1. This short shot of the patients in the hospital in the very beginning – how sad and depressed are all of them :P
2. The stretcher that Hiedeman is brought to the hospital on – why is it so low??
3. Sharon says „when I came back to take your glasses, I am sure he was reading your telegram”. But I watched this scene carefully and she couldn't have seen that. Although later when she goes through the corridor she sees that someone probably was tempering with the envelope so maybe she means that
4. It always bothers me so much: first Sharon wants to make a call knowing that Mayfield can enter the room at any time! And what is worse – he leaves the room and she IMMEDIETELY makes a phone call knowing that he can hear everything! Why not to wait 3 minutes when he is gone? Every single time it bothers me :P
5. Ok, maybe Mayfield got the keys to Sharon's apartment – but how did he know where she lived?
6. In this episode I am just a huge fan of Marsha. Her every appearance is a joy for me and a lot of fun :D even small things – when Columbo interview her for the first time some policeman calls Columbo from the bathroom like „we found something”. Then both Columbo and Marsha go to the bathroom, and even in that moment she finds a little while for her to take a look on herself on the mirror and check if she looks good :D
7. Dr Mayfield also doesn't have the threshold underneath his main entrance door (just as Ken Franklin and Eric Wagner)
8. I always want to try and taste the foor which Mayfield has on his party :D
9. I am also a fan of one of Mayfield's guests at the party – the lady in pink, but have no idea who is she :D
10. As much as Falk is incredible actor, sneezing is not his strongest point. But to be fair I have never seen any actor ever, who pla*** sneezing well
11. It's kind of funny that the hospital building seen from outside is exactly the same building as the hotel where Emmet Clayton sta*** in the very next episode
12. Strange, most of people (including me) treat dr Hiedeman as a cute, charming, harmless old guy. But in fact he is quite often rude to people, especially nurses. Plus as for guy who works in this hospital he breaks a lot of rules himself :P
13. Do you think the mini zoo is the same one where Helen Stewart was working?
14. It is so unbelievavle to me how Mayfield entered Harry's apartment. He just opened the window (from the outside!) without ANY problems, and the window was so close to the door that he had no problems with unlocking the door. I've never been in this kind of buildings in USA but is it, or was it really like this? With so easy access? No safety at all? Or is it greatly exaggerated? I am curious about your opinion
15. I as surprised I never noticed before that in Harry's apartment on his desk there is a photograph of Sharon in frame!
16. This Harry's falling down the stairs – I think it had to be „fun” for the actor (or a stunt double, I don't know) to play when I looked more carefully on that this time
17. Colubo says just in the next scene: „right in the middle of the room”. How did he know that it was in the middle of the room if Harry was found down the stairs?
18. I wrote that before but I can't help writing that again here. This episode has one of the best (for me) and funny lines in Columbo: „Maybe Marsha knows more than she's telling”, „Well actually I think she knows less then she's telling”. Brilliant exchange for me. Always laughing about it :D
19. The guy who finds informations about Marcus And Carlson – is the same guy who was in Death Lends A Hand in driving licence office right?
20. When Columbo leaves the Hiedeman's room he hits the door with his head. I am almost sure it was by accident but he pla*** it very well
21. Very handy for Mayfield that when he tempered with the medicine, at that moment completely nobody was around to look after medicine
22. And finally the last point which also always bothers me and somehow even ruin the episode for me. Take a look when Mayfield pushes Columbo, where are his hands. There is NO WAY that he put a suture in any single place on Columbo's „doctors coat” (I don't know how is it called in english). There is no any pocket, any place that the sutures can be hidden in. So where they were? Ah, I don't like „gotcha” in this episode. Plus, which makes it even worse – when Columbo leaves the room Mayfield is just standing with relief, instead of quickly get rid of those suture from Columbo's coat. He knows Columbo enough to know that there is a big chance that he will come back in a minute. So unfortunately I am not satisfy with an ending here but anyway I like this episode very much

12. Most people have to be on the nurse's side when she gets after Columbo for smoking in the hospital room.
Some people might be surprised to see that in an earlier show.

