History Recap / ColumboS00E01

* HeroicBSOD: Joan after Columbo's interrogation. Ray Fleming also seems on the verge of once after he's found out.

Guest Starring: Creator/GeneBarry, Creator/KatherineJustice, Creator/WilliamWindom, Creator/NinaFoch]

* AnimatedCreditsOpening: Weird abstract Rorschach-style animation.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:

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** "Roy Flemming" in the play becomes "Ray Fleming"
** "Susan Hudson" becomes "Joan Hudson"
** "Claire Flemming" becomes "Carol Fleming"

!!Tropes present in this episode include:

** Columbo also handles his cigar differently - frequently lighting it and leaving it in his mouth while talking.

* QuestionableConsent: Not much is made of this fact, but Joan not only met Dr. Fleming as his patient, she ''still is'' his patient. Dual relationships are cause for doctors to lose their licenses for a good reason; the power dynamic is too unbalanced to be healthy.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The most important aspects of Fleming's plan to create an alibi date the episode considerably, as just a few years after the episode aired airports had increased security to such a degree in response to frequent hijackings, that Joan would've never been able to get past the airport security checkpoints pretending to be Carol (at least not without a more elaborate ruse, such a fake passport, etc.). For that matter, the massive silver candlesticks inside Fleming's luggage would've been spotted in the x-rays.

** Columbo's needling is much more straightforward. He lacks the deferential manner and self-deprecation seen in later episodes, and we don't get the constant references to his wife. The anger he displays when interrogating Susan could be a little jarring for fans more used to the genial Columbo of later episodes.

* FakingTheDead: Columbo's gambit to convince Susan that Ray never cared for her.

* HeroicBSOD: Susan after Columbo's interrogation. Ray Fleming also seems on the verge of once after he's found out.

* SpecialEffectsFailure: Not the shows fault but caused by {{Technology Marches On}}. With modern high definition television it's rather obvious that the sea scene is a guy sitting in a boat while someone moves the painted sea back ground

* SocietyMarchesOn: Fleming's plan to create an alibi wouldn't be possible in a post-9/11 world, as Joan would've never been able to get past modern airport security checkpoints pretending to be Carol (at least not without a more elaborate ruse, such a fake passport, etc). For that matter, the massive silver candlesticks inside his luggage would've been spotted in the x-rays.

* YourCheatingHeart: The main conflict is Ray cheating on his wife Carol with a young actress. His wife realizes he left the party celebrating their anniversary to be with his mistress.

* TheSociopath: Ray Fleming is a particularly smug and nasty example. When he murders his wife, she's cheerfully talking about how much fun they're going to have on their second honeymoon, obviously excited and touched by this supposed romantic revival...and he's just waiting to get his hands around her neck, a cold smirk on his face.

* EngineeredPublicConfession: How Columbo cracks the case. He has no evidence, so he fakes Joan's suicide ad then goads Fleming into saying that he never loved Joan and probably would have killed her later. Joan, who not only is still alive but is listening, then steps out and agrees to give her statement to Columbo.

* SocietyMarchesOn: Fleming's plan to create an alibi wouldn't be possible in a post-9/11 world, as Joan would've never been able to get past modern airport security checkpoints pretending to be Carol. For that matter, the massive silver candlesticks inside his luggage would've been spotted in the x-rays.
* TheSociopath: Ray Fleming is a particularly smug and nasty example.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: The play was originally intended as a star vehicle for the actor playing Fleming (Creator/JosephCotten in its original run), but Thomas Mitchell began stealing the shows as Columbo, so eventually the show was reworked around the character.

Columbo is immediately suspicious of Ray. First of all, he wonders why Ray never called out to his wife when he first arrived home... in fact, he showed little signs of panic or confusion at all. Investigating further, Columbo discovers a discrepancy in the weight of Fleming's luggage on the flights to and from Acapulco... his bags were nine pounds lighter coming back than they were going out (Fleming claims the missing weight came from "medical journals" he had brought along to read and then left behind). Ray takes all of this in stride, confident that his manufactured alibi is airtight, until Joan (who crosses paths with Columbo after the latter visited Ray's office) realizes she never placed Carol's gloves in the laundry bundle along with the dress. She and Ray return to the Fleming apartment to plant the gloves before Columbo comes by again. As Columbo continues to find loose ends in the story, Ray's amusement turns to disdain, and he calls in a favor with a friend in the DA's office, Burt Gordon (Creator/WilliamWindom), who takes Columbo off the case. Columbo visits Ray's office again to tell him he's been removed, and the two of them have a drink together while discussing the type of person who would commit a murder. Ray states that the murderer will never be caught, he's too smart and meticulous in his planning.

* RevealingCoverup: Fleming's attempts to have his friend in the DA's office pull strings to get Columbo off the case only manage to convince Columbo's superior that he must be unto something if Fleming is trying something like that.