‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘Diamond in the Rough’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​Truth be told, our lives are pretty darn good when you think about it. For a great many of us are in good health, our family units are stable and outside of the occasional pandemic, we receive a steady paycheck at a job that puts food on the table and a roof over our heads. Granted, we all have our issues and problems, but for the most part, life is good and that’s why it’s always so surprising and humbling when we meet someone who is struggling to get by. Because it serves as a fine reminder of how lucky we are and hopefully seeing their plight, motivates us to do something; that helps those that are less fortunate than we are.
 
If anything, that particular ponderance is relevant to today’s discussion, simply because it served as one of the focal points of the next episode of CHiPs. For ‘Diamond in the Rough’ saw Sergeant Joseph Getraer and his family be presented with that very conundrum. For his son Timmy had a friend named Pat who hit quite the rough patch in life. Because Pat and his mother were involved in a nasty hit and run crash, and with his father living in Las Vegas, and his mother laid-up in the hospital; there was no one that Pat could turn to for help or care. But thankfully Betty Getraer brought up the possibly of inviting this young man into their home in the hopes of doing something good and that’s where this episode went far deeper in its exploration of paying it forward.
 
Because Joe and Betty came to learn that Pat was dealing with quite the difficult home situation. For his mother was working her tail off to make ends meet, and his dad really didn’t want anything to do with him and the anger and uncertainty that comes with those kinds of problems, prompted Pat to act out often and put on the tough guy role. Which led Joe to realize that someone needed to be a father figure to this kid and that he needed a stable family environment to grow up in, and with a little care and some help from the folks at Central, Pat was eventually able to reunite with his father and learn from the Getraer family that his negative behavior accomplishes nothing in life. And it was just wonderful to see Pat grow under Joe’s tutelage and realize that there are people in this world, who genuinely care about him.
 
But while this segment of the story was delightful, since it was full of feel-good moments and allowed for us to see a more tender side of Joe, there is still the matter of who injured Pat’s mom in the first place and the investigation surrounding that, is what introduced us to our Creeps of the Week. As it turns out, the person at fault in the crash, was a criminal mastermind named Dutton. And he was fresh out of jail and assembling a powerhouse crew once again in order to rob a nearby diamond store in a clever and intricate scheme. But thanks to the superior detective skills of everyone at Central, and some mistakes made by Dutton’s crew, eventually Jon and Steve were able to bring him and his crew to justice and save the day. 
 
If anything, this was a lovely rebound episode when compared to the prior episode. Because this one stayed true to the formula. For it gave us some well-rounded COTWs, the CHP went all out to capture them, and it offered up some lovely insight in regard to Joe Getraer and this is the stuff we’re here for. Plus, this one also featured actor Marc Alaimo, who would go on to star in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and really, if there’s anything to complain about in regard to this tale, it would have to be, what’s the point of even having Steve McLeish fill in for Ponch at this point? Because uh, he really isn’t doing all that much at the moment outside of fleshing out a scene or two and that just seems like a waste. But outside of that, this really was a great episode and hopefully, the writers’ room has found the balance at last since this felt familiar and comfortable and more of this, would definitely be welcome. Until next time.  

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