Title: Eviction: Part 1
Directed by: Noam Pitlik
Written by: Tom Reeder (story), Tom Reeder and Tony Sheehan (teleplay)
Air Date: February 2, 1978
Previous: Rape
Next: Eviction: Part 2
Guest Starring: Rosanna DeSoto, Dave Madden, Donna Baccala
"Eviction: Part 1" is the 16th episode of the fourth season of Barney Miller.
Wojo comes in with Ms. Elizondo (Rosanna DeSoto) and Mr. Rodriguez, whom he has dragged from their apartment building. It seems that developers want to tear the old hotel down and have a court order to evict all the tenants; when Wojo arrived with a couple of uniforms he was pelted with garbage. The two tenants are closely followed by a harried attorney for the developers, Mr. Clayton Walsh, who says "I don't enjoy being the heavy" but nevertheless presents Barney with a court order saying that the building must be vacated by 3 p.m. that day, and that if it isn't, the NYPD must forcibly remove the tenants.
The second wacky case involves an unknown woman who was found wandering around a grocery store, picking stuff up and eating without paying. Dietrich soon discovers that the woman has a complete case of amnesia, has no idea who she is, and carried no identification. Dietrich sets out to discover the woman's identity with nothing more than a bus ticket to go on. He also develops a crush on the lovely young lady, even though Barney warns him not to let personal feelings get mixed up with police work.
Meanwhile, Inspector Luger has to burn some vacation time but has little notion of where he'd like to go. All of that takes a backseat to the eviction case, however. Barney drags his feet on the eviction, hoping to talk the residents out of the hotel while avoiding what could be an ugly confrontation. Eventually, however, Manhattan South's patience runs out, and they send their own cops to the scene...and they relieve Captain Miller of command.
Tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: Luger getting Levitt's name wrong was a Running Gag for years, with the inspector usually calling Officer Levitt "Levine", but it reached new heights in this episode when Luger called Levitt "Greenberg".
- Blowing Smoke Rings: At one point Harris puts his feet up on the desk and starts blowing smoke rings. This greatly pisses off Barney who is under tremendous pressure with the eviction standoff.
- Celebrity Paradox: Luger asks Yemana if Flower Drum Song is still playing. Jack Soo starred in both stage and screen versions of Flower Drum Song.
- Easy Amnesia: The pretty mystery woman has the standard case of Easy Amnesia, still having perfect command of English and more or less able to function, while her memory is a total blank.
- El Spanish "-o": Wojo shows Mr. Rodriguez to "el seato"; Barney offers the man a chair and says "Señor, aquí." Later on Levitt offers to escort Mr. Rodriguez home, saying he speaks some Spanish, but he says "Vaminos homo." Barney tells him the word he wants is "casa", so he says "Vaminos casa, no homo." Luger joins the atrocious Spanish gang by telling Ms. Elizondo and Mr. Rodriguez that "You've got to vamoose el premisos."
- Last-Name Basis: While Barney and the other detectives call each other by their first names (or the nickname "Wojo" for Wojciehowicz), he and Dietrich call each other "Dietrich" and "Captain". Barney rather awkwardly suggests they address each other by their first names.
- Multi-Part Episode: First of a two-parter in which Barney struggles to manage a crisis involving tenants that won't vacate an apartment building.
- Newhart Phone Call: Yemana fields an obscene phone call from a woman. He starts giggling and says "Shame on you!", before he sees Harris's eyes on him and hangs up the phone.
- Ripped from the Headlines: The story was inspired by the standoff at the International Hotel
in San Francisco, where thousands of protesters tried to prevent the eviction of low-income residents of the hotel, and the local sheriff spent five days in jail for refusing to issue the eviction order.note - Spicy Latina: The passionate, angry Ms. Elizondo, who is the de facto leader of the tenants that are remaining in their rooms in defiance of a court order.
- Taken Off the Case: Barney and the 12th are taken off an assignment to evict Hispanic immigrants from a condemned hotel, over Barney's reluctance to use forceful methods. On top of that, Barney is put on administrative leave. After a near-disaster with Manhattan South's attempt to clear the building, Barney is called back because the tenants will only speak to him.
- Turn in Your Badge: The episode ends with Inspector Luger apologetically taking Barney's badge and gun, after Barney refused to send his men into the hotel to forcibly remove the residents.
- Villainous Gentrification: It was happening in the 1970s! Mr. Walsh admits that his employers don't give a crap about the tenants, while Ms. Elizondo darkly warns what will come next if she and her neighbors are evicted: condos!.
- You Are in Command Now: Barney is relieved of his duties, which leaaves command of the precinct to the senior detective, Yemana. Yemana's response: "Oh my God."
