Season 7, Episode 5, Columbo - The Conspirators (1978)

Season 7, Episode 5, Columbo - The Conspirators (1978)
 
 
This episode was directed by Leo Penn, and written by Howard Berk, Pat Robison, and Richard Levinson. 

This is technically the last of the 70's Columbo episodes and should thus end our journey into the 70's clothes and humor of this fantastic detective TV show, BUT we still have the two pilot episodes "Prescription Murder" (1968) and "Ransom for a Dead Man" (1971) to go back to and explore, so this is not quite goodbye yet!
 
The best outfits in this episode are: 
 
1) Joe Devlin's layers of earth toned natural fibers: 
 

 
He wears so many layers of wool throughout this episode, here he's paired some brown wool tweed trousers with a forest green button down shirt under a saddle brown wide-wale corduroy jacket and a blood red tie. 


Good for playing the banjo while secretly fundraising for guns. 

2) Jensen, the Winnebago dealer slash guns dealer, in his western get up



He's wearing a floral stripe pearl snap western shirt with a leather bolo tie, and light brown hip hugger bootleg pants. 
 

 
His jacket is two-tone brown with beige piping western accents and contrast stitching. His cowboy hat has an orange feather in the leather band. He will sell you a camper with an oven stuffed with guns.

3) Back to Joe Devlin in a snuggly hygge looking shaker knit ivory crewneck fisherman sweater


He wears basic brown wool pants with this, but check out his sunburst accent rug: 


The funniest moments in this episode are when Columbo is interacting through a window with the bookstore worker, and when he's reading the Erotic History book: 




Who me? 






Also funny is when Joe Devlin answers the gun dealer turned "coke, poppy and hash - you know, happy stuff" dealer's question "What's going down?" with 

 
The world, in terminal descent. 


Bonus points for decor awarded to the wood-paneled, shag-carpeted stripe conversion van. 
 
It will be 11 years before Peter Falk reprises his role as Columbo again in 1989, so his delivery of this line here in the final episode of the 70's seems especially meaningful: 



We'll all stay in touch. Yes we will.

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