Sex and the Married Detective

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In the 3rd episode of season 8, Sex and the Married Detective, Lindsay Crouse plays Dr. Joan Allenby, a sex therapist who discovers that her lover is cheating on her. She plans to murder him by donning a disguise. Naturally, Columbo is brought in to investigate. While Columbo searches for the killer, Allenby finds herself preferring her alter ego as to herself.

Sex and the Married Detective debuted on April 3rd, 1989.


What to watch for

A few things I found interesting or notable in this episode.

Video killed the radio star

The opening scene establishes that Joan is a popular drive-time radio host. How popular? She's got her own radio broadcast studio IN her office!

Adding insult to injury

The fact that her lover is having an affair is bad enough. Him describing her as "rice pudding" has to really sting. She's a famous sex doctor who wrote a book on being exciting/exotic in bed. Being an expert on such things is part of her identity.

In no hurry

When David picks Joan up at the airport he's certainly not in a hurry to get her home. He's driving so slowly a bicyclist passes him.


An empty bathroom?

Joan transforms into Lisa in the ladies room at the Music Center and part of that is taping her normal clothes under the sink counter. She's awfully lucky that bathroom emptied out so she could be alone to do that. 

She could easily have been delayed waiting for the chance and missed her window to meet David at Buckets.

She catches the same lucky break on her way back after doing the deed.

Unusual ambiance

When Joan and David get to the office the fireplace in the bedroom is lit. Who lit it?

I assume it's a gas fireplace (dealing with wood would be difficult in an office) but even then...not too many high-rise offices have fireplaces. Office buildings don't usually have chimneys.

TV murder

Columbo murders are always pretty clean. This one is no exception. The gun has no kick and David apparently dies instantly but with no visible blood. After she kills him she stages the scene complete with the blood of an unidentified 3rd person. It's never made clear where she got that vial of mystery blood.

Cat & Mouse

The back and forth with Allenby and Columbo is particularly good. Joan spots very early on that Columbo is uncomfortable talking about sex and she uses that a bit to get him off-center when she wants to.

Columbo, as he often does, puts her off-center by showing up at unexpected times, even at her house.

Symbolism in the wardrobe? 

When Columbo shows up as Joan is about to burn Lisa's clothes, Joan is wearing a bright flowery robe.

I couldn't help but wonder if that was a deliberate choice to contrast with the black clothes worn by Lisa. Joan and Lisa are clearly two sides of the same coin and you can see that Joan even seems a bit conflicted - she LIKES being Lisa and maybe she starts to wonder if she should start being more like Lisa in her daily life?

The Bartender

Dave Florek plays Norm the bartender and he's a good addition to this episode. First we meet him at Buckets, where Lisa catches David. Then we get another nice scene with him when Columbo is interviewing him at the bartending school.

Columbo springs the trap...and it's a long trap

The Gotcha scene is back at the office. Columbo laying out his case for Joan complete with a fake Lisa. If this feels like a long scene, it is. More than 10 minutes long. That means the Gotcha scene is about 10% of the entire episode. 

This episode isn't often cited by folks as a favorite, and honestly it's not in my top 10 either. But it's not in my bottom 10 either and even a mediocre Columbo is a good watch.

I want more!


What did you think of Sex and the Married Detective? Let us know in the comments below!

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