A great episode. Richard Kiley is superb as the
bad guy. The directing and music is really excellent.
I am uncomfortable with Halperin drowing his wife in
the bathtub, didn't he realize that the medical
examiner would discover this.
This is one of the "Watergate" episodes, i.e. episodes made at the time of the scandal on the theme of evil politicians ("Candidate for Crime" is another). It is somewhat surprising that Columbo doesn't seem to be taken off guard when the evidence points at the Deputy Police Commissioner, someone he knows and has worked with, is the culprit.

Regarding the promos---there is a good one with "Etude in Black"...Alex Benedict says to his wife Janice "stop hounding me", but then in the promo they follow it with the scene from the Hollywood Bowl where Columbo says "that's my job!"

i gotta check out those promos..they sound hysterical