There are a few "Columbo" episodes which were panned by some critics. I DISAGREE WITH THEM ALL. There is one VERY important reason for this. Regardless of the plot, regardless of any script, there is one irrefutable fact. Peter Falk OWNED the role of Lieutenant Columbo. The way only HE could and did that part made any other criticism of the show completely IRRELEVANT! As the ostensibly "bumbling" homicide cop, Falk was always believable as the policeman whose first name no one ever heard. He consistently fooled the murderer into a sense of false security, making them think he would never be able to pin the crime in question on them. But it never mattered WHAT the perpetrator might have thought - he ALWAYS got his man (or woman)!
