A retrospective by Brooks Rich
In order to hide his shady business dealings, retired war hero major general Martin Hollister, a surprisingly intimidating Eddie Albert, murders his accomplice Colonel Hutton by shooting him when Hutton comes to warn Hollister of an impending investigation. The murder is partially witnessed by Helen, a stunning Suzanne Pleshette, who was sailing with her mother at the time. Helen calls the so called murder in and due to Hollister's standing, homicide is sent instead of a uniform. So of course Lieutenant Columbo arrives at Hollister's house and initially finds no evidence of foul play. But in typical Columbo fashion, something doesn't feel right to him, especially as Helen continues to insist she saw a murder. Complicating the case further is Hollister's courtship of Helen, as he tries to dissuade her from her claims in his own way.
Dead Weight is an early episode of the series and the first to sort of deviate away from the typical formula. We of course do see Hollister murder Colonel Hutton and know that he is a killer, but Columbo's involvement comes mostly from Helen's insistence that she did in fact see a murder. For most of the episode there isn't a body and it's a three way chess match with Columbo, Helen, and Hollister. AT first Helen is sure of what she saw as Columbo initially can't find any evidence. But as Helen falls for Hollister, she begins to doubt herself, which frustrates Columbo as he grows suspicious of Hollister.
The early Columbo's generally follow the same formula but it's refreshing to see one sort of divert from that as the show found its legs. Seeing Columbo catch a killer from what at first is seen as a mistake on an eyewitnesses account is satisfying.
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