Title: Liquidation
Directed by: Noam Pitlik
Written by: Frank Dungan and Jeff Stein
Air Date: May 21, 1981
Previous: The Rainmaker
Next: Paternity
Guest Starring: Martin Garner, James Cromwell, Walter Olkewicz
"Liquidation" is the 22nd and last episode of the seventh season of Barney Miller.
Levitt and Dietrich bring in a friendly old man named Martin Golden. Mr. Golden owns a newsstand and he has been accustomed for the past 20 years to walk across a vacant lot from his apartment to said newsstand. One day he discovered that a building is going up on the vacant lot and his way to work has been fenced off. When Mr. Golden was discovered by construction workers trying to force his way through the fence with a crowbar, he took a swing at them, and was booked for assault. Eventually a Jason Parrish from the corporation that owns the building (James Cromwell—yes, him) comes in to sign the complaint.
The second case has Levitt and Wojo bringing in Walter Cushing, who was arrested for creating a disturbance at Siegel's department store. Mr. Cushing has been taking a therapy course that recommends singing in public to break through one's hangups and inhibitions. So he was arrested for singing show tunes in the department store.
All that is overshadowed by Harris's personal news. Harris is nervously awaiting the verdict in his appeal of Arnold Ripner's $320,000 suit against him for libel related to Harris's novel "Blood on the Badge". Finally the judgment comes in: disaster. Harris can't appeal any more and he has to pay Ripner over three hundred grand, which will require liquidating everything he owns. Harris comes back into the squad room extremely drunk, then goes on an angry rant about how his dreams have been shattered.
Tropes:
- Alter Kocker: Mr. Golden, a friendly, upbeat man with a very very Jewish accent who can't stop cracking jokes.Mr. Golden: My parents would never admit it, but I understand that I was dropped at my bris.
- As You Know: Barney takes the trouble to remind Harris that he stands to forfeit $320,000.
- Bait-and-Switch: Harris, so drunk he can barely stand, tells Barney that he pulled out two bottles of Lafitte '29 wine worth $2000 each, and thought that there was no way he'd let Ripner have them. So he poured them both down the sink and drank "a whole bottle of really cheap gin."
- Brick Joke: Barney takes Harris's gun after Harris comes in drunk. At the end of the episode, after Mr. Cushing starts singing "High Hopes," Harris fumbles around his hip for a moment and then says "Where's my gun?"
- Comically Missing the Point: Harris does this on purpose, because he doesn't want to think about appeal of the lawsuit. When Barney asks "Aren't you appealing today?", Harris answers "Thank you!"
- Comforting Comforter: Barney the Benevolent Boss pulls a blanket out of a drawer and puts it over Harris after Harris lies down on the couch.
- Continuity Nod: The nearly series-long arc about Harris's book reaches a climax, as he suffers a devastating defeat in court and has to fork over $320K to Arnold Ripner.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Harris comes back to work drunk. Wojo asks if Barney wants him to write Harris up, but Barney, ever A Father to His Men, lets it slide.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Mr. Parrish, who doesn't care about Mr. Golden's sob story and wants to sign the complaint quickly because "I have a foreclosure seminar at 5."
- Tension-Cutting Laughter: Harris, still drunk, goes on a long rant about how his hopes have been crushed and he's lost everything, one which ends with him bursting into tears as he says "It's all over!" This is followed by Mr. Cushing in his cell singing "High Hopes" as Harris cringes in disgust.
