‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘Finders Keepers’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​One of the many reasons that audiences fell in love with CHiPs back in the day, is the sheer fact that Ponch and Jon (and to a lesser extent, Steve and Bobby, I suppose) were able to handle anything that this wild universe sent their way. It didn’t matter how cunning the villain, or how monumental the task, they always rose to the occasion in noble and efficient fashion to bring down the bad guys. But even fictional characters have their limits, which is why most episodes of this series really didn’t go all-out and have them face an excessive amount of Creeps of the Week, or have them deal with seemingly impossible odds, that is… not until season five came along. Because year five is and was a weird time for this series, for reasons we won’t re-hash here.
 
But what matters more in today’s Retro Recap of the show, is the sheer fact that for the first time ever, our intrepid heroes were given an excessive number of baddies to deal with, and they faced some tough odds in bringing them down and this made ‘Finders Keepers’, one manic yet entertaining episode, one that thankfully found a way to add some lightheartedness into the mix. That was handled by way of a sub plot for Jon Baker, who had a run in with a cute country singer and arranged few dates with her since they hit it off. And the running gag here is that poor Jon never got the chance to properly spend time with her or hear her sing since he was so busy with the Creeps of the Week and honestly, that gag worked, and it definitely provided a welcome break from the more intense stuff.
 
Such as the good ol’ boy bounty hunter