Title: Vanished: Part 2
Directed by: Noam Pitlik
Written by: Frank Dungan, Jeff Stein, and Tony Sheehan
Air Date: January 17, 1980
Previous: Vanished: Part 1
Next: The Child Stealers
Guest Starring: James Gregory, Elaine Giftos, John Dullaghan, Leonard Frey
"Vanished: Part 2" is the 14th episode of the sixth season of Barney Miller.
Events follow upon the previous week's episode, "Vanished: Part 1". Harris, having gone undercover at a homeless shelter to investigate reports of disappearing vagrants, has himself disappeared. The 12th puts out an APB, using the only photo of Harris they have available, namely, his author's photo on the back cover of his book "Blood on the Badge". Eventually they get a call from Harris in North Carolina. Finally, Harris shows up at the 12th Precinct with a flock of a half-dozen hobos. He reveals that a group of operators were luring homeless people from shelters with the promise of free gin, sticking them into vans, and driving them to North Carolina, where they were pressed into service as agricultural laborers picking crops.
While that's going down Luger and Levitt bring in one Alfred Royce, who is being arrested for armed robbery. Why did Mr. Royce hold up a restaurant and rob not just the cash register but all the patrons? To fund his campaign for the presidency of the United States in 1980, that's why. (TV time is expensive.)
Luger is arresting suspects because, as established in the previous episode, he has been busted in rank to captain, as NYPD command staff is trying to force him to retire. Luger's bitterness about this is making him pretty lackadaisical about the routine work of processing suspects, which leads to a confrontation between him and Barney. Additionally, Ms. Laura Kiergo, who in the previous episode was looking for a man to help her conceive a child and chatted up both Wojo and Dietrich, returns to the 12th for a follow-up visit.
Tropes:
- Accidental Misnaming: Luger calling Levitt "Levine" once again. Barney tries to correct this by telling Luger "why don't you take Levitt with you," on a call, only for Luger to call Levitt "Levine" again as they go.Levitt: [seething] You could have told him!
Barney: I did!
Levitt: Try harder! - First-Name Basis: The Reveal of who Ms. Kiergo chose to impregnate her. After saying goodbye to Dietrich and Wojo and apologizing for putting them on the spot, she says that she doesn't need help in getting knocked up as it's "been taken care of." She then turns around, sees Levitt at the door, and says "Goodbye, Carl."
- Multi-Part Episode: Second of a two-parter in which Harris goes undercover to investigate a case of kidnapped hoboes, and Luger suffers the indignity of being demoted.
- Press-Ganged: What the case of the missing hobos is, as discovered by Harris who calls it "a Shanghai operation." Homeless people are being lured out of shelters, put into vans, and driven against their will into the Carolinas to serve as nut pickers.
- Previously on…: Starts with clips from the first part of the two-parter. The last clip segues into the new episode, as Luger's announcement that he is Captain Luger now goes straight to Luger taking Nick Yemana's old desk.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: Mr. Royce's comment about how he robbed the store to fund his campaign leads Barney to laugh and say, "Oh, you're running for President too?". He's caught off-guard when Levitt says "Yes he is, sir."
- Running Gag Stumbles: The Running Gag about Luger's Accidental Misnaming of Levitt, usually as "Levine". After now-Captain Luger stays behind after quitting time to finish up paperwork, each member of the 12th says "Goodbye, Inspector Luger" as they leave. Levitt is last, which leads to the following exchange.Levitt: Goodbye, Inspector Luger.
Luger: Goodbye, Levitt.
Levitt: [quietly] Thank you. - Subverted Rhyme Every Occasion: Barney is surprised by Alfred Royce's slogan.Barney: Alfred Royce, the people's...candidate.
- While You Were in Diapers: Barney's irritation at Luger for not filling out an arrest report blows up into a full-scale argument, in which Luger says "I was pounding the pavement as a flatfoot for the NYPD while you were still peddling papers in short pants!".
