Day 235: Columbo, A Matter of Honor

Show: Columbo

Episode Particulars: S5EP4, “A Matter of Honor”, original airdate February 1^st, 1976.

 Summary: Down in Mexico, legendary bullfighter Luis Montoya (Ricardo Montalban) has decided he needs to kill his loyal assistant Hector Rangel (Robert Carricant), whose son was just put in the hospital by one of the bulls on Montoya’s ranch. He lures Rangel to the bullfighting ring by claiming he’s going to kill the bull that did this, then tranquilizes Rangel and lets the bull loose. He then claims that killing the bull in vengeance was all Rangel’s idea, and he stupidly decided to face the bull alone. Given his reputation, no one, including the lead investigator Lieutenant Sanchez (Pedro Armendariz jr.), would suspect a thing. However, Columbo happens to be in the neighborhood on vacation, and a chance fender-bender throws him in Sanchez’s path. Which means Montoya’s going to be under more scrutiny than he expected.

Standalone Thoughts: This episode is very much “meh” to me. While a lot of the material revolves around Columbo investigating the case, instead of it just kind of popping up here and there like it does in a lot of other episodes, there’s also not all that much interaction between Columbo and Montoya, which isn’t normal by Columbo standards. Instead, Columbo spends a lot of his screentime with Sanchez, and while there was potential there—a buddy comedy of sorts or two policeman bonding over similar methods—that’s not explored as much as it could be. In fact, the longest scene in the episode (or at least it feels like the longest scene) consists of Columbo and Sanchez sitting at a table discussing the case. It’s a combination of exposition dump and rehashing what we already know, and it just starts to feel unnecessary after a point. Add in the fact that the motive for the murder isn’t revealed until near the end of the episode, and the end result is something that’s not too badly paced but just doesn’t bring much to the table. Not all episodes can be winners, of course, but coming right on the heels of the excellent “Identity Crisis”, that just makes this feel like even more of a letdown.

Number of “Columbo-isms”: 4/6, though barely. There’s a little bit of fumbling, only one bit I’d count as a “Just one more thing”, and a few mentions of Mrs. Columbo. The car, however, has a larger part to play, because Columbo rear-ending a taxi with it is what draws him into the case in the first place. It now joins Mrs. Columbo as a Columbo-ism that was also used to kick-start the plot. I look forward to seeing how they manage to make “This Old Man” lead to something.

Other: *Look carefully in this episode, and you’ll discover Columbo’s first name;

That pretty clearly says “Frank”, and according to Wikipedia, it shows up several more times, including in an earlier episode. You’ll also see in that entry that Columbo’s first name was erroneously given as “Phil” in a few books. If I may be so bold, however, I think Phil flows much better with the last name Columbo than Frank, so that’s what I’ll continue calling him in my head. Since I’ll just keep calling him Columbo most of the time anyway, I don’t think there’s any harm in that.

*We get another unexpected continuity connection today, as Sanchez says that he’s heard of Columbo thanks to the events of “Troubled Waters”. In fact, Columbo’s apparently become somewhat legendary in Mexico because of it. A bit of an odd claim to fame, but I’m guessing Columbo doesn’t mind too much either way.

Would This Hold Up in Court?: No. Most of the evidence is flimsy, and the event Columbo staged to prove his point was extremely dangerous. Though now I’m curious what would happen to Columbo if someone decided to press charges for the stunt, given that he’s an outsider who just happened to be helping out. Would he be tried in Mexico or in America?