Title: Wojo's Problem
Directed by: Max Gail
Written by: Tony Sheehan
Air Date: February 23, 1978
Previous: Eviction: Part 2
Next: Quo Vadis?
Guest Starring: Stanley Brock, Mari Gorman, Henry Slate, Ray Girondin
"Wojo's Problem" is the 18th episode of the fourth season of Barney Miller.
The 12th Precinct has one of its occasional guest detectives. Det. Rosslyn Licori (Mari Gorman) has been transferred to the squad as a replacement for Chano—as an irritated Barney notes, two years after Chano left. She doesn't get to do any detecting in this episode, but she does have to deal with her overattentive husband, who brings her lunch and suspiciously eyes all her male coworkers.
In other detective news, Harris is still living with Dietrich and still coming in irritated at Dietrich's eccentricities. And Wojo, as it happens, has a problem. He's impotent! A call from his girlfriend at work embarrasses Wojo. Barney, who notices when a stressed-out Wojo yells at a customer, calls Wojo into his office. Barney in turn is very embarrassed when Wojo reveals what's worrying him.
This episode has only one wacky criminal instead of the usual two. Harris and Yemana bring in a Mr. Frankel for armed robbery. The weird part? Mr. Frankel is a paraplegic, confined to a wheelchair. The weirder part? He's determined to escape.
Tropes:
- Artistic License – Gun Safety: Detective Licori does not make a great first impression when, while rummaging through her purse for her transfer order to the 12th, she pulls her gun out and winds up pointing it right at Barney's face. Barney takes a step back in alarm.
- Continuity Nod
- Bruno Bender is in the squad room looking at mug shots, after he was robbed. Mention is made of Mr. Bender putting out bounties for any criminal shot in the area, which was the plot of Season 4 premiere "Goodbye, Mr. Fish: Part 1".
- Two years after Chano left the 12th with Gregory Sierra's departure at the end of season 2, Barney finally gets a replacement.
- The Determinator: Despite being confined to a wheelchair, Mr. Frankel attempts to escape while nobody's looking. The first time he actually makes it out of the building and into a nearby park. The second time, at the end of the episode, Harris sees him making his way very slowly to the back stairs.Harris: Speaking of indomitable spirit.
Barney: I kind of hate to tell him. - Green-Eyed Monster: Mr. Licori apparently isn't too comfortable with his wife at a workplace that's full of men. He lingers in the squad room with the excuse of dropping off her lunch. He isn't happy when Barney says he has a couch in his office.
- The Loins Sleep Tonight: This is Wojo's problem. He tells the girl on the phone that it wasn't her fault and he was simply tired. To Barney, Wojo says that the cause of his problem is the massive amounts of women constantly hitting on him.
- Shout-Out: Harris and Dietrich watched Casablanca. Harris says seeing Sam the piano player caused him to wonder what Cab Calloway was up tonote , after which Dietrich irritated him by saying that Sam was played by Dooley Wilson.
- Stealth Insult: Barney is taken aback when Wojo, complaining about all the women who want to have sex with him, says "I mean, I guess it's pretty hard for you to relate to this."
- Stupid Crooks: One of the bedrock tropes of Barney Miller, but never more so than in this episode, when a man in a wheelchair keeps trying to escape police custody.
