‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘Family Crisis’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

Normally in the television world, dark and broody dramas are the go-to shows when writers and producers and directors wish to examine the human condition. Because in these worlds, where characters face tough situations week in and week out, the tough questions we hope to never face can be explored in relative safety. Which is why I’m always pleasantly surprised when more lighthearted television shows take the time to try this on their own because the results are just so mixed when it happens, just because it’s not the norm for the series in question. But when a lighter series pulls this off, it’s quite the feat to the say the least and for proof, look no further than the next episode of CHiPs.
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Because ‘Family Crisis’ really did dive into some fascinating concepts over the course of the hour since there were some incredibly personal and potentially relatable challenges that our intrepid characters had to face in this particular tale and the first one on the docket involved a little bit of risk for a brand new character. But before I dive too deeply into this part of the story, let me take a moment and say that it was supremely awesome once again to see the debut of someone new on the series since this episode does mark the first time that Officer Sindy Cahill arrived on the show, and well, her phenomenal arc in this particular tale makes it quite disappointing that she only lasted a season on the show because she really could have accomplished wonders as a character storytelling wise.

Because not only was she faced with a tough challenge, she also was the most progressive female character I’ve seen on the series to date since she doesn’t put up with the wanton sexism of the 1970s in the slightest in this tale, and her toughness played out in magnificent fashion over the course of the episode. For Cahill really did feel the need to go above and beyond in her duties as a CHP officer, and she was hungry to prove that she’s just as qualified and as smart as any officer out there and that prompted her to start her own unique investigation into a the theft of a movie car that was being used in robberies all around town and well, that brings us to the risk that I mentioned. Because the Sarge wasn’t exactly happy with her taking time out of her daily duties to dive into this and pulled the procedure card often on the matter, and it felt like for a moment there, her job might be in jeopardy. But a desperate Captain, and equally as desperate department put her work to good use and eventually her ideas helped to nab the thieves in question.

As for the other challenge present in this episode, well that fell to Jon. Because we were able to meet his nephew, Wes, in this tale and while Wes seemed like he was definitely cut from the Baker cloth, his youth and desire to fit in put him a heap of trouble in this episode. For Wes basically got in with the wrong crowd and his so called friends were all about taking their thrills to the next level, to the point where they would straight up hotwire cars for a joyride and well, this storyline took a fascinating path since Ponch was wise to Wes’ conundrum right away and did his best to try and convince him to walk on the straight and narrow path. But despite his best efforts, Wes gave in to peer pressure and kept hanging around these doofs and for his troubles, he finally had a run in with his Uncle Jon and earned himself a lovely pair of metal bracelets, all in the hopes of teaching him a valuable lesson and well, from the looks of it, it would seem Jon finally reached his nephew.
But what truly impressed me about this tale is the relatability that I made mention of earlier.

Because Sindy’s situation echoes stuff we’ve faced in our careers over the years, where one risks it all to play the hero and it also posed a question to the audience by way of Jon’s story in that, how would we respond if we found out a family member was breaking the law? And honestly it is just phenomenal that the story explored this kind of stuff in a show that keeps things fun and fluffy and I love the depth that’s present in both storylines and I’m glad everything worked out okay as well to keep this episode in line with what the show stands for and I’ve said it before, and I’ll likely say it a lot going forward in that, I am damn impressed with season two thus far. They just keep offering up intelligent and unique stories over and over again and even the Creep of the Week got an upgrade this week and all this does is motivate me further to dive into more episodes, and on that note, I think it’s time to hit ‘play’ on the old DVD player again and bask in another quality story. Until next time. 

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