Title: Landmark: Part 1
Directed by: Tony Sheehan
Written by: Tony Sheehan
Air Date: May 6, 1982
Previous: Bones
Next: Landmark: Part 2
Guest Starring: Philip Sterling, James Gallery, Susan Tolsky, Al Ruscio, Keith Langsdale, Pepe Serna
"Landmark: Part 1" is the 20th episode of the eighth season of Barney Miller. It is the first part of a three-part series finale.
Dietrich and Wojo arrest a guy in a suit named Howard Spangler for assault and disorderly conduct. Mr. Spangler, as it turns out, is a former hostage. Not one of "the famous 52" who were held in Iran for 14 months in the Iran hostage crisis
, but a businessman who was captured and held in Central America by socialist revolutionaries. Mr. Spangler had a breakdown after hearing the Spanish voices of the cleaning ladies in his apartment building—but as it turns out, he admires and sympathizes with the revolutionaries who helped him.
Harris, meanwhile, is in final talks with his agent, who is getting him a $10,000 advance on his second book. This draws the attention of the man he is interviewing, Mr. Dozier, who wanted to go to bartending school but can't because he was robbed of the last $170 he had. Mr. Dozier starts guilt-tripping Harris in the hopes of getting a handout.
However, all of that takes a back seat to the main storyline. This episode should probably be considered as the second part of a four-parter, because events follow directly from the previous episode, "Bones". A Ms. Victoria Hoffline from the State Division for Historic Preservation comes into the squad room and starts looking around. She tells Barney that the rifle Wojo found in the walls in the previous episode belonged to none other than Theodore Roosevelt, and Barney's office was President Roosevelt's when he served as NYC police commissioner from 1895 to 1897. The 12th Precinct building is consequently getting named to the National Registry of Historic Places. Everybody thinks that is pretty cool, but it becomes less cool when a businessman named Jack Norrell wanders into the office and starts looking around. Mr. Norrell shocks everyone by revealing that, since the building is now being designated as a historical landmark, it is up for sale.
Tropes:
- Armor-Piercing Question: Wojo indignantly says "This building is not for sale." Mr. Norrell then delivers the zinger.Mr. Norrell: Oh. Do you own it?
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Mr. Spengler's account of his time as a hostage in Central America: "Chained up in filthy huts, dragged up and down the mountainside like excess baggage, eating with East Germans!"
- Continuity Nod:
- Another mention of Harris's new book, which is going to earn him a $10000 advance.
- More importantly, the bit about the old rifle that was found in previous episode "Bones" pays off in a big way, as Barney and the detectives find out that the precinct building is being designated as a historical landmark and is up for sale.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: Barney tells Wojo to call the folks in city government, saying "The city is not about to sell us out for a quick buck!" He then takes the phone from Wojo and talks to a bureaucrat who in a Newhart Phone Call tells him that in fact the building is up for sale, and wants to know if Mr. Norrell has made an offer.
- Multi-Part Episode: The first part of the three-part series finale.
- On the Next: Ends with a scene from "Landmark: Part 2" in which Barney is trying to calm down a panicky Levitt about the possible sale of the building.
- Running Gag: The almost-never seen but apparently ghastly bathroom. Ms. Hoffline looks and just says "Oh!" Mr. Norrell looks and says "Yeah, we could rip out this bathroom and...put in a bathroom!"
- Series Continuity Error: Season 2 episode "Rain", in which the crappy old precinct building is suffering from a leaking roof, specifically stated that the building was constructed in 1932. This episode establishes that it was built no later than the 1890s.
- Title Drop: Mr. Norell says "This place is going to be a landmark!"
- Trauma Button: Mr. Spengler suffers a breakdown after hearing some Spanish-language voices.
- Where the Hell Is Springfield?: At no point does Mr. Spangler say what country he was held hostage in, but his story is clearly inspired by Nicaragua, where some 18 years of resistance by the left-wing Sandinistas ended in victory in 1979.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: Mr. Spengler, who is suffering from a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome, says this of the socialist revolutionaries who held him hostage for a year and a half. He admires them for fighting for their beliefs, and for winning and taking power.
