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S01E02 Death Lends a Hand... something that doesn't make sense...

posted 4 months ago by whatwazdat (414)
3 replies | jump to latest

The scene in the car near the end of the episode where Arthur Kennicutt and Columbo were setting up Investigator Brimmer with a fake story about how Kennicutt's wife lost her right contact lens. Columbo plants something in Brimmers head by saying, "I wish the murderer knew about this. There is a piece of evidence laying around somewhere in his premises, and he'd have to find it before us." Now, if the story was real, like Columbo would like Brimmer to believe, then why would you want the murderer to know about the missing contact lens? You want him to NOT know, so that you have all the time in the world to find it before he does. Brimmer is a smart man, and he should have picked up on it, and should have questioned Columbo's comments just as I have. Why would you want the murderer to know? He should have figured that Columbo is planting a seed, that Columbo wants him to do something he shouldn't do. He should have picked up on it that he was being set up. But he didn't, he goes looking for the contact lens and got caught. Columbo thinking out loud... "I wish the murderer knew, so he'd have to find it before we do..." just doesn't make any sense to me, and it shouldn't have made any sense to Brimmer.

As I write this, it finally makes sense to me. I'm the slow one, not Columbo. LOL! I was going to delete this thread, but lets let it live for fun. LOL! So the reason he said what he said was an acknowledgement that if the murderer knew about it, then he'd look for it, and they can surveillance the locations. But since the murderer doesn't know about the contact lens, then the locations won't be surveilled. Brimmer truly believes he has inside info. Okay, got it. Makes sense now. LOL!

[–] davebuffalo (3442) 4 months ago

Columbo wants the murderer to know about the contact lens so that he'll come back to retrieve it and get caught! Exactly how it played out.

Brimmer doesn't "pick up on it", because like (almost) everyone else, he's fooled by Columbo's persona and act of confusion and desperation.

[–] DoctorThirteen (13920) 4 months ago

👍👍👍

[–] whatwazdat (414) 4 months ago

Got it! That's how I understood it the first time around.

But my confusion stems from WHY would you want a murderer to know? You wouldn't, because then you'd have all the time in the world to look for it before he does. But what Columbo actually meant without completing his sentence or thought process, and which was also understood by Brimmer... was that if the murderer knew, then they can stake out the locations and catch him when he goes back for it. Brimmer then does exactly that since there was no reason to be fearful of a stakeout because he thinks the police/Columbo thinks the murderer doesn't know about the contact lens. Brimmer thinks he has inside info. Columbo's inception-like plant worked. If you haven't seen Inception 2010, check it out. LOL!

I hope you guys understand what I'm trying to articulate...

A.) I wish the murderer knew about the lens, because then he'd have to find it before we do.
B.) I wish the murderer knew about the lens, because then he'd have to find it before we do.. and we can catch him in the act.

They all knew, including Brimmer, that Columbo meant B. I'm the slow one watching at home, who took the sentence literally, and thought it was simply A. LOL! Because without the plan of a stakeout, it makes no sense to wish your murderer knew about the lens.