral is anybody's guess). A more linear narrative and this might have been one of the most memorable episodes of the entire series.

To all those who disregard or disdain every one of the late Columbos, I hate quite a few of them too. In fact, this one plays with the format as well, which is what caused so many of the others to be dreadful. But surprise, surprise, it not only worked this time, it turned into one of the greatest of all episodes, top 5 in my book. For starters, we have the old Columbo, reserved and serious but with a bunch of funny character quirks. None of the speaking like a senile old man, or explaining things like one does to a 3 year old child. The great dialogue is back. The french restaurant scene pitting Columbo against the Matre D' is hilarious and priceless. So is the chili scene with the waitress Gracie. The plot is brilliantly original, realistic (yes, there are psychopaths like that in the real world too). Helen Shaver, always underrated, is superb, grabbing every minute of her unusually long screen time and killing it. Her cat and mouse with Columbo is superb. And Columbo not only gets to do his usual great stuff as a sleuth, but also has to become a prime time actor, and does it splendidly. Finally, Roscoe Lee Browne is splendid as Dr. Steadman, and the scene in which he and Columbo do a dance act to get the necessary info without violating doctor/patient confidentiality is a joy to watch. If all that wasn't enough, the final two scenes are just riveting. Oh, did I mention that I really liked this movie?