It's been a while since I watched but was the point of the haircut that it would leave small hairs on the hat he was wearing that was left at the woman's house?

His reaction was because he knew after a haircut he'd be able to look for hairs as evidence, not the fact that he had gotten a hair cut. The is one of my favorite 80s episodes.

I agree, J. and Glenn, but wouldn't the moment of realization come when he heard that the victim went to the barber? Barber pretty much implies haircut.

The episode is one of my favorites too. The 80's look and sound is pretty bad, but once you get past that, Tyne Daly is hilarious, and Greg Evigan is surprisingly good.

Was that the one where the guy flinched before an explosion, and also with the ripe socks?

Tyne Daly was also in a Dirty Harry film early on in her career playing a rookie cop. Good little actress. And of course in Cagney & Lacey.

That's the one.

I never saw "Cagney and Lacey", I didn't have interest, probably because I was a kid at the time. I wonder if it's worth looking up now.

"BJ and the Bear" is a different story, I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be worth it.