Columbo episode review — 11.1 — Death Hits the Jackpot

Original air date: December 15, 1991
Director: Vincent McEveety
Writer: Jeffrey Bloom

Rating: 7/10

Finally, a revival episode that’s actually in the league of some of the original episodes. Compared to those, it certainly wouldn’t be among the best, but it’s better than a lot of them.

We have an interesting story here, a really great little twist thrown in in the middle, and one of my favourite Columbo villains (by far my favourite of the revival series) in Rip Torn.

A poor photographer, Freddy (Gary Kroeger), wins a massive sum in the lottery, and the only person he confides in is his uncle Leon Lamarr (Torn). He’s worried because he’s going through a divorce, but nothing is finalized, so he’s concerned that half his money will go to his ex-wife. Leon has a simple solution: he, not Freddy, will collect the money. But he’ll also end up killing his nephew to make it look like an accident.

Torn is a really appealing villain. He’s already fairly wealthy, so he’s got a bit of that upper-class snobbery that you hope for out of a good villain. But it turns out he’s been manipulative from before the start of the episode, as he’s having an affair with his nephew’s soon-to-be-ex-wife, Nancy (Jamie Rose). You really hate him.

While there’s a lot of great stuff going on in the mystery, some of it isn’t that suspenseful. Like the second they introduce that Freddy was babysitting a chimpanzee, I’m like oh, the chimp will provide the evidence needed, of course.

But the episode is written pretty well, and features some great battles of wits between Columbo and Lamarr, and Columbo and Nancy.

It’s definitely a pretty strong entry in the series, and certainly the best of the revival series so far.