This season gives Columbo a lot more character. His dog makes its first appearance in the first episode and is seen again in the seventh. Most of the scenes used for Columbo are done in a humorous way, like showing him stumbling down the roadside or the way he tries to find a name for his dog (in the seventh episode it’s mentioned that he still doesn’t have one). Columbo also turns out to be a football fan, as we see him being distracted by radio broadcasts of games during the third episode.

The second episode partners Columbo with a “modern” colleague who is a fan of all the latest tech (well… for the time anyway, the season aired from 72 until 73 originally), to contrast him with Columbos’ “old-school” ways.

A case highlight would be episode 6, where the bad guy is played by Leonard Nimoy. At the same time, this episode also has the most interesting murder “weapon”, dissolving suture (Nimoy plays a doctor that operates on his partner and tries to make his death look like heart failure).

The season also features the first episode where Columbo is abroad, this time in London (episode 4), where he is on visit to Scotland Yard, to study their police techniques.

Overall, definitely a noticeable improvement compared to Season 1, though that one was far from bad itself.