6.) Marsha is a great character. She rambles on about being outer-directed and says “You see what I mean?” And Columbo, who is exhausted, says “I’m beginning to get the point”. When he says later “I think she knows LESS than she’s telling”, it’s not only hilarious but it also is telling Mayfield that Columbo isn’t fooled. I’m gonna have to rewatch just for that scene where she checks herself in the mirror, lol

14.) Regarding how easy it is to break into apartments, it’s like when a guy gets knocked out just long enough for plot convenience, then wakes up with a mild headache. If Mayfield couldn’t break in it would mess up the plot. So they make it easy.

20.) When Columbo bumps into the door in Hiedeman’s room he even says “excuse me” to the door, lol. At least I remember him saying something apologetic.

22.) The gotcha is strange. How could Mayfield remove and hide sutures undetected with everybody watching him? A better strategy would be to put in real suturesover the old ones and reinforce them. There would have to be another operation or autopsy before that would ever be discovered. Since Heideman would not have died from Mayfield’s treachery, the statute of limitations may set in before Mayfield’s attempted murder could ever be proven. Of course that would make for a terrible episode and this one was fantastic.

Columbo loses his temper with Dr. Mayfield. The only other time he did that was with the doctor in the George Hamilton episode. The lieutenant must be extra upset because doctors are supposed to heal, not kill.

What bothers me about Deadly State of Mind is that he loses his temper with Collier's partner instead of Collier!

It bothers me in a sort of "Columbo and Joan Hudson" way. Except that in this case, she isn't even an accomplice.

True, but she was sort of stonewalling Columbo. He was trying to establish the timeline. Did Dr. Collier have the time to commit the murder and she wouldn't say whether Collier was with her or not.

It's true thought that his real anger should have been focused on Collier. I love it when he says: "I don't think suspect is a strong enough word".

Something else about the gotcha I always wondered about is, by that point, might the suture have been in a state of already being partially dissolved? Instead of being the big ball of string that Columbo pulls out of his pocket, might there just have been little bits and pieces of suture that might not even be recognizable? I had dissolving suture in my teeth after dental surgery, and after a few days, little pieces of suture would sometimes break off and be loose in my mouth. Then if that is the case, couldn't Mayfield have just kind of left the dissolving suture in the body as has already been mentioned? Or crushed or obscured the remnants in some other way while he was operating?

I also agree that Heidemann isn't very likable. And I agree that it is too convenient how Mayfield breaks into Harry's apartment and is also able to tamper with the medication that is just sitting out unattended.

Pete I love the same phrase as well (I don't think suspect is strong enough word)!! I think this is my best moment from the whole episode :D

Something else about the gotcha I always wondered about is, by that point, might the suture have been in a state of already being partially dissolved? Instead of being the big ball of string that Columbo pulls out of his pocket, might there just have been little bits and pieces of suture that might not even be recognizable? I had dissolving suture in my teeth after dental surgery, and after a few days, little pieces of suture would sometimes break off and be loose in my mouth. Then if that is the case, couldn't Mayfield have just kind of left the dissolving suture in the body as has already been mentioned? Or crushed or obscured the remnants in some other way while he was operating?

I also agree that Heidemann isn't very likable. And I agree that it is too convenient how Mayfield breaks into Harry's apartment and is also able to tamper with the medication that is just sitting out unattended.

I believe there are different strengths of dissolving suture. In Dr. Heideman's case it was only a few days and Dr. Mayfield kept saying: "Just a few more days", meaning until they dissolve and he can publish the research. So the suture should not have dissolved yet according to Mayfield's remark.

I agree with you about leaving the dissolving suture in the body. There was no reason to remove it. He should have just reinforced the heart valve with real suture. It's strange that the assistant was watching Mayfield and didn't notice one false move. How did Mayfield get the old suture out and put it in his pocket?

Yes, I also always wondered how Mayfield got the suture out and kept it out of sight while he was being so closely watched by the assistant and also by Columbo from above the operating room.