Title: Good-Bye, Mr. Fish: Part 1
Directed by: Danny Arnold
Written by: Reinhold Weege and Danny Arnold
Air Date: September 15, 1977
Previous: Strike: Part 2
Next: Good-Bye, Mr. Fish: Part 2
Guest Starring: Arny Freeman, Jack Somack, Stanley Brock
"Good-Bye, Mr. Fish: Part 1" is the first episode of the fourth season of Barney Miller.
It's Fish's last day at work, now that he has reached the mandatory NYPD retirement age—but he hasn't shown up. Inspector Luger comes in and tells Barney that he brought ice cream and booze for Fish's retirement party, but Barney says that there's no party planned, just a present. Either way, though, Fish isn't there.
Meanwhile, Levitt brings in some disturbing posters that have popped up all over the neighborhood. Said posters are offering a $1000 award for anyone in the neighborhood who shoots and kills a criminal. Barney has the man behind the posters, sporting goods store owner Bruno Binder brought in. Binder is defiantly unapologetic. A terrified crook is brought in by Wojo and Yemana; the crook reports that the store owners he robbed were about to kill him.
Two previously seen characters, liquor store owner Mr. Cotterman and jeweler Mr. Rosten, are brought in. It seems that a thief was trying to rob Mr. Rosten, who pulled a gun and shot at him, only to shoot out Mr. Cotterman's window and cause Cotterman to pull out his gun and start shooting. Things get less funny when Wojo gets a call and reports that the thief that Rosten and Cotterman were shooting at has died in the hospital.
Tropes:
- Artistic License – Law: Apparently no legal consequences will flow from the death of the thief. Cotterman and Rosten wonder about which of them fired the fatal shot, then ask Barney not to tell them the result of the ballistics test. It seems likely that whoever did shoot the thief would probably be looking at least at an involuntary manslaughter charge.
- Cops Need the Vigilante: Averted. All the members of the 12th Precinct hold Bruno Binder in contempt and Barney in particular is desperate to arrest him. Further, the bounty that Binder has put on criminals is causing a lot of problems for the precinct.
- Death Glare: The normally unflappable Capt. Miller is giving Binder a ferocious death glare as Binder rants on at length about how it's no big deal if a criminal got shot and killed.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Levitt. Yemana cringes and asks "You gave us Levitt?" when Barney says Levitt is coming along. Barney says that Levitt is available, he's qualified, and he volunteered. An unsatisfied Yemana says only "Levitt?".
- Jerkass: Bruno Binder, an abrasive, pushy jerkass. He doesn't think it's a big deal if some thief got killed, he offers Cotterman and Rosten his $1000 bounty, and sneers at them when they turn him down.
- Mood Whiplash: Cotterman and Rosten are hurling insults at each other, and it's very funny. Then Wojo gets a call and tells the rest that the thief was shot and killed, and the mood turns dark instantly.
- Multi-Part Episode: First part of a two-part episode in which Abe Vigoda and Fish are written off the show. (Fish never does appear in this one.)
- My God, What Have I Done?: Cotterman and Rosten reel with horror when they are told that the thief caught in their crossfire was killed. Cotterman says he never hurt anyone in his life, while Rosten says "My God."
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: To Goodbye, Mr. Chips. "Fish" and "chips" are even thematically associated words.
- Promotion to Opening Titles: Steve Landesberg, Ron Carey, and James Gregory were all promoted to the opening titles for this fourth-season premiere. Landesberg and Carey remained there for the rest of the run, but Gregory went back to Special Guest Star status for Season 4.
- Sarcasm Failure: Binder, being loud and annoying as he leafs through a mug book, observes that one of the mugshots is of a guy that killed five people. He then asks Harris if Harris has seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Harris, who clearly dislikes having to talk to Binder, rolls his eyes and says "The one with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire?" Binder completely misses the sarcasm, answering "No no, no big names, just one hell of a good movie."
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Binder. Trying to reduce crime in the neighborhood is a good thing, but offering a $1000 bounty for dead criminals is no way to go about it.
