In 2013, you DON'T use terms like 'tar baby'...ever! It's racist and dumb. However, despite this, "The Big Tar Baby" is well worth seeing. Plus, it is NOT about black people but the episode actually involves tar.
Friday and Smith are dispatched to a bar to see the guy working there. He is very worried and thinks something's happened to his wife. According to him, she visits him at work to pick him up at the same time every day like clockwork. He's sure something bad must have happened. Suddenly, in the middle of this interview, there's a phone call and now the bartender tells the police it's all a mistake and they should go. Despite Friday and Smith assuming this was a call from a kidnapper, the man insists he wants to drop the case.
Later, the detectives stop by and talk with a neighbor about the couple. She describes things VERY differently--that the husband is jealous and abusive. This leads the police to think that perhaps there was no kidnapping and the man staged it all to create an alibi for himself. However, what happens next is very, very different--and it's nice to be surprised! This is a very good episode. Ignore the title and just watch this one. His has some nice twists and is very different from other "Dragnet" episodes.