On March 31st, 1990, Columbo gave us one of the strangest opening images in the whole series: the Lieutenant, dressed in black, standing in the rain at his wife’s funeral.
Yes, that Mrs. Columbo.
After years of hearing about her terrible cooking, her relatives, her travel plans, her dog complaints, and her excellent taste in murderers’ work, the show finally puts Mrs. Columbo right in the title — and then apparently kills her before we’ve even seen her.
The setup
Vivian Dimitri, played by Helen Shaver, is a successful real estate agent with a very specific grudge. Her husband, Pete Garibaldi, died in prison after Columbo helped put him there. Vivian blames two men for that: Charlie Chambers, who informed on Pete, and Columbo himself.
Naturally, she starts with Charlie.
Vivian shoots him in the office, uses his ATM card to build a false timeline, goes back to her date with Leland St. John, and then later returns to the crime scene to tidy up the frame. It is a pretty decent ABC-era murder plan, which means it is also about 35 percent too complicated for its own good.
Helen Shaver is the reason this episode works as well as it does.
Vivian is not the usual Columbo killer who wants money, status, or freedom from an inconvenient spouse. She’s after emotional destruction. She wants Columbo to suffer, and she wants him to know who made him suffer.
That gives Shaver a lot to play: polished professional, grieving widow, seductive manipulator, unstable avenger, and eventually a woman absolutely furious that she underestimated the man in the raincoat.
She also gets one of the more memorable wardrobes of the revival years. Vivian seems to have dressed for a different genre every time she enters a room: real estate power player, femme fatale, widow in mourning, and woman who may have just stepped out of a 1990 perfume ad.
Vivian isn’t simply trying to beat him. Lots of murderers try that. She wants to punish him through the person he loves most. That shifts the tone right away. Columbo can still be polite, still fumble with questions, still look like he’s being carried along by the case — but there’s a colder edge to him here.
Peter Falk plays several layers at once. There’s the public Columbo, still bumbling through questions. There’s the private Columbo, clearly alarmed by Vivian’s interest in his wife. And then there’s the Columbo we realize has been quietly running a counter-operation almost the whole time.Mrs. Columbo almost appears
The episode’s big gimmick is also its most obvious conversation starter: it threatens to solve, or at least exploit, the Mrs. Columbo mystery.
By 1990, Mrs. Columbo had become more than a running gag. She was a cornerstone of the character. Columbo’s stories about her tell us who he is when he is off duty — or at least who he wants suspects to think he is. She humanizes him. She also gives him endless excuses to ask one more question.
So the funeral scenes are meant to hit hard. The title, the rain, the priest, the black clothing, the grave — the show is practically daring us to believe it really killed her.
Of course, it didn’t.
Columbo lets her believe it. Why not? He has already built an entire false stage around her assumptions.
Then, after Vivian is arrested, he calls his wife and casually explains that the picture is actually of her sister, Rita. It’s a funny, tidy way to preserve the old rule: Mrs. Columbo can be talked about forever, threatened, mourned, and even used as bait — but she still can’t quite be seen.
And by the way, that phone call, made after the case is solved and the murderer is in custody. With Columbo alone in the room. Is yet another solid piece of evidence that Mrs. Columbo does, indeed, exist.The lemon marmalade
Every great Columbo trap needs a prop. In Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo, that prop is lemon marmalade.
Vivian gives Columbo the jar as a gift for his wife. Columbo suspects exactly what she’s up to, has the marmalade checked, and then builds the final trap around Vivian’s certainty that he has finally made a fatal mistake.
That structure does create an immediate hook. We spend the first chunk of the story wondering how in the world Mrs. Columbo could be dead, whether Vivian really pulled it off, and how Columbo got from a routine office murder to standing in a cemetery in the rain.
On a first viewing, that is pretty effective.
On repeat viewings, the machinery is much easier to see. Columbo is wary of Vivian early. Dr. Steadman practically hands him the motive and the psychological profile. Vivian keeps trying just a little too hard to get near Mrs. Columbo. Once you know the funeral is staged, the episode becomes less of a mystery and more of a con game, with Columbo letting Vivian walk herself into the confession.Ian McShane enters the chat
Ian McShane plays Leland St. John, Vivian’s married lover and temporary alibi provider.
