They say absolute power corrupts absolutely, but Paul Hanlon demonstrates that the desire for absolute power can do it as well.

Brentwood East's message reminded me of something. Eric's wife was played by Susan Howard, whom I always liked from Dallas, but especially from "Petrocelli" (one of the few courtroom shows I ever got attached to). She was also in a very good Star Trek episode. According to "Trekkies" - I'm not one by every definition - she played the only female Klingon on the original show, and she gave her a very "exotic" look (this was before the weirder "Klingon" make-up). Anyway, it's almost surprising that Paul wanted Eric out of the way because of a "lust for power" (in Brentwood's words), not the other kind. Anyone who's seen Howard in that episode would wonder about his priorities!

I'm one of those who will defend this episode's ending, which I hear knocked way too many times for it not being solid enough. People there are forgetting the brilliance of how the ending is executed in terms of the sudden "gotcha" nature of the whole moment, the music, Hanlon's reaction and not saying anything as he suddenly feels trapped. That may not be strong from the petty nuances of is it strong enough to convict but in terms of television storytelling it's brilliant.

My favorite thing about that ending is that it shows Columbo at nearly his most "non-threatening." (Which sounds like bad grammar, but I'm not sure.) When
Paul says, "I'm about to throw you out of here!" (and at least sounds like he means it literally!), Columbo says in a friendly way, "I wouldn't do that, sir. You'll miss the best part." With any other given TV detective, "I wouldn't do that" would be followed by a threat of HIS OWN. But trust Columbo to follow it with something like that, instead.

For some reason, the Columbo plots, actors, locations, etc., all seem to be done in 2's and/or 3's. I think this is rather fun for us trivia buffs.

So, what's the other Col. ep. where the killer is apprehended at this same type of site?