LOVE THIS EPISODE!-what a way to finish the series: "This far and no farther".
It is important to remember that this was not
a planned murder, so Joe Devlin couldn't think
of everything. There are numerous problems
with the plot, for example Devlin says he
searched every piece of paper in Pauley's hotel
room, yet he left his autographed copy of
"Up From Ignorance" in Pauley's coat pocket
which led Columbo straight to him.
I have mentioned this before, but the Joe Devlin
character is based on a real person named
Brendan Behan who was an Irish writer who as a
teenager joined the IRA and served time in a
British prison. He died young from
alcoholism, so he was done in by his drinking
just like Devlin. This is also one of the first
TV shows in the 1970's to explicitly mention
homosexuality (Devlin and Kerry Malone).
Clive Reville is absolutely outstanding in the
role of Joe Devlin, and his performance outweighs
any weaknesses in the script.

now thats really interesting!!! i didnt know there were homosexual references in that one!!! well, it goes to show you...im no colombo!!! LOL...like i said ive only seen this one a few times as its not such a widely viewed episode so i missed alot on that one!!! you learn something new everyday

You see....that is why this show is so terrific.
Here you have episodes like The Conspirators and Any Old Port in a Storm.........which have obvious holes in their plots, and yet I find both episodes to be so terrific and satisfying.
There is so much more to Columbo than just the plot. There is the relationship between him and the murderer. That is the #1 for me. There is the humor. There is all the references to family members...and also all the silly quirks of his character..........and then.............then.......there is Dog!!! YEA! Dog!!