That’s a shame because there’s more story sitting there. Leland is selfish, compromised, and embarrassed, which is usually fertile ground for Columbo. You can imagine a version of the episode where he becomes a more dangerous variable, either by protecting Vivian too well or by realizing too late that he has been used.
It's not clear to me why Leland is at the funeral (not clear to Leland either, according to his inner monologue). He barely knows Columbo and never met his wife.
Roscoe Lee Browne gets one scene and owns it
Roscoe Lee Browne appears as Dr. Steadman, Vivian’s former psychiatrist, and brings instant gravity to the episode.
He doesn’t need much screen time to make an impression. His scene matters because it confirms what Columbo already fears: Vivian is not merely covering up a murder. She is pursuing revenge as a kind of performance.
Still, it’s hard not to wish the episode had more for Browne to do. When you have a voice and presence like that available, one scene feels like ordering chili and getting one cracker.
Columbo makes a brilliant pivot
Sergeant Brady
Tom Isbell’s Sergeant Brady is essentially Columbo’s sounding board in this one.
That’s useful for the audience, especially because the plot has more moving parts than usual. But it also makes Columbo seem unusually open about his suspicions. In the classic NBC episodes, he often keeps his cards so close to the vest that even the viewer has to wait for the final reveal.
Columbo throws a curve
The gotcha
The final trap is satisfying.
Vivian believes she has achieved the perfect revenge. Mrs. Columbo is supposedly dead. Columbo is supposedly broken. Now he is supposedly eating the same poisoned marmalade.
Then he lets her talk.
That is the part of the scene that feels the most authentically Columbo. He doesn’t overpower her. He doesn’t lecture her into confessing. He gives her the emotional moment she has been craving — the chance to tell him exactly how thoroughly she has beaten him — and lets her own pride do the rest.
When Sergeant Brady steps out and the lie collapses, Vivian’s rage makes perfect sense. She didn’t just lose legally. She lost emotionally. Columbo stole the revenge she had been rehearsing in her head since before the episode began.
Does it work?
Mostly.
Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo is not one of the cleanest mysteries in the series. The ATM business is fine, but not especially dazzling. The fake timeline is serviceable. The flashback structure is a bit heavy. Throwing the gun in the empty lot across from Connelly’s house is a bit ham-fisted as a frame…seems unlikely any killer would toss the murder weapon across the street from their own home.
And the episode is so invested in the Mrs. Columbo stunt that the actual murder of Charlie Chambers can feel secondary.
But as a Vivian-versus-Columbo psychological duel, it has real juice. I like how Columbo caught onto Vivian by recognizing the ATM withdrawal was a setup to establish a fake alibi.
Helen Shaver gives the episode a stronger villain than many of the revival outings. Peter Falk seems engaged by the personal stakes. The final reveal is theatrical in a way that fits Vivian’s psychology.
Final verdict
Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo is a good ABC-era Columbo and a memorable experiment with the formula.
It’s probably better the first time than the fifth, because the fake funeral loses some of its power once you know the trick.
Most importantly, it preserves the most sacred Columbo rule: Mrs. Columbo may be everywhere, but she is never quite in the room.
And honestly, that’s exactly how it should be.Learn more
Yes, that Mrs. Columbo.
After years of hearing about her terrible cooking, her relatives, her travel plans, her dog complaints, and her excellent taste in murderers’ work, the show finally puts Mrs. Columbo right in the title — and then apparently kills her before we’ve even seen her.
📺Watch it for free on Tubi here
The setup
Vivian Dimitri, played by Helen Shaver, is a successful real estate agent with a very specific grudge. Her husband, Pete Garibaldi, died in prison after Columbo helped put him there. Vivian blames two men for that: Charlie Chambers, who informed on Pete, and Columbo himself. Naturally, she starts with Charlie.
A rare sight
Columbo murders are notoriously sanitary. Rarely is there any blood or gore whatsoever. In the 1970s that was necessary for an American TV audience. By the 90s the rules were maybe a little looser, but the sensibilities of the Columbo crew weren't much different. This episode, though, goes further than most...you actually see Charlie get shot, and you see bloody wounds on his body.Meet Vivian
Helen Shaver is the reason this episode works as well as it does.
