Title: Tunnel
Directed by: David Swift
Written by: Michael Russnow (story), Michael Russnow and Tony Sheehan (teleplay)
Air Date: December 1, 1977
Previous: Thanksgiving Story
Next: Atomic Bomb
Guest Starring: Jay Gerber, J.J. Berry, Leonard Stone
"Tunnel" is the 10th episode of the fourth season of Barney Miller.
It's the typical two-case formula at the 12th Precinct. A report of a disturbance at a high school results in the arrest of Howard Gabriel, a history teacher driven to the point of madness by the out-of-control antics of the antisocial juvenile delinquents that are his students. Barney thinks a period of "observation" is appropriate for poor traumatized Mr. Gabriel, but Mr. Gabriel's boss, vice principal Burton Shaw, wants Mr. Gabriel back at work immediately. It turns out that Mr. Shaw is terrified at the prospect of having to teach the little monsters himself.
The second case is rather more serious. Wojo and Levitt are called out on a report of a jewel robbery. Wojo pursues the thief, who had dug a tunnel into the jewelry store. It turns out that the tunnel collapsed and Wojo was buried alive. Barney tears out of the squad room and heads for the hospital. He comes back and tells the others that while Wojo is fine now, for three minutes he was clinically dead.
In personal news, Harris still can't find an apartment to his liking. Dietrich suggests that Harris bunk with him, but Harris, who can't stand Dietrich, is terrified at the prospect. Yemana, scouring the racing forms as usual, is thrilled when he finds a horse called "Pick-Me-Nick".
Tropes:
- Because Destiny Says So: Nick discovers a horse named "Pick-Me-Nick" in the paper and decides that it's more than a sign, it's an order. Just before the end credits—after a philosophical discussion about fate and the afterlife that took place for unrelated reasons—Nick learns that Pick-Me-Nick won."I guess that settles that!"
- Broken Tears: Mr. Gabriel breaks into tears at the thought of going back to class, as does Mr. Shaw when it becomes clear that Mr. Gabriel isn't coming back to work.
- Buried Alive: Wojo is briefly Buried Alive when the tunnel collapsed. Reportedly Levitt was trying to dig Wojo out with his bare hands, which Barney characterizes as "heroic", even though he's reluctant to compliment the irritating Levitt.
- Cessation of Existence: Dietrich the know-it-all interrupts Wojo to insist that Wojo couldn't have experienced anything, that after you die, you simply cease to be. Wojo insists that he heard voices and saw a tunnel, but later he is troubled. Wojo the observant Catholic does not like the idea of Cessation of Existence.
- CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable: Not only is Wojciehowicz revived after being clincally dead for three minutes—no small task in itself—he comes back to the office!
- Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Mr. Gabriel is terrified at the prospect of going back to work.Howard Gabriel: What do you want? Do you want me to go in there like that guy Kotter on TV, armed only with my wit?
Barney: Mr. Gabriel—
Howard Gabriel: If I told them jokes like he did, they would cut my heart out with their little pencils! - The Gambling Addict: Barney, it seems, has told Yemana not to make calls to his bookie from the squad room. So when a call comes about a disturbance, Yemana eagerly volunteers to go, so he can call his bookie from a pay phone.
- Shout-Out: Or maybe a Take That!. Mr. Gabriel is scornful of Welcome Back, Kotter and its idealized portrait of a teacher at an Inner City School. He even sarcastically sings the iconic theme tune.
- The Stakeout: The episode starts with Dietrich and Harris getting back from an overnight stakeout. Harris is exhausted, not so much from the stakeout, but from spending the night in close quarters with a profoundly annoying Dietrich.
- Sucky School: The school where Mr. Gabriel teaches isn't specified to be an Inner City School, but wherever it is, it's apparently filled with antisocial delinquents. A teary-eyed Mr. Gabriel recounts how he came in for his first day full of excitement and ideas, only to write his name on the blackboard and turn around to discover that "they set my desk on fire."
- Title Drop: When the detectives remark on not getting any calls that morning, Barney says "there's light at the end of the tunnel." (Actually the phones are just out.) Later Wojo is Buried Alive in a tunnel, and he says that he saw a tunnel when he was clinically dead.
- Zeerust: With the phones out of service throughout the area, the squad room gets radio phones...which are regular phones with antennae.
