An Exercise in Fatality - S4-E1
Plot hole: When Columbo finds Stafford's street shoes in his locker, they are tied. How did Janus get his shoes off without untying them? If Janus did untie them, why did he retie them before putting them in the locker? And why didn't Columbo wonder why someone would take off his shoes and tie them before putting them away?
Suggested correction: I'm not sure how this is a mistake. I always take my shoes off without untying them.
I can't take off my lace shoes without untying them. How do you do it?
Guessing by them not being tied too tightly. Depends entirely on how much give is in the shoes or the laces - it's certainly not unreasonable.
A Deadly State of Mind - S4-E6
Plot hole: (Spoiler) Mrs. Donner screams in fright just as she jumps to her death from her balcony. This seems unreasonable since she believes herself to be going for a swim (under post-hypnotic suggestion) The scream is heard by a later witness to help establish time of death. If she suddenly realized the deadliness of her act, why would she continue with it?
Plot hole: When Columbo presents the flipped photograph to Dick Van Dyke in the final scene, Columbo insists it is correct and proves DVD guilty. But Columbo already showed him the rejected fireplace photo, which shows the room arranged correctly. It also shows the victim's wedding ring, which would be on the wrong hand according to Columbo.
Suggested correction: It's all part of Columbo's bluff: Galesko wants to get rid of Columbo as fast as possible and believes himself to be too smart, thus falls for it. Galesko might have forgotten about the fireplace photo or underestimated its importance. Even if Galesko points out the rejected photo: Columbo is already bluffing about the first photo, he can very well just claim the second photo never existed or is destroyed too, leaving Galesko in the same position as he is before he incriminates himself.
Plot hole: The cruise ship is sailing from LA to Mazatlan in Mexico. Looking at a map, the ship will hug the west coast on its journey therefore is never far away from land. The murder takes place on the first evening of the cruise only a few hours after setting sail by which time they won't be far from San Diego. Why didn't the captain order the ship into San Diego or another suitable harbour and let the police take over the investigation?
