‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘CHP BMX’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

If there’s one universal truth when it comes to human beings, it is that, every last one of us, hate making mistakes in life. Because they’re embarrassing to say the least, since they can make our social life awkward or leave us filled with doubt when they happen at our workplace. But while we despise them through and through, they are sadly, a fact of life since no one is perfect and really, what matters most when we make a goof, is how we respond to them. For there is a choice present when we screw something up; we can either own it and find a way forward, or let it stew within the recesses of our soul and oddly enough, both of those elements were explored in fascinating fashion in the next episode of CHiPs.
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Because ‘CHP BMX’ saw Sergeant Getrear, the straightest arrow to ever wear a California Highway Patrol badge, make a big mistake. The kind that allowed for a criminal to go free when he forgot to secure the evidence after a high-speed chase/drug bust and well, this was stunning to say the least. Because you know Joe, in his mind mistakes are not a thing, and if this seems supremely out of character for the sarge, well there was an honest to god reason for Joe’s stumbles in this tale. Because his son Tim was hurt in a car crash in the opening moments of this episode and let’s be honest, who wouldn’t be distraught and distracted by that kind of unexpected trauma? But this series of events allowed for us to understand exactly how much Joe Getrear believes in perfection, because all of this, did not settle well with him.

Because he blamed himself for Tim’s accident since he could have driven his boy home and the guilt present from that, and from letting a mistake happen on his watch, was only amplified when the captain put Joe on vacation to help him clear his head. So, rather than let all of this stew about in his mind, Joe took it upon himself to bust this guy in his spare time and set things right, and he pulled in a few favors to get an unmarked car to keep an eye on the guy and thankfully, Ponch and Jon eventually figured out what Joe was up to and took the time to talk to him and help him in order to support a friend that was in the dumps. And with a little teamwork, the sarge was vindicated since the dealer in question was finally arrested, complete with the proper evidence, and eventually Getrear was back at work once his son’s wounds healed.

Yet, the theme of helping and supporting others didn’t end with the sarge’s story, since the CHP was putting together a youth BMX group, and while Ponch and Jon were out and about teaching bike safety to kids, Ponch ran into a troubled kid named Danny who was directionless at this point in his life. Which of course, prompted Frank to step in and try and help this young man by having him join the BMX team, giving him some goals to work toward in life. Which sounds pretty by the numbers for this series, but even this plot point found a way to surprise. Because Danny was a hard egg to crack and he pushed his luck to the limit before he finally listened to Ponch and reason and wouldn’t you know it? Danny ended up being quite the valuable addition to the BMX team.  

But, while that was a positive and wonderful storyline to feature in this tale, let’s be honest, it’s Getrear’s story that steals the show in this one. Because we really haven’t gotten to know the sarge all that well in the first two years of this series and meeting his wife and his son, and seeing how much perfection and the job means to Joe was downright incredible, as were all the human moments that came with it since everything Joe did in this tale is about as relatable as it gets and kudos to Robert Pine for turning in such a wonderful performance and kudos to the show for taking the time to explore Joe’s life. Because it is the characters that matter most in this series, and this was just a delight of an episode when all is said and done and well, season two continues to impress and if the finale is anything like this one, then year two is going to close out in magnificent fashion. Until next time. 

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