Just One More Thing: Make Me a Perfect Murder

Notes and screenshots for Make Me a Perfect Murder: Originally broadcast on date, starring [cast] and, of course, Peter Falk as Columbo.

"An executive secretary for a TV network kills her boss and lover after he broke up with her and passed her over for a promotion she believes she deserves. Lt. Columbo is on the case."

-IMDB Summary

"In “Make Me a Perfect Murder,” Trish Van Devere is a network TV up-and-comer who figures she’ll get her big break once her boss/special night friend is put in charge of the entire joint. That does not happen, so she shoots him dead and concocts a plan for escaping discovery with far too many moving parts. Fighting through a case of whiplash, Columbo is able to figure through the whole thing. Also, Lainie Kazan plays some Judy Garland analogue? Donna Bowman (The AV Club) and Noel Murray (The Dissolve, The AV Club) join Jon and RJ for the hugs and neck rubs."

-RJ's episode summary

Listen to the original podcast episode here:

Episode 49: Let’s Go to the Party, Carl with our guests Donna Bowman and Noel Murray.

Make Me a Perfect Murder

Season 7, Episode #3

Director: James Frawley

Writer: Robert Blees

Although I love the entirety of Columbo as a series - even much of the 90s, despite what a lambasting they get both from our show and the fandom in general - I think I’ve zeroed in on the late Seventies (Seasons five through seven specifically) as my personal favorite era, even though they sometimes leave me wanting a lot more.

Much of this has to do with the all-around depth of the characters, including Columbo - these are the seasons where we really get an idea of the amount of raw grunt work the lieutenant puts into his cases, where we see Dog and hear the most about Mrs.Columbo, and where his own facade cracks more often than not. The killers and victims alike also get richer backstories, even if the victims aren’t particularly long for the world.

Kay’s and Valerie’s relationship in this episode is the biggest and most intriguing question mark in the entire plot, which includes an unfortunately dippy murder scheme which only distracts from the more intriguing story of Kay’s personal arc. How did they form this ridiculously co-dependent relationship, how much has it informed her career decisions at the network, how much does it have to do with her family - none of whom are hanging around in Kay’s fancy professional life. Is it a fabricated relationship, is she getting something from it? How about her relationship with her secret lover, with the studio head, with her underlings whom she manipulates into providing an alibi for her murder?

I walked away from this episode realizing that there was enough going on here to fill an entire season of a television series, really, which is true of a solid half of the episodes from these seasons, which is simultaneously what I enjoy about them and where they sometimes disappoint me …

Next episode: How to Dial a Murder