History Recap / ColumboS01E02

* BriberyBackfire: Brimmer believes that Columbo would be willing to abandon the Kennicutt murder case if offered a well-paying job in exchange (effectively an indirect bribe). At this point, he is pretty desperate, however.

* EvilCannotComprehendGood:
** More like "unscrupulous", but Brimmer cannot believe that Lenore would rather confess her previous affair to her husband and try to patch things up than accept his blackmail and cover it.
** Brimmer also believes that Columbo would be willing to abandon the Kennicutt murder case if offered a well-paying job in exchange (effectively an indirect bribe). At this point, he is pretty desperate, however.

Brimmer's motivations soon become clear: he wants to use Lenore as a spy on her husband, who is a newspaper magnate with a lot of enemies. Lenore refuses, says she'll confess her infidelity, and also says that she'll tell Arthur that Brimmer lied to him and is running a blackmail racket. Brimmer panics, violently slaps her in the face in rage, and she falls down and dies from head trauma striking a table of Brimmer's on the way down. Brimmer dumps her body in the middle of nowhere after cleaning up the crime scene.

He thinks he's in the clear, but he forgets about one thing: Lt. Columbo of the LAPD. Columbo notices that Lenore has a wound on her face from being punched suggesting a killer with a bad temper and that the killer was wearing a diamond ring on their hand. Columbo zeros in on Brimmer especially after noticing that he has a ring on one hand and later from his trouble with angry outbursts.

* AccidentalMurder: Brimmer didn't mean to do it. He hit Lenore after losing his temper, and she fell down and hit her head.

* BerserkButton: Lenore tells Brimmer she's going to confess to her husband. When she refuses to budge, We see the first boil-over of Brimmer's rage as he backhands Lenore, leading to her fall and her death.

* BlackmailBackfire: Brimmer attempts to blackmail Lenore, demanding that she spy on her husband for him. It backfires spectacularly and she even says she'll admit the affair to Arthur herself. Then it ''really'' backfires when Brimmer accidentally kills her in a fit of rage.
* BluffingTheMurderer: Columbo reveals that one of Lenore's contact lenses was missing. When Brimmer breaks into the auto mechanic's shop to ransack his car, looking for the contact lens, Columbo has him. Afterwards Columbo tells Arthur that actually, both of Lenore's lenses were still on her eyes when they found her.

* IdiotBall: Brimmer offers Columbo a job at his investigation firm and even mentions that he will assign him a different case. This only serves to draw attention to Brimmer and confirm more of Columbo's suspicions about Brimmer being the prime suspect.
** Subverted in Brimmer's other actions throughout the episode. While he doesn't confess, and tries to derail the investigation, he doesn't do what a typical Columbo murderer does, like pin the blame on an innocent character. Also, he doesn't COMPOUND his actions by committing another murder, like every other accidental Columbo murderer has done in the series. In all the episodes of Columbo, Brimmer is the ONLY one who commits one accidental murder, and that's it.

* LikeADuckTakesToWater: When Columbo is asking the golf instructor if he knew Lenore, he claims to want to take some lessons from him as a pretense to keep talking to him, and once he's done, he takes a single swing at the ball, makes it to the green and instantly states "Nevermind, I'm not any good at this game".
* MalMariee: Subverted. Lenore and Arthur are the stereotypical "vivacious young wife married to a wealthy man old enough to be her father, whom she cheats on," but Lenore regarded the affair as a mistake and genuinely cared for her husband.

* PrivateDetective: Investigator Brimmer and his team, but unlike the usual trope of a single borderline drunk or loner at odds with the police, Brimmer and his agency are highly-regarded by Kennicutt and his agency is presented as being at least as evenly advanced as the police, and possibly even MORE high tech than Columbo's department. So sure of Brimmer's talents, Kennicutt actually hires Brimmer and his agency to investigate Brimmer's own accidental murder of Kennicutt's wife.

* SherlockScan: Brimmer gets the measure of Columbo around the time that Columbo deduces that Brimmer lives by the beach from looking at Brimmer's car. Columbo notes corrosion of the chrome on Brimmer's car that is cased by salty sea air.

