scottschada@yahoo.com

I love this episode --it is just so much fun. I suppose most Andy's are more plausible, but this is just pure entertainment. I never know what folks who review the AGS are looking for, but I feel this one is very entertaining. If they could have worked in Aunt Bea, it would be a ten. I guess Barney's addition of rehabilitation might be considered a time filling add-on. But for me it all meshes to make an excellent episode.

I did notice that the artificial laughter seems more intrusive in this particular episode,, and I do believe that in the future this will be revisited and the really fake sounding ones will be deleted.

There is strong acting here, and the opening scenes with Joyce Van Patten and Jeannie Berlin are touching. Believe it or not, I also enjoy the gentle police assistant's (Jon Miller) interactions with Columbo. I would have gladly looked forward to seeing him more often in the series; although this may have been his only appearance.

When this came on (again) recently, I stopped my background activities and paid closer attention. It's really an entertaining watch. Until it isn't. Again, Berlin's and Van Patten's characterizations are full and believable; as well as the (sadly) brief presence of Mr. Miller as the assistant to Columbo.

The first jarring note was the cold blooded killing of her own brother by Van Patten, as well as of the hapless security guard she cruelly used. I guess there were complicated issues behind her behavior but I would have preferred her to have some sort of brain disease as did Janet Leigh's in "Forgotten Lady".

So with a promising start, this one starts to flounder pretty quickly, until the ending became too challenging to try to figure out.

Sometimes I can't recall in what episode Andy tells Barney that they can't just drop everything because of Barney's suspicions that an ex-convict who had been shot in the leg by Andy is out for "reveng"

The office has a call from a resident whose cat ( with three newborn kittens) is trapped up her roof Andy tries to tell Barney of their responsibilities by asking "wouldn't you be concerned if your mother was up on the roof"

This line that I find very funny is just a moment in a different and entertaining episode Barney stirs things up by assuming that Luke Comstock's letter can mean only one thing "REVENG" (revenge). Well maybe Barney was right because even Andy sends everyone out of the house for Mr. Comstock's visit.

All in all this is an episode with great acting, and even great suspense.