Title: Appendicitis
Directed by: Noam Pitlik
Written by: Tony Sheehan
Air Date: January 19, 1978
Previous: The Ghost
Next: Rape
Guest Starring: Jack Bernardi, Michael Durrell
"Appendicitis" is the 14th episode of the fourth season of Barney Miller.
The two-criminal formula is given a tweak in this case as the first man into the 12th isn't a criminal, it's a bounty hunter. What's really weird is that the bounty hunter is a genial old man, Able Kleiner. Mr. Kleiner explains that he started getting bored in retirement, so he embarked on a second career of going around New York finding wanted fugitives. Barney does not like this (Barney never likes civilians meddling in law enforcement), but Mr. Kleiner leaves the precinct, comes back, and alerts the 12th to the whereabouts of an armed robber.
The second case involves a man, one Howard Altman, who was arrested in a bakery for assault. It turns out that Mr. Altman is an addict, who needed "a fix" of "the white powder." What white powder? Sugar, of course.
In the meantime, Yemana, never a go-getter, is moving around even slower than usual. Barney complains at him for misplacing a file, while Yemana thinks he might have indigestion. After he starts moaning with pain, however, the other detectives figure out what Yemana does have: appendicitis.
Tropes:
- Addled Addict: Mr. Altman, who is addicted to sugar. He assaulted a woman at a bakery when his line got skipped. He starts going through withdrawal in the cage, raising the stress level after Yemana's appendicitis attack when he begs for the sugar by the coffeemaker, or from the candy machine downstairs.
- Alter Kocker: A cheerful old Jewish guy, Mr. Kleiner, who tells Barney that he scours the streets for the faces of criminals because "it helps with the groceries".
- Bounty Hunter: Possibly the oldest one ever, as Mr. Kleiner hunts down criminals and calls the NYPD when he finds out where they live.
- Chekhov's Gun: When Yemana complains of indigestion in the opening scene it's not hard to guess what will happen.
- The Dandy: When Yemana needs a pillow Wojo grabs Harris's coat. Harris says "Hey man, that is custom Italian corduroy!". He's embarrassed immediately.
- Insane Troll Logic: As Yemana is being put on the stretcher he says that he has something important to tell Barney. Barney leans in, and Yemana tells him how the files are organized.Yemana: And if you can't find the case you're looking for, you try "miscellaneous", under R.
- Ruptured Appendix: Yemana comes down with a case of severe appendicitis and has to be wheeled out of the squad room.
- Shout-Out: When Wojo is told that Mr. Kleiner is a bounty hunter, he scoffs and says "he ain't exactly Steve McQueen!". (Steve McQueen was on a TV show called Wanted Dead or Alive before he made the jump to movies.)
- Sweeping the Table: When Yemana has acute appendicitis they need to lay him down on a flat surface until the paramedics arrive, so Wojo picks up one side of his own desk, dumping the stuff on the floor.
