Title: Chinatown: Part 2
Directed by: Danny Arnold
Written by: Frank Dungan and Jeff Stein
Air Date: February 11, 1982
Previous: Chinatown: Part 1
Next: Hunger Strike
Guest Starring: Joanna Barnes, Chao Li Chi, Peter Pan, George Murdock
"Chinatown: Part 2" is the 12th episode of the eighth season of Barney Miller.
Unsurprisingly, events follow directly from the previous week's episode, "Chinatown: Part 1". Dietrich and Harris remain locked up in a hotel room with Victor Ling, their reluctant witness to a quadruple homicide in a Chinatown restaurant. Mr. Ling, fearing for his life, still refuses to admit that he saw or heard anything. Dietrich and Harris continue to irritate each other, with Dietrich doing most of the irritating. It turns out that Dietrich plays the clarinet. Badly.
Another plotline also is a follow-up from the previous episode. Mrs. Fitzjames, a high-society widow, was in the squad room to report the theft of her $40,000 necklace by a mugger. She comes back and Barney tells her that unfortunately they have no leads on the necklace. However, that isn't the reason why Mrs. Fitzjames is there. It seems that Lt. Scanlon of Internal Affairs, who was in the office at the time of Mrs. Fitzjames' previous visit solely to irritate the detectives, took a liking to her. He has been stopping by her place of residence periodically, to give her updates on her case (even though it isn't his case), and has been inviting her out for meals. She has come back to the 12th to file a formal complaint.
Tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Mrs. Fitzjames is not happy at all about Lt. Scanlon continually showing up at her apartment. At the end as he's apologizing Scanlon says he sent her flowers and says she should just throw them in the garbage. She calmly replies "I will."
- And Starring: George Murdock gets "Special Guest Star" credit.
- Desk Sweep of Rage: Mr. Ling's continuing refusal to talk, combined with Dietrich's sarcastic wisecracks, cause Harris to sweep all the newspapers off the desk in a fit of rage before stomping out of the hotel room.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: An embarrassed Lt. Scanlon admits to more or less stalking Mrs. Fitzjames, talking about how nice it was to meet someone other than the usual lowlifes and scumbags he comes across. He then says he's fully aware of how the detectives of the 12th Precinct feel about him, how they regard him with hatred and contempt. As Lt. Scanlon is leaving, Barney assures him that what they said in the office will remain between the two of them. Scanlon's only answer is to growl "God I despise you."
- Dreadful Musician: Dietrich bothers both Harris and Mr. Ling by playing a clarinet, terribly.
- Facepalm: Harris buries his face in his hands at the end of the episode, as it appears he will have to go back to the hotel with Dietrich and another reluctant witness.
- Here We Go Again!: Barney eventually gives up, tells Mr. Ling that he is free to go—after all, the cops cannot guarantee his protection against Tong vengeance—and releases Harris and Dietrich from their hotel prison. Later on, at the end of the episode, a cook from the same Chinese restaurant is brought in for questioning, also maintaining that he saw nothing, with Harris and Dietrich about to be sequestered in a hotel room with a reluctant witness once again. Dietrich calls Harris "roomie" and Harris buries his face in his hands as the episode ends.
- Hey, You!: Wojo takes delight in Lt. Scanlon being the one in trouble for once. When Scanlon gruffly greets him and Barney as "Miller" and "Wojciehowicz" in turn, Wojo pointedly calls him "Ben."
- Internal Affairs: The worm has turned in this episode as Lt. Scanlon, IA detective and eternal antagonist of the 12th Precinct, has his own embarrassing incident. When Mrs. Fitzjames comes in to report Scanlon and says "Doesn't he belong to you?", a gleeful Wojo says "He does now."
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Near the end of the episode when Barney stops by the hotel, Dietrich invites him to stay, saying "Taxi is on in five minutes." Taxi actually did follow Barney Miller in the ABC Thursday lineup at the time.
- Multi-Part Episode: Second part of a two-parter in which Dietrich and Harris are holed up with a witness in protective custody.
- Oddball in the Series: The 13th, and last, episode of Barney Miller over the eight-season run of the show to feature a scene outside the squad room. Harris and Dietrich, following up from last week, remained holed up in a hotel room with their uncooperative witness.
- Previously on…: Begins with clips from the previous episode reminding viewers of both continuing plot lines: Dietrich and Harris in lockdown with a reluctant witness, and Lt. Scanlon taking a liking to a rich society lady that stopped by the squad room.
- Seriously Scruffy: After Dietrich is sequestered in a hotel room with Harris and Mr. Ling, he develops a shabby-looking 5 o'clock shadow when Barn comes over in the hope that Mr. Ling would testify; Ling chooses not to get involved or testify primarily due to fear of gang retribution.
- Sleeps in the Nude: Naturally Dietrich the oddball would. As Harris rouses him to take his shift looking after Mr. Ling, Dietrich starts crawling out of bed and says "I'm naked, you know that?"
- The Triads and the Tongs: Second part of a two-parter in which Dietrich and Harris are holed up in a hotel with a reluctant witness to a Tong gangland killing, hoping that he will tell what he saw.