Vivian is not the usual Columbo killer who wants money, status, or freedom from an inconvenient spouse. She’s after emotional destruction. She wants Columbo to suffer, and she wants him to know who made him suffer.
That gives Shaver a lot to play: polished professional, grieving widow, seductive manipulator, unstable avenger, and eventually a woman absolutely furious that she underestimated the man in the raincoat.
She also gets one of the more memorable wardrobes of the revival years. Vivian seems to have dressed for a different genre every time she enters a room: real estate power player, femme fatale, widow in mourning, and woman who may have just stepped out of a 1990 perfume ad.
A very personal Columbo
This is one of the rare times the case feels genuinely personal for Columbo, even before the marmalade enters the picture.Vivian isn’t simply trying to beat him. Lots of murderers try that. She wants to punish him through the person he loves most. That shifts the tone right away. Columbo can still be polite, still fumble with questions, still look like he’s being carried along by the case — but there’s a colder edge to him here.
Peter Falk plays several layers at once. There’s the public Columbo, still bumbling through questions. There’s the private Columbo, clearly alarmed by Vivian’s interest in his wife. And then there’s the Columbo we realize has been quietly running a counter-operation almost the whole time.
Mrs. Columbo almost appears
The episode’s big gimmick is also its most obvious conversation starter: it threatens to solve, or at least exploit, the Mrs. Columbo mystery. By 1990, Mrs. Columbo had become more than a running gag. She was a cornerstone of the character. Columbo’s stories about her tell us who he is when he is off duty — or at least who he wants suspects to think he is. She humanizes him. She also gives him endless excuses to ask one more question.
So the funeral scenes are meant to hit hard. The title, the rain, the priest, the black clothing, the grave — the show is practically daring us to believe it really killed her.
Of course, it didn’t.
About that photograph
One of the episode’s cleverer little moves comes near the end, when Vivian sees a framed photo and believes she is looking at Mrs. Columbo.Columbo lets her believe it. Why not? He has already built an entire false stage around her assumptions.
Then, after Vivian is arrested, he calls his wife and casually explains that the picture is actually of her sister, Rita. It’s a funny, tidy way to preserve the old rule: Mrs. Columbo can be talked about forever, threatened, mourned, and even used as bait — but she still can’t quite be seen.
And by the way, that phone call, made after the case is solved and the murderer is in custody. With Columbo alone in the room. Is yet another solid piece of evidence that Mrs. Columbo does, indeed, exist.
The lemon marmalade
Every great Columbo trap needs a prop. In Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo, that prop is lemon marmalade.
Vivian gives Columbo the jar as a gift for his wife. Columbo suspects exactly what she’s up to, has the marmalade checked, and then builds the final trap around Vivian’s certainty that he has finally made a fatal mistake.
The fake funeral structure
This episode is unusually structured for Columbo. We begin near the end, at the funeral, and then flash back through the case.That structure does create an immediate hook. We spend the first chunk of the story wondering how in the world Mrs. Columbo could be dead, whether Vivian really pulled it off, and how Columbo got from a routine office murder to standing in a cemetery in the rain.
On a first viewing, that is pretty effective.
On repeat viewings, the machinery is much easier to see. Columbo is wary of Vivian early. Dr. Steadman practically hands him the motive and the psychological profile. Vivian keeps trying just a little too hard to get near Mrs. Columbo. Once you know the funeral is staged, the episode becomes less of a mystery and more of a con game, with Columbo letting Vivian walk herself into the confession.
Ian McShane enters the chat
Ian McShane plays Leland St. John, Vivian’s married lover and temporary alibi provider.
McShane is always watchable, but Leland is underused. He’s important to the plot because his dinner date gives Vivian the cover she needs to sneak away and use Charlie’s ATM card, but after that he mostly functions as a suave obstacle Columbo has to question.
That’s a shame because there’s more story sitting there. Leland is selfish, compromised, and embarrassed, which is usually fertile ground for Columbo. You can imagine a version of the episode where he becomes a more dangerous variable, either by protecting Vivian too well or by realizing too late that he has been used.
