Just One More Thing: The Most Dangerous Match

Notes and screenshots for The Most Dangerous Match: Originally broadcast on March 4, 1973, starring Laurence Harvey as a chess master with murder on his mind, Jack Kuschen as a tourist in a trash compactor, a cameo from frequent extra John Finnegan and, of course, Peter Falk as Columbo.

"A chess player murders his opponent before a big match. Lt. Columbo must out-maneuver this crafty, but craven, killer."

-IMDB Summary

"Murder is no game. Well, except for “The Most Dangerous Match,” wherein chess genius Laurence Harvey is terrified at the prospect of losing to someone even more genius-er than he is. Instead of just playing harder, he tries to kill his opponent by shoving him into what passes for early-70s green technology (a massive garbage crushing machine). When that doesn’t quite work, Columbo investigates the not-quite-yet-a-murder, trying to stay one move ahead of this Bobby Fisher analogue, putting his dreams of getting away with it in check. Appropriately, game designer Nathan Paoletta is the guest, helping Jon and RJ put the pieces in place. Games."

-RJ's episode summary

Listen to the original podcast episode here:

Episode 49: We Ain’t Winnin’ with our guest Nathan Paoletta. 

The Most Dangerous Match

Season 2, Episode 7

Director: Edward M. Abroms

Writers: Jackson Gillis, Richard Levinson, William Link

Experimental episodes are always welcome, and it’s a good time to try out something different. Despite being in his second season, Columbo is already settling into a groove, and has acquired a stable of tics and peccadilloes which are evolving into trademarks of the character – and that's no good!

The experimentation of this episode leans heavily on the hallucinogenic dream sequences which open it, and a brief return to the panic of the dream state halfway through the opening act. Visually, it’s interesting, if a little absurd in retrospect (for 1970s television, I believe it spoke in exactly the right language to the audience in order to depict “nightmare scenario,” even if it might spell “Disco night for Harry Potter” to contemporary viewers). 

It’s not enough to carry the episode, though. What works well in this one – an evolving relationship between Columbo and the killer, a genuinely likable victim (how often do we get those?), a well-crafted preamble to the conclusion – doesn’t make up for its weaknesses. A murder plot which hinged on a lot of coincidence and moving parts, an absolute misunderstanding of how sound and/or hearing impairment works, and a confusing subplot about prescriptions which raised more questions than it answered all dragged the episode down.

Next episode: Double Shock