Show: Columbo
Episode
Particulars: S5EP2, “A Case of Immunity”, original airdate October 12th,
1975.
Standalone
Thoughts: There’s a lot of interesting things going on in this episode,
although I must confess that I think more could have been done with them. The
biggest thing in that regard is the fact that Columbo is an international
incident waiting to happen. On the one hand, the episode clearly toys with the
idea, by having Columbo handle a lot of priceless items (to the point where I
was involuntarily tensing up every time Columbo wandered off) and having him
get chewed out by someone from the State Department. I like that because it
gives Columbo some consequences for his actions, which helps keep the character
from feeling like a Mary Sue (yes, things were different back in the day, but
sometimes it’s hard not to see things with modern eyes). On the other hand, I feel
like that should have been a recurring element throughout the episode, maybe a
slow build, instead of just popping up here and there. I don’t want Columbo to
be insensitive, of course, but if you’re going to do something different like
this, you should probably embrace it, like they did in “Troubled Waters”. As it
is, the episode could probably have played out about the same way if it had
been a government official instead of an international dignitary.
The other thing that seemed like it could have gone
somewhere is the fact that it feels like Alafa and one of the women working for
the embassy (they call the building “the legation”, but it’s basically an
embassy, so that’s what I’m going to call it for simplicity’s sake) were in a
relationship. That would give her an in-universe reason to keep showing up,
instead of having her just randomly appear to give Columbo clues and exposition.
To be fair, I’m not entirely sure how that relationship could have related to
the case, but then again, I don’t wholly understand what the case was. It’s obvious that Salah’s motive
had something to do with the King’s more modern way of thinking, but I don’t
think I got what the end goal was. Was he trying to manipulate things so that
the King would embrace the old ways? Was he actually trying to frame Alafa, or
was he just saying that to Habib so Habib would go along with the plan? And
what was the significance of the massive amount of money that went missing? I’m
not sure if my inability to grasp this was because it tied into events of the
70’s that I’m not aware of, or if I just wasn’t reading between the lines. If
anyone wants to shed some light on the matter for me, I’d appreciate it.
At any rate, the episode is still decent. I do raise an
eyebrow at the fact that Columbo initially gets involved in the situation by
accident, but the clues are good, the ending is certainly different and
memorable, and I appreciate the fact that the material doesn’t get overly
political or stereotypical of Middle Eastern countries. I’m not sure how well
it would play today, but for 1975 fare, I think it gets the job done.
Number of
“Columbo-isms”: 3/6. The car and Mrs. Columbo bits are to be expected by
now, but the one major instance of “Just one more thing” is the real standout,
given the circumstances surrounding it and the fact that it can be interpreted
as Columbo being sarcastic, which is a bold if slightly stupid move. I’m not
sure whether to admire him or shake my head. Also, as my header indicates,
Columbo wears a tux again in this episode, although he does cover it up with
his raincoat for quite a while, no doubt because it’s somewhat more familiar to
him. Though now I’m curious if there was a writer who really liked the idea of
Columbo in formal wear for some reason…
Other: *While
the episode does the inevitable thing of giving the music a Middle Eastern
sound, it doesn’t do that in every scene. So I suppose I should commend the
composer for showing restraint.
*Maybe I was just in an odd mood while watching this
episode, but I thought this credit was kind of funny;
Maybe it’s because he’s just called “The King”, or maybe
it’s because “Barry Robins” doesn’t seem like a very royal name (or a Middle
Eastern name for that matter), but it gave me a bit of a smile.
*There’s an interesting moment when Columbo is talking to
one of the protesters picketing outside the Surian embassy. The protester
initially assumes Columbo is part of the group, but when Columbo admits that
he’s a cop (he actually uses the word “fuzz”), the guy is absolutely fine with
it. It felt like a subversion of expectations to me, although I’m not sure if
it would have been seen that way in 1975. I’m glad of it, whatever the case;
Columbo had been getting enough dirty looks throughout the course of the
episode, he didn’t need more piled on.
*The episode has a meta moment when the King is pleased
to meet Columbo, because he’s “The real thing [aka a homicide detective], not
what we see on your American TV shows.” There’s no way that line wasn’t written
in on purpose, though I must confess I never expected Columbo to be one of those shows that broke the fourth wall. It’s
not necessarily an unwelcome development, just a surprising one.
Would This Hold Up
in Court?: This gets brought up in the episode itself; all the evidence
Columbo has is circumstantial and wouldn’t hold up. But the final scene gets
around this in a darkly amusing way, so the case will stand up, even if it took
a bit of trickery to get there. Although Salah probably won’t be complaining
about that.
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