‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘Crack-Up’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

We watch television for one reason and one reason alone, to escape. We just want to get lost within a story and let it carry us away to imaginary places after a long hard day. But while it is nice to disappear into fantasy land for a little while, I honestly respect television shows that take the time to inject a little reality into their stories from time to time simply because, it’s never a bad thing to remind us about the world’s problems in a fictional setting. Because when it is done right, it settles into the back of our minds allowing for us to chew and ponder upon such matters in subtle fashion and well, who knows where that seed can go. Sure, it might be forgotten, but the best-case scenario is that it suddenly makes one aware of a particular issue that’s important in our world, and paying attention to something important you never did before, has its merits, and this injection of realism is on my mind today, due to the fact that a slice of the real world showed up in the next episode of CHiPs.
​
Because ‘Crack-Up’ served to remind us of the fact that some people, straight up despise the police, and it doesn’t matter what you tell them, there’s no changing their mind. For once they think the system is corrupt and against them, there’s no going back and well, I have to admit that this particular examination outright caught me by surprise. Because at first, it seemed as though this story was going to explore the physical hazards that come with being a police officer, since Ponch and Jon found themselves in pursuit of a couple of racers early on in the episode, and in the midst of their chase, one of the hot dogs, a guy named Niles, put his car in a compromising position as he tried to outwit Jon, and unfortunately, bad timing led to a collision between Jon and Niles’ car, which sent Jon flying and Niles feeling and the end result of this little mix up, was a trip to the hospital for Officer Baker.

But once things settled down and the department came to learn that Jon was going to be just fine with a little care, that’s when things took a turn for the dark. Because Niles saw this whole mess as some kind of kind of awful luck, as though the police were constantly targeting him and making his life hell, which meant he felt it was time for a little bit of payback and he actually started targeting highway patrolmen when the opportunity arose, even going so far as to take Grossie out with his tow truck and well, that was the wrong choice on his part. Because that motivated Sergeant Getrear to focus his team on finding this guy and of course, you know Ponch and Jon had extra motivation to bring him and of course, once Jon was released from the hospital, he was the one that got the collar and that made for one satisfying ending, and what’s great is that the wonder of this episode, didn’t end with this plot line.

After all, there were plenty of laughs to be found by having Ponch partner up with the Sarge since they were never quite on the same page, and of course it was equally as entertaining to see Phyllis Diller fire off some jokes in her own special style, because she’s a true legend and an absolute gem. But, all those topical gags aside, we also need to talk about the adventures of Frank and Joe since that actually allowed for some important character development to happen. Because the Sarge has been on Ponch’s case a plenty this season and I feel as though seeing Frank in action, despite the fact he bended the rules here and there, gave Joe some perspective on Frank and how much he truly loves his job and it really seemed as though a little respect was sent Ponch’s way when all is said and done and I really appreciated the fact that the series didn’t let the constant gag of Frank being a goof-up persist for the entire season because let’s be honest, that was getting a little old.

If anything, this was an episode that in my opinion, offered up everything that makes the series great. It was grounded in a touch of prophetic reality with the whole ‘I don’t like cops’ storyline, it featured thrilling stunts and action and adventure, and character development and most importantly, the human element was on display here. Because the guys had each other’s backs in this story, regardless of rank or the situation and heck, Jon even went the extra mile for Diller’s character, Wanda, and this really was a perfect blend storytelling wise and I have to be honest, I was a little displeased when this one ended. Because I outright wanted more and this episode made me realize, that the series is just getting started when it comes to stories such as this since five more seasons await and that has me supremely excited to continue to dive into this show in the weeks to come. Until next time.         

---