Goofs

In the montage where Paul Gerard prepares the poison from the blowfish, he alternately wears vinyl gloves, no gloves, and latex gloves, back and forth.

Mr. Gerard first refers to Mary Choy's restaurant as "The House of Choy" when asked about her name appearing in Vittorio's date-book. Later, Columbo meets with bankers over coffee cake, and Mary Choy's restaurant is referred to as "The House of Shanghai".

When Columbo reenacts the murder in the kitchen, after he has opened a bottle with the cartridge device and has his "ah ha" moment, he and Mario leave the kitchen, the camera pans back and where there were two bottles of wine on the table, there are now no bottles, only the device.

At the bank, just after Columbo whistles at the news, he lifts his right index finger to the sky. In the next shot, he is holding up his left hand holding a cigar.

When Columbo re-enacts the death of Vittorio with Mario and Albert, he uncorks a wine bottle with the gadget. He leaves the gadget with the cork on the table but takes the tray with knives to a chest of drawers where he discovers canceled checks in one of the drawers. He then takes the same tray back to the table, but now he also carries the gadget with the cork in his left hand.

The bottle of "Margaux" the nephew brings to the table by Vito's request is incorrect. A "Margaux" is a Bordeaux and would come in a Bordeaux-shaped bottle. The bottle the nephew brings is a Burgundy-shaped bottle.

Columbo asks if the mushrooms stuffed with crab are made with a bechamel sauce. The chef who presents them says they are. Clearly they are not, as one can see when Columbo picks one up with his fingers. A bechamel sauce is white.

Columbo's cooking proficiency changes throughout the series. In this episode he proves to be a great cook, influenced by his wife who isn't a good cook. This is a complete 180 degree turn from Murder by the Book (1971), where he says he's a terrible cook but can cook a good omelet.

However, one should remember that Columbo shares information that best suits his interests. He could have been lying this time and practiced this one meal to serve his purpose.

Paul Gerard tries to kill Columbo the same way he killed his original victim. Even if he had succeeded, he would have been incriminated as the killer, as multiple witnesses could place him as the only one with Columbo at the time of Columbo's death.

Although his intention was to put it on the wine, always the wine.

The killer's scheme makes no sense. The victim is described as dying from poison, and no one is framed as an alternate killer. The killer seems to assume the police won't be able to figure out how the victim was murdered and drop the case. Even in the 1970s, the police didn't work like that.

The murderer actually tried to stir the police investigations towards the chef who cooked for both.

Lt. Columbo tells Paul Gerard that Vittorio wrote the names of M. Choy and M. Duvall, as well as Paul Gerard's name with four exclamation points in a note book. When he shows Gerard the notebook, the names have only three exclamation points after them.

Immediately following Columbo's introduction to Paul Gerard, a boom mic can be seen dropping into view directly over Louis Jourdan's head. Also, the shadow of the mic can be seen moving across the front of Gerard's suit just before it drops well into view.

In his brief TV segment, Paul Gerard shows what is purportedly a Tiger Fugu fish, and correctly describes it as the most delicious variety of Fugu fish. However, the fish he holds up to make his point is covered in long spines. Like all pufferfish, the Tiger Fugu (species Takifugu rubripes) is smooth until it is inflated. The fish shown is likely the otherwise closely-related porcupinefish, whose spines are visible even when uninflated.

In the introduction, Paul Gerard is shown on TV discussing the eating of live shrimp, known as Odori Ebi. "The shrimp is still wriggling as it is quickly dipped into the sauce," he says, "and eaten with gusto." He then proceeds to dip what would appear to be a dead shrimp (It isn't moving at all.) in the bowl, and due to the awkward manner in which he holds his chopsticks, the chopsticks are empty as he goes to raise the shrimp back to his mouth.