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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 280473" data-attributes="member: 23">Now You See Him continued There’s yet another element harking back to an earlier episode with the return of Bob Dishy as Sergeant Wilson, last seen in The Greenhouse Jungle. His naiveté and enthusiasm are as charming as ever. He tells Columbo he’s been learning while on the force, but he marvels when Columbo shows him a very basic magic trick aimed at impressing young children, unable to fathom how he did it (that a waiter was bemused by this trick, apparently pulled on him regularly, is hard to swallow. But a police officer falling for it is nothing short of astounding). He’s equally excited by a top end typewriter (he’s a very proficient and accurate speed typist, we discover) and while this gives Columbo part of his solution, it’s only unwittingly on the young Sergeant’s part. Among many funny and witty lines for both Columbo and Mueller, there are a few little moments of humour that comes from reactions and looks. Sergeant Wilson gets one of these via a little inserted close-up after Mueller - speaking to Columbo - refers to Wilson as “Dr Watson”. The look on his face is part hurt, part bemusement and part acceptance. There’s also a nice bit of business with Columbo’s new raincoat which he keeps trying to ditch or lose. It really is strange to see him in a smart dark version of his trademark item, so I was glad when he eventually succeeded in getting his wife to return it, allowing him to revert to his usual (ostensibly until she buys him another one). Mueller’s motive for murder, with the victim knowing that he’s a former Nazi and threatening him, was a particularly grim one. That background reminded of the film Remember (featuring Double Shock’s Martin Landau) which I watched recently. Like Patrick McGoohan speaking languages, it was impressive to see Jack Cassidy doing at least a few little tricks. Yes, a few moments might have been camera trickery, but it’s clear he’d learnt enough to convince. I wonder if he became a magic circle member in order to perform some of these. I was slightly underwhelmed by the Gotcha insofar as it seemed obvious to me that the typewriter’s carbon ribbon would provide the evidence. Even as Mueller hid the letter without removing the ribbon, I felt sure this would be the crux of the Gotcha. Nonetheless, the Gotcha was presented in a suitably theatrical way, with Columbo using one of Mueller’s own microphone ventriloquism trick against him.Special mention to Columbo’s hilarious little “trick” of producing multiple letters from various pockets at episode’s end. The little flourish and the look on Peter Falk’s face - and even Sergeant Wilson getting in on the act by pulling one or two from his own jacket - took this Gotcha into classic Columbo territory. <img src="https://i1.wp.com/columbophile.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/img_6311.jpg?resize=607%2C455&ssl=1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 398px" /><img src="https://i2.wp.com/columbophile.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/wilson-magic.jpg?resize=538%2C402&ssl=1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 398px" /> <img src="https://i2.wp.com/columbophile.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/magic.gif?resize=474%2C356&ssl=1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> This, along with the energy between Peter Falk and <s>David</s> Jack Cassidy and the welcome nods to earlier episodes, make this a very watchable episode. </blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?