‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘Aweigh We Go’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​If there’s one thing cinema and television tend to gloss over in stories that feature a specific career field, it’s the bad days so to speak. Those days where employees are forced to handle duties they simply don’t like or are asked to perform tasks that are outside of their job scope or are outright boring when all is said and done. Which makes sense really. After all, we’re here to be entertained above all else, so why bear witness to a character being forced to do something seemingly mundane. Which is why, I am continuing to find a newfound appreciation for the police serial classic, CHiPs. Because this particular series was willing to tell those kinds of stories since it knew how to balance action and the mundane as was evidenced in the next episode of the series, ‘Aweigh We Go’.
 
For in this particular tale, Ponch and Jon were taken off of their standard patrol duties and asked by the Sarge to head up north and help out at a weigh station up there thanks to a brand new threat emerging in the area, since our Creeps of the Week were swiping the loads of semi-trucks that stopped at nearby restaurants and the hope was that our heroic duo could bring these scumbags down. But, before they did (because Ponch and Jon always get the bad guy), they spent a lot of time doing menial tasks, and learning the weigh station officer trade and really, this was a bold decision storytelling wise. For this stuff should be considered boring, but the story was able to sell the importance of having a fresh set of eyes take a look at something critical and it also helps, that there was plenty of action and adventure, to break up the slower stuff, present in this episode.
 
After all, Ponch and Jon were forced to chase down a couple of arrogant racers who thought they could outrun the dynamic duo, and spoiler alert, they couldn’t. Plus, the final chase sequence involving the Creeps of the Week ended up being one hell of a ride since the bad guys ended up blowing out a tire, and by immediately bringing their rig to a stop so that it didn’t fly off of a bridge, they accidentally endangered some lives. Because other people also slammed on their brakes near the bridge and one car almost went over the drop right next to the bridge, leaving a mother and daughter suspended and trapped, allowing for Ponch and Jon to spring into action, and man this was one tense rescue, one filled with danger and panic and the realism here truly kept my attention and it was an added bonus that they were able to rescue both of the passengers.
 
However, if there’s one thing I’ve come to expect when it comes to season one of CHiPs, there should be something funny or fun to enjoy throughout the story as well and thankfully that was present here too. For after a high-speed chase ended with a boat flying into a salon early on in the story, Ponch found himself inspired to buy that boat and enjoy his time off on the water. But Sergeant Getrear happened to have the same idea in mind and bought the boat first, allowing for a strange agreement to come into play, wherein Frank, Jon and Joe would each pay for the boat and share in its wonder, and it was just hilarious to discover that the Sarge is always in charge since he bossed the guys around when it comes to getting their ship ready for the water and of course, you can’t go wrong with that ending, wherein we learned that Frank didn’t have a clue how to patch holes on the old girl, which meant the inaugural voyage of the newly commissioned Joe and Friends ended with her on the bottom of the sea.
 
If anything, this episode and everything that it had to offer, has me wondering something now when it comes to my re-watch of this series in that, is it really as cheesy and as 70s as I remember it to be? I mean sure, it has that washed out look of the era and the styles are definitely of the times as well. But I expected way more 70s tropes to be present in this first season, and those have only come up a couple of times now, and instead, I’m finding engrossing stories that are filled to the brim with everything I ever loved about the series. Which quite frankly, is a compliment and a testament to this series because if this is really what I’m in for with these Retro Recaps, that means I’m getting six seasons of wholesome and fun entertainment and you just can’t go wrong with that. Until next time. 

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