* SplitScreen: A rather inventive use of this trope. The camera zooms in on Brimmer, and his glasses, right after he kills Lenore. A freeze-frame on a close-up of his face leads to a split screen effect with his glasses, in which each lens is replaced with different images of Brimmer getting rid of evidence such as by wiping away fingerprints and preparing to transport Lenore's body.
* SympatheticAdulterer: Lenore's affair is portrayed as something she regrets, and she cares about Arthur so much that she refuses to be blackmailed into hurting his company.
** Her affair partner, Archer, is a pleasant guy who sincerely cared for Lenore. Columbo immediately suggests to him that he hire a lawyer, correctly deducing that the guy would make an easy patsy if things went downhill.
* SympatheticMurderer: While other killers have fallen into this category, Brimmer might be one of the most sympathetic of all. He's a blackmailer with a terrible temper, but he really didn't mean to kill Lenore. Nor does he attempt to falsify evidence to directly point the police on another innocent victim, nor does he further make things worse by murdering a second victim, as every other accidental killer on Columbo has done.

Guest Starring: Creator/RobertCulp, Creator/RayMilland, Creator/PatriciaCrowley]

Guest Starring: Creator/RobertCulp, Creator/RayMilland, Patricia Crowley]

Guest Starring: Creator/RobertCulp, Creator/RayMilland, Creator/PatriciaCrowley]

* SplitScreen: A rather inventive use of this trope. The camera zooms in on Brimmer, and his glasses, right after he kills Lenore. A freeze-frame on a close-up of his face leads to a split screen effect with his glasses, in which each lens is replaced with different images of Brimmer getting rid of the body.

* BerserkButton: Lenore tells Brimmer she's going to confess to her husband and ruin her, when she refuses to budge, We see the first boil over of Brimmer's rage as he backhands Lenore, leading to her fall and her death.

* LikeADuckTakesToWater: When Columbo is asking the golf instructor questions whether he knew Lenore, he claims to want to take some lessons from him as a pretense to keep talking to him, and once he's done, he takes a single swing at the ball, makes it to the green and instantly states "Nevermind, I'm not any good at this game".

* SympatheticAdulterer: Lenore's affair is portrayed as something she regrets, and she cares about Arthur not to be blackmailed into hurting his company.

* UnwittingPawn: Leo Gentry, the detective at Brimmer's Agency who followed Lenore and got the blackmail information seems to be a law-abiding family man who wasn't aware of what his boss was going to use the information for, judging by how quick Brimmer is to send him out of town on a pretext to avoid him talking to Columbo.

** Whose contact lens [[spoiler:did Brimmer find in his car boot]], and why was it there?

* RiddleForTheAges: The key to catching Brimmer is set up when his car conks out and has to be taken to the mechanic's, which Kennicutt thinks is a remarkable coincidence and wonders what was wrong with it. Columbo casually comments to Kennicutt that when he was a boy, he and his buddies used to cause car failures by stuffing potatoes up car exhaust pipes. At the end, Kennicutt nearly looks at the exhaust pipe of Brimmer's car, before turning to follow Columbo.

* SharpDressedMan: As with all of his other appearances, Creator/RobertCulp, who usually supplied much of his own wardrobe in the episodes, is always dressed to the nines in this episode, and his well-kempt attire makes for a startling visual contrast to the ever-rumpled Columbo.

Brimmer's motivations soon become clear: he wants to use Lenore as a spy on her husband, who is a newspaper magnate with a lot of enemies. Lenore refuses, says she'll confess her infidelity, and also says that she'll tell Kennicutt that Brimmer lied to him and is running a blackmail racket. Brimmer panics, punches her in the face in rage, and she falls down and dies from head trauma. Brimmer dumps her body in the middle of nowhere after cleaning up the crime scene.

* BananaInTheTailpipe: The murderer Brimmer's car fails at a crucial juncture. When Kennicut muses about how Brimmer’s car was out of action at such a crucial stage, Columbo spins him a merry yarn about how his misspent youth, putting cars out of action with a potato up the exhaust, must have played a part in him wanting to become a lawman, so he could make amends for these misdemeanours. The enigmatic Lieutenant then turns tail to leave the garage. A bemused Kennicut turns to look at the car exhaust, checks himself, then spins on his heel and follows Columbo’s lead as credits roll…

* BlackmailBackfire: Brimmer attempts this with Lenore, demanding that she spy on her husband. It backfires spectacularly and she even says she'll admit the affair to Arthur herself.

** Subverted in Brimmer's other actions throughout the episode, [[spoiler: While he doesn't confess, and tries to derail the investigation, he doesn't do what a typical Columbo murderer does, like pin the blame on an innocent character. Also, he doesn't COMPOUND his actions by committing another murder, like every other accidental Columbo murderer has done in the series. In all the episodes of Columbo, Brimmer is the ONLY one who commits one accidental murder, and that's it.]]

