Day 252: Columbo, Agenda For Murder

Show: Columbo

Episode Particulars: S9EP3, “Agenda for Murder”, original airdate February 10^th, 1990.

 Summary: Defense Attorney Oscar Finch (Patrick McGoohan) has been helping his friend Paul Mackey (Denis Arndt) obtain the position of running mate for presidential hopeful Montgomery (Bruce Kirby). Just as everything seems to be falling into place, Finch gets a phone call from all around shady operator Frank Staplin (Louis Zorich), who wants Finch to destroy some incriminating evidence before Staplin gets indicted, otherwise he’ll reveal some dirty laundry from an event in 1969 that will implicate both Finch and Mackey. Having prepared for this eventuality, Finch visits Staplin at his home, shoots him, and then makes it look like a suicide. Columbo naturally doesn’t fully believe it, and when he finds out Finch was one of the last people Staplin talked to, he starts dropping in on Finch while he’s at work. Although in this case, there’s a fair bit of legwork involved; Finch is a very busy man, after all.

Standalone Thoughts: Season Nine continues to be pretty strong in my eyes with this episode. Instead of one thing being the definite highlight (like the plot in “Columbo Cries Wolf”), it’s a combination of things that all come together to make for a solid outing. It starts off pretty well with Finch using household objects, from pliers to aluminum foil, to MacGyver up the materials he needs to make Staplin’s death look like a suicide. But the episode takes its time in showing you how he intends to use the objects, so it holds your attention as you wonder where it’s all going. Then there’s the extended scene where Columbo investigates the crime scene and questions a semi-witness, which doesn’t quite have the same feel as other Columbo episodes. Most of the time, he just pokes around, notices a few odd things, and then meets the murderer and starts his usual routine. This time, it feels more like something you’d see on another police procedural show, but because of the context, it feels new and fresh. Or at least, it did to me.

Of course, another big contribution to the episode is McGoohan’s performance. He manages to strike a good balance of pleasant but professional, using similar clipped tones as Rumford from “By Dawn’s Early Light” but not feeling quite as cold and distant. It’s a lot of fun to watch him bounce off Columbo, since any exasperation or condescension he feels towards the Lieutenant isn’t always obvious, and therefore some of their exchanges almost feel like bantering at times. McGoohan also directed this episode, and I think he did a pretty good job at directing himself, which I gather is a hard trick to pull off.

As for his directorial decisions for the rest of the episode…I’d say it mostly works. The pacing is excellent, getting the information out efficiently and very rarely dragging. It also makes sense in-universe, because Finch is always rushing from one appointment to the other and using that as a reason to shake off Columbo, which I think is a nice touch. I also like the foreshadowing scattered throughout the episode on how Columbo’s going to catch Finch out, one of which is obvious and the other is more subtle (keep an eye on one of Finch’s little habits). Sure, one of them was in the script, but I feel like the other was a conscious choice on McGoohan’s part, and he did it very well. About the only semi-complaint I have is that McGoohan seems to include long takes that aren’t always necessary. There’s a scene in a deserted ballroom that’s wonderfully atmospheric, but while I liked it on one level, I can acknowledge that it didn’t need to give off the vibe that it did. Other people may find things like that annoying, but in my case, it was more of a passing thought that it wasn’t as tight as it could have been.

I’m not sure if I’d consider this episode or “Columbo Cries Wolf” to be my favorite so far this season, because they were both interesting in different ways. I need some time to let them percolate a bit, but I may be leaning towards this one, because it’s got a lot of elements that click and feels more fresh than “Columbo Cries Wolf”. Either way, I’d definitely try to check it out if you have a chance.

Number of “Columbo-isms”: 5/6. Columbo collects autographs of politicians for his wife, his car comes up in conversation and actually leads to him noticing an important piece of evidence, “This Old Man” can be heard on the soundtrack, and while he doesn’t do much fumbling, he does borrow both a handkerchief and a pen, which is a slightly different aspect of that trope. As for “Just one more thing”, not only does he say it literally at one point, he actually followed Finch to an entirely different location just to say it. Now that’s dedication.

Other: *We get some more “newfangled” technology in this episode, specifically a fax machine (which are still used) and a desk phone with several dozen buttons (which may still be used in offices but have mostly been phased out of homes). Unlike some of the stuff from the 70’s, things like this haven’t quite hit the point of being obsolete, but it’s getting close, and that’s a weird feeling. Though I can only imagine how people who grew up in the 70’s feel…

*Finch tells Columbo that one of Staplin’s last words was “Jesus”, used as a semi-swear word. When Columbo reads the statement back, he says “That word” instead. It’s an interesting beat, because it tells us that Columbo’s either fairly religious or takes the commandment “Thou shalt not take the Lord’s name in vain” very seriously. But since it’s not something the episode dwells on, that means it’s a nice character moment, even if it doesn’t lead to anything in the long run.

*At one point, Finch and Columbo are walking through the grounds of the courthouse and pass by a fountain as they discuss the case. As they do so, you can see a woman posing on the lip of the fountain while a guy takes her picture, and then he brings the photo (it’s a polaroid) over for her inspection. This has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, but it’s in the shot long enough that I really enjoyed that detail. It makes it look like this isn’t just a set, that there are other stories going on in addition to the one we’re following. You don’t actually see little moments like that very often in media, which makes it all the more striking when they pop up.

Would This Hold Up in Court?: While the evidence is definitely enough to convict, Columbo obtained some of the evidence without a warrant (and I don’t think I can argue that he had one and we never saw it this time; he was looking around surreptitiously before he got it), and given that Finch is a lawyer who will no doubt be representing himself in court, I’m betting he’ll use that to his advantage. Columbo really should have covered his bases for this one.