Title: Resignation
Directed by: Noam Pitlik
Written by: Frank Dungan and Jeff Stein
Air Date: January 8, 1981
Previous: Call Girl
Next: Field Associate
Guest Starring: Steve Franken, Peter Elbling, Mario Roccuzo, Allan Rich
"Resignation" is the seventh episode of the seventh season of Barney Miller.
Wojo is processing one Ira Russo, who turned himself in. Some years ago, in Arizona, Mr. Russo stole $1300—from some nuns. Ridden with guilt, he wants to go to jail.
The second wacky case involves Edward Novak, playwright, and Jordan Heath, actor. Mr. Heath was acting in a production of Mr. Novak's play, when he started ad-libbing. An infuriated Novak jumped onstage and attacked Heath, and both are being charged with assault.
Meanwhile, Dietrich and Levitt were called out on a robbery, and Dietrich wound up shooting the perp. He only shot the perp in the butt, but Dietrich is so conscience-stricken that he immediately submits his resignation from the NYPD. The other detectives get offended when Dietrich says his moral code won't allow him to commit violence, an idea which implicitly suggests that they have a lower moral code.
Tropes:
- All Part of the Show: Apparently when Harris and Wojo showed up to arrest Novak and Heath, they were assumed to be part of the show. They got a big hand.
- The Atoner: A frustrated one. Mr. Russo, stricken with guilt over having absconded with $1300 of nun money some years ago and having blown it all on prostitutes and liquor, turns himself in. The only problem is, the cops in Arizona aren't interested in paying to extradite him, and Mr. Russo is broke so he can't travel to Arizona to turn himself in again. He walks out a free man.
- Captain Obvious: As the other detectives confront Dietrich about his resignation, Dietrich the master troll irritates them further by saying "Well, I'm either gonna go or stay."
- Fake Brit: In-Universe. Leonard the producer storms into the squad room and yells at both Mr. Heath and Mr. Novak for being such drama queens. His parting shot on the way out is to face Heath and tell him to knock off the British accent: "You're from St. Louis for God's sake!" (Actor Peter Elbling was born in London. This could be a sly reference to Vincent Price.)
- Mysterious Past: Dietrich's bizarre mysterious past was a running gag. Barney, who notes that Dietrich has a habit of quitting, points out that in the past Dietrich has been a law student, medical student, teacher, writer, forest ranger, and beekeeper, the latter two during his "wilderness years." The reason why he became a cop?Dietrich: I stood in the wrong line.
- The Prima Donna: Mr. Heath is an awful prima donna who refused to say his line in a play—namely, answering a phone—because it didn't feel right. A furious Mr. Novak rages about "a cast full of prima donnas."
- Shot in the Ass: Dietrich says that that he put a bullet in the cheek of the armed robber. "Upper left quadrant."