* MayDecemberRomance: Lenore Kennicut is considerably younger than her husband Arthur, enough so to make him (rightly) suspicious. However, while she did have an affair with a younger lover, she genuinely loves Arthur and ended the fling before the episode.

* PrivateDetective: Investigator Brimmer and his team, but unlike the usual trope of a single borderline drunk at odds with the police, Brimmer and his agency are highly-regarded by Kennicutt and his agency is presented as being at least as evenly advanced as the police, and possibly even MORE high tech than Columbo's department. So sure of Brimmer's talents, Kennicutt actuallyhires Brimmer and his agency to investigate Brimmer's own accidental murder of Kennicutt's wife.

* SympatheticMurderer: While other killers have fallen into this category, Brimmer might be one of the most sympathetic of all. He's a blackmailer with a terrible temper, [[spoiler: But he really didn't mean to kill Lenore. Nor does he attempt to falsify evidence to directly point the police on another innocent victim, nor does he further make things worse by murdering a second victim, as every other accidental killer on Columbo has done.]]
* UnwittingPawn: Leo Gentry, the detective at Brimmer's Agency who followed Lenore and got the blackmail information seems to be a law-abiding family man who wasn't aware of what his boss was going to use the information for, judging by how quick Brimmer is to send him out of town on a pretext to avoid him talking to Columbo.

* LikeADuckTakesToWater: When Columbo is asking the golf instructor questions whether he knew Lenore, he claims to want to take some lessons from him as a pretense to keep talking to him, and once he's done, he takes a single swing at the ball, makes it to the green and instantly states "nevermind, I'm not any good at this game".

* NoNameGiven: Brimmer's first name is never given; he's only "Investigator Brimmer." (Of course this is also true of Lt. Whatever Columbo.)
* PlausibleDeniability: After hearing Columbo's anecdote about stuffing potatoes into the exhaust pipes of cars in his youth, and given that Brimmer's car had a remarkably convenient breakdown which enabled Columbo to expose him, Arthur Kennicutt is clearly very tempted to have a peep into the exhaust pipe to see what's up, but ultimately decides that it's probably better if he remains ignorant.

* {{Blackmail}}: Brimmer attempts this with Lenore, demanding that she spy on her husband. It backfires spectacularly and she even says she'll admit the affair to Arthur herself.

* TheKillerWasLeftHanded: The fact that Lenore had a bruise and a cut on the left side of her face leads Columbo to conclude that she was backhanded by a left-handed person wearing a ring. He starts to zero in on Brimmer as a suspect after noting that Brimmer is left-handed and wears a ring.

* UnwittingPawn: Leo Gentry, the detective at Brimmer's Agency who followed Lenore and got the blackmail information seems to be a law-abiding family man who wasn't aware of what his boss was going to use the information for, judging by how quick Brimemr is to send him out of town on a pretext to avoid him talking to Columbo.

* PotatoInTheTailpipe: The murderer Brimmer's car fails at a crucial juncture. When Kennicut muses about how Brimmer’s car was out of action at such a crucial stage, Columbo spins him a merry yarn about how his misspent youth, putting cars out of action with a potato up the exhaust, must have played a part in him wanting to become a lawman, so he could make amends for these misdemeanours. The enigmatic Lieutenant then turns tail to leave the garage. A bemused Kennicut turns to look at the car exhaust, checks himself, then spins on his heel and follows Columbo’s lead as credits roll…

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: More like "unscrupulous", but Brimmer cannot believe that Lenore would rather confess her previous affair to her husband and try to patch things up than accept his blackmail and cover it.

* RiddleForTheAges: The key to catching Brimmer is set up when his car conks out and has to be taken to the mechanic's, which Kennicutt thinks is a remarkable coincedence and wonders what was wrong with it. Columbo casually comments to Kennicutt that when he was a boy, he and his buddies used to cause car failures by stuffing potatoes up car exhaust pipes. At the end, Kennicutt nearly looks at the exhaust pipe of Brimmer's car, before turning to follow Columbo.

* UnwittingPawn: Leo Gentry, the detective at Brimmer's Agency who followed Lenore and got the blackmail information seems to be a law-abiding family man who wasn't aware of what his boss was gogin to use the information for, judging by how quick Brimemr is to send him out of town on a pretext to avoid him talking to Columbo.