This season was shorter with only 6 episodes, compared to the usual 8/9 of the previous seasons (I’m  counting season 1 with the pilot episodes, as that’s also how the DVDs are distributed).

There are some highlights in terms of location in this season, with one episode taking place on a cruise ship and another one in a military academy (where Columbo stays for the duration of the case).

Columbo’s wife is mentioned a lot in the cruise ship episode, with Columbo looking for her, talking about why she can’t be on screen or talking with her on the phone. In the second episode, Columbo’s driving style and car get a highlight while he talks with the driving instructor (though he might have been done this to unnerve the instructor and get him to talk, would not be uncharacteristic for him). We also learn that seat belts have been mandatory for some time now, yet Columbo’s car doesn’t have any.

I quite liked the military academy and cruise ship episodes due to the different settings. In the military episode especially I liked the “journey” to the solution of the case as it needed some particular details not directly related to the murder (the cider bottle).