I think that he comes to suspect Kay before we see him at the scene. Remember, when Kay arrives at the office, Columbo is already waiting for her and has asked that she see him first thing when she gets in. It reminds me of "Sky High IQ", when Columbo has already singled out Oliver before we even see the Lieutenant.

I do love seeing Columbo react to significant things like you mentioned with Kay talking to the boss. He is so good at it, he is just a really excellent actor. I especially like when he picks up on romantic vibes. One of my favorites is in "Blueprint for murder", when the younger Mrs. Williams calls the architect a genius and gazes lovingly at him. Columbo kind of cocks his head and gives a little half smile, it cracks me up every time. :-)

Hello, first time posting here, long time fan (mostly of the original run, I must admit!).

I agree with this view of Kay's motivations as mysterious rather than weak. Although, the actors and writers perhaps erred on the subtle side, since it took many viewing of the episode for me to see it that way! The first time I watched it, I wondered if Trish Van Devere was just phoning in her performance, so flat and cold it seemed. Now I view that lack of emotional affect as a deliberate choice, and I think she was trying to portray a murderer who's the product of an impoverished and perhaps abusive childhood.

Her response to Valerie Kirk is one clue. Although Kay is younger than Valerie, Kay's the caretaker in the relationship. It begs the question as to where Kay learned that role, and whether Kay had to handle her own mother in that fashion. I think that was also the point of the visit to her awful childhood home. The scene where she calls Columbo attractive is another clue. Kay's using her sex appeal to manipulate, and it's pretty clear she's done it before, with Mark just as one example. But she strikes me as cold even when she calls Columbo attractive. Faking emotional warmth would probably help her manipulate him, but she can't seem to manage it. She shows what looks like sincere warmth to at least two women, her secretary and Valerie, but not with Mark or Columbo. That begs another question for me--what's happened in her life that she's so closed off with men, even when to act otherwise would serve her own ambition? Is the Mercedes just a reminder of what she's done to get to where she is? Or does it also remind her of something darker, a time in her childhood when she was used and abandoned and told to keep quiet about it?

Wow, didn't realize I had so much to say about this episode! But it's one that's puzzled me for a long time. Kay's a much more sympathetic murderer for me now, after piecing together my take on her (and only after more viewings than I can even remember!).

One thing I've never fully understood is why Mark's giving her the car was so crucial. I can relate to her anger about the breakup, and being passed over for the job. And I can see how the car can be seen as an insult, but the way the scene plays out, the car is a total turning point.

She had been ****** up to that point, but when he tells her about the car, that's when she becomes homicidal. The whole tone of the scene changes. We hear her murder music for the first time. She had glanced at the gun when he threw it on the bed, now she really gives it a good look.

I think the gift of the car is so upsetting to Kay because it's like payment for her services. He breaks up with her rather coldly. She asks him, "What's going on here?" And he just ignores her. He then says something like, "We don't really owe each other anything". He's a bit cruel. But when he softens the blow with the car, my guess us that she interprets that as if he left cash in the nightstand.

That's my guess.

You might also wonder if the car made Kay wonder if Mark had planned this to be a "parting" gift weeks/months well in advance, knowing that at some point he'd be hopefully moving on to New York, and I suspect you have to order these cars many weeks ahead of delivery. Which may have been why the car was the turning point.

As Clay mentioned, I always noted the irony of Flanagan also making not so solid decisions when he mentioned rolling the dice on Clay Gardner. I always thought that was intentionally worded that way.

Another thing I've wondered about is whether Kay is really as incompetent as the writers make her out to be. Of course she's not a real person and it makes no sense for me to defend her against the people that created her, but I'm going to do it anyway. :-)

My main thought is that when Mark says that great line, "You don't make decisions, you make guesses" I think we are expected to take it totally to heart. Mark is this calm successful experienced man, and Kay is a strident grasping woman. But my reaction is, how do we know Mark is all that? How do we know his success is the result of his fabulous "decisions"? Maybe he just kissed up to the New York Bunch? And incidentally, how great a "decision" was it to drop that glass on the table, wasting booze and getting broken glass everywhere?

And what about the big New York boss himself, "rolling the dice on Clay Gardner". Isn't that guessing? And look where it got him. Big limo, big cigar, and all these executives living to please him.

But maybe I just have a bad attitude about bosses. ;-)

No, Kay's definitely not incompetent. I think Mark was 100% correct. As Executive Assistant, she's the best,the very best. But she just wasn't ready for Mark's job. Mark emphasized that she would learn, which implied that she'd eventually be ready for Mark's job, just not at this time. The irony is Mark was right.

Mary's mistake is that he handled the whole breakup poorly. As Columbo concludes, she really killed him over the personal relationship, not the fact that he wouldn't promote her.

She really felt he betrayed her on all levels.

What is your idea of the difference between Kay's job and Mark's job? For example, if Mark hadn't died would he be the one going down to the set and deciding whether to replace Valerie? For some reason, I picture that as part of her regular duties. It's amazing how much there is to chew on in this episode, isn't it? I think it's because the subject matter is something the writers know really well. I wonder how much of it is based on things they actually experienced in their careers.