But why is he at the funeral?
It's not clear to me why Leland is at the funeral (not clear to Leland either, according to his inner monologue). He barely knows Columbo and never met his wife.Roscoe Lee Browne gets one scene and owns it
He doesn’t need much screen time to make an impression. His scene matters because it confirms what Columbo already fears: Vivian is not merely covering up a murder. She is pursuing revenge as a kind of performance.
Columbo makes a brilliant pivot
When it becomes clear that Steadman isn’t going to betray
Dmitri’s privacy, Columbo changes tactics and starts to talk about a case study
from a book. The case study gives Steadman room to share a useful opinion and an
important caution.
Sergeant Brady
Tom Isbell’s Sergeant Brady is essentially Columbo’s sounding board in this one. That’s useful for the audience, especially because the plot has more moving parts than usual. But it also makes Columbo seem unusually open about his suspicions. In the classic NBC episodes, he often keeps his cards so close to the vest that even the viewer has to wait for the final reveal.
Here, Brady gets to hear a lot of the thinking earlier, which makes the episode easier to follow but slightly less mysterious.
Hello Ed McCready
Near the end we get a brief Ed McCready sighting. He plays
Columbo’s detective friend Benny who rolls up after the funeral to tell him the
coroner found something.
Columbo throws a curve
Columbo shows up at the real estate office and really surprises
Vivian by showing that he recognizes her and by offering his condolences on the
death of her husband. She’s clearly thrown
off guard by that, but recovers quickly.
The gotcha
The final trap is satisfying. Vivian believes she has achieved the perfect revenge. Mrs. Columbo is supposedly dead. Columbo is supposedly broken. Now he is supposedly eating the same poisoned marmalade.
Then he lets her talk.
That is the part of the scene that feels the most authentically Columbo. He doesn’t overpower her. He doesn’t lecture her into confessing. He gives her the emotional moment she has been craving — the chance to tell him exactly how thoroughly she has beaten him — and lets her own pride do the rest.
When Sergeant Brady steps out and the lie collapses, Vivian’s rage makes perfect sense. She didn’t just lose legally. She lost emotionally. Columbo stole the revenge she had been rehearsing in her head since before the episode began.
OK, but that house
That is an odd house for a young bachelor. Looks more like
he lives with his grandmother.
Just a couple more things...
- Don Calfa turns up as Claude the hotel clerk. He’s one of those character actors who seems to improve any scene simply by wandering into it.
- The waiter gets the order for his Embarcadero garni…but forgot to bring the cream soda.
- The episode gets bonus points for making marmalade feel sinister. That is not easy.
Does it work?
Mostly.
Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo is not one of the cleanest mysteries in the series. The ATM business is fine, but not especially dazzling. The fake timeline is serviceable. The flashback structure is a bit heavy. Throwing the gun in the empty lot across from Connelly’s house is a bit ham-fisted as a frame…seems unlikely any killer would toss the murder weapon across the street from their own home.
And the episode is so invested in the Mrs. Columbo stunt that the actual murder of Charlie Chambers can feel secondary.
But as a Vivian-versus-Columbo psychological duel, it has real juice. I like how Columbo caught onto Vivian by recognizing the ATM withdrawal was a setup to establish a fake alibi.
Helen Shaver gives the episode a stronger villain than many of the revival outings. Peter Falk seems engaged by the personal stakes. The final reveal is theatrical in a way that fits Vivian’s psychology.
Final verdict
Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo is a good ABC-era Columbo and a memorable experiment with the formula. It’s probably better the first time than the fifth, because the fake funeral loses some of its power once you know the trick.
Most importantly, it preserves the most sacred Columbo rule: Mrs. Columbo may be everywhere, but she is never quite in the room.
And honestly, that’s exactly how it should be.
Learn more
- Episode review: Columbo Rest in Peace, Mrs Columbo – The Columbophile Blog
- The Columbo Wiki: Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo
- IMDb: Rest inPeace, Mrs. Columbo
- Paley Centerrecord: ABC Saturday Mystery: Columbo: Rest in Peace, Mrs. Columbo
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