I really enjoyed this episode, one of my favourites. I don't know how others felt, but to me it was darker and felt different to other Columbo episode.

One thing though, how sloppy was the second murder? Didn't it occur to the Commissioner that the coroner might find soap in her lungs?

How do you think the Commissioner would have killed her if she wasn't in the bathtub?

I love this episode, too. One aspect I love about it is how it really plays up the whole "class warfare" vibe that the series was seen as having. Not only do you have the shabby cop versus slick criminal/cop, but you also have the shabby criminal (Artie Jessup) versus the two slick criminals. Not only that, but Halperin killed his wife because she gave away money to the sort of criminals that make up the seedy side of Los Angeles we hardly ever see in the series, because Columbo is always chasing the OTHER kind of crook. I agree, too, that it was a darker sort of episode, with a lot of moody music and tense interplay between Columbo and the culprit. One of my favorite scenes is when Columbo is in the Commissioner's office and the Commissioner is about to go out the door, but comes back in when Columbo mentions he spoke to the Commisioner's wife earlier. Halperin asks, "You spoke to my wife?" Columbo doesn't hear the question at first and Halperin repeats, "I said, you spoke to my wife?" Columbo answers yes, and asks if there's anything wrong with that, to which Halperin responds with a half nervous-half devilish laugh, "No, certainly not." It's such a well written/directed/acted scene, brimming with an amusing sort of tension. Other scenes, such as Halperin and Caldwell's conversation in the funeral home, are equally tense. That's a good point, too, about how the Commissioner would have killed his wife if she hadn't been in the bathtub, since the whole plot he had devised earlier was dependent on making it seem as if she'd drowned in the pool. Of course, he probably chose the pool as the ideal place to stage her "death" since it was outside, thereby being visible from the helicopter, so any rethinking of his plan would have had to include some different outdoor scenario for the staged murder.

The bar scenes are about as "gritty" as COLUMBO ever gets (even the soup kitchen in NEGATIVE REACTION is pretty pleasant-looking). And the bald detective in the last bar scene really takes the prize for that kind of look. I've said it before, but I wonder whether he was meant to be a friendly little KOJAK joke. And whether the Halperins were meant to be an inside joke about MacMILLAN AND WIFE, COLUMBO's "companion" show.

I think Halperin's plan to cover up his wife's murder was actually devised after he drowned her in the tub. As she happened to be in the bath at the time it presented him with the option of making it appear that she drowned, in plain sight. I don't think he had the whole pool gag planned beforehand and she was handily bathing at the time he came home from work.

I think we assume that
(1) Halperin was confident enough that he could cover up any evidence about the soap (or he didn't realise it in advance) - the same could also apply to the time of death issue
and
(2) that by being "back early" he knew his wife would be in the bath - a regular event, perhaps?

A Friend in Deed is the quintessential Columbo (the hallmark of the entire series), and since I've waxed over every reason why in this forum at least 100 times, that's all I have to say about it.

Can someone explain to me why Halperin thinks changing Janet Caldwell's clothes somehow gives Hugh Caldwell an alibi? I mean she could have changed her clothes prior to him murdering her. Why didn't Halperin just have Hugh pretend she was watching tv when she called?
The only thing I don't like in this episode is that Columbo doesn't seem the slightest bit nervous arresting his boss, nor does he seem surprised when he figures out the Commish is guilty. I have to assume that Halperin had a sleazy reputation, since even Hugh Caldwell knew Halperin would cover up for him. That's a lot to ask of your neighbor.

We never hear Halperin ask for Columbo on the telephone after Janet Caldwell's murder. In fact, we hear him ask for a patrol car to check out the Caldwell house and then we see Halperin hang up the phone. He never asked for Columbo.
Later, Columbo asks Halperin why he specifically called him the night of Janet's murder, since the robber had never hurt anyone before. Sloppy!
I wonder if they changed the story to provide Columbo with another clue.

Agreed. I used to watch that episode over and over. It's really good! As of right now, I am watching Colombo almost every night, especially before going to bed.