My feeling is that "putting out fires" was always Kay's job. I agree that had Mark not been killed, she would have done much of the same thing that day EXCEPT that Mark would have jumped in and either canceled the show or taped it so Valeie would not have to perform live.

I think she did the work and Mark just delegated to her what had to be done. I can't see Mark editing The Professional the way she did on the first scene. That's not something you do just before being promoted to run the whole network. Mark delegated to several people but trusted Kay in several key areas. That's why he jokes, "Kay Freestone guarantees a 40 share". He is teasing her because if she says the film will be ready in 3 days, then the film will indeed be ready in 3 days. I don't think he really expects a 40 share rating, but he's teasing her because he knows how hard she worked to perfect that film.

That's why the motive for the killing is really two-fold. I think she felt Mark betrayed her both professionally and personally.

Things that I don't like in this episode:

1) it has the worst filler of all time when Columbo is alone in the production booth playing with all those silly buttons; (it would have been much nicer to fill the episode with more scenes involving Mark and Mr Flanagan, especially if those scenes enlightened the viewer as to Kay's motive on the killing; both actors were great in this episode, too);

2) the carnival/carousel scene at the end. I find it loud, distracting and unsophisticated. I realize Kay was supposed to be "on location" but it would have been more interesting to see the inner workings of an interior shoot of something enlightening to a a real movie production. Instead, we are subjected to cloying carnival music and more camera special effects that don't hold up well over time.

It's either the last or second to last episode of the original 70's run, and these 2 silly scenes are kind of indicative of what's to come on the 90's episodes.

Having said that, I still really liked this episode. I just think it could have been even better.

I definitely agree about that scene with Columbo in the production booth, JenSam. I've been showing the series (first seven seasons, at least) to family in the last couple years or so, and that's the only scene in any episode where I could tell there was an awkward feeling among the audience. The scene does nothing to move the story, and it's one of the few (if only) instances in the first seven seasons where the humor intended seems to fall completely flat.
I know many fans consider "Last Salute to the Commodore" to be an unbearable episode, but for me, even though it's quite strange and awkward, I feel the humor is done artfully and is absolutely hilarious. This production booth scene, however, is, as you pointed out, meaningless filler that, for me, doesn't even fulfill a need for a humorous diversion.

I thought the humor in "Last Salute to the Commodore" was pretty funny. I assume you're referring to the driveway scene. I love seeing Robert Vaughn's hair blowing in the wind.

I think that episode is ok, but not one of my favorites. I like the fact that there are 2 murders and that the viewers originally think Vaughn is the murderer. I also like that it's the only episode to deviate from the original Columbo formula, where the audience usually sees the murder in the opening scenes.

In my opinion, the best things about "Make me a Perfect Murder" are the smart characters. I think the Mark MacAndrews character is attractive and entertaining. I really wish he hadn't been the victim so we could have seen more of him. (Luckinbill is actually a fine actor. Unfortunately, many people in younger generations only know him for his dumbed down performances in Murder She Wrote. I think the director asked all guest stats of Murder She Write to dumb down their performances.).

I also like the Mr Flanagan character. Not sure if Patrick O'Neal is making fun of studio bosses with his indecisive manner , but he's believable in the role and fun to watch. I like the scene where he's watching The Professional and he's sitting at the edge of his seat. I always wondered if he ad-libbed his 'shush" to his underling in that scene.

The shush was in the script: http://leethomson.myzen.co.uk/Columbo/Columbo_7x03_-_Make_Me_A_Perfect_Murder.pdf

This apparently was an earlier version, I find it fascinating the differences compared to what was aired. For example Columbo watches "The Professional" with Kay instead of with the TV repairman.

Also, the stage directions give us a lot of clues. Also some random trivia like the fact that the character in the Professional is named "Roark".

I thought there were a few other instances in "Commodore" that were great, but, yes, the scene in the car is one of the major highlights. Also, in regards to "Murder She Wrote", I agree that the show had dumbed-down characters. It seems as though "Columbo's" inverted-mystery (I believe that's the correct term; not exactly sure) format allowed for a richer exploration of its characters, while "Murder She Wrote's" traditional mystery format was too focused on plotting and maintaining the core mystery throughout each episode that it had little opportunity to develop each character or performance. I've never actually viewed any other mystery programs other than these two, and wonder if there ever has been a traditional mystery series with characters as deep as in "Columbo"?

Also, thank you, Clay, for posting that link! I've often wondered whether one could find "Columbo" scripts online, so I'm very grateful for your posting that (though I realize it was in response to an earlier post, and not to satiate my desire to find "Columbo" scripts online )

Glad you enjoyed the script Bryce! The same site has scripts from three other episodes. Lots of good stuff there.

Fantastic! I'll have to check all those out. Thanks again, Clay!

But this is part of the reason why this episode is not among my favourites: we are supposed to think Kay is competent, but this decision is so bad that I have trouble accepting her as being competent in the first place. I suppose the point is that she's a good 'number two' but not cut out to be number one - but apparently the Valerie Kirk show was always supposed to be live, and the bosses went along with this the whole time??

It's a little like the mistake the chess champion Emmet Clayton makes when losing a match in the simultaneous chess tournament when Columbo is bugging him: it's the shortest checkmate possible. I can accept that he would be distracted into making a mistake, but not that particular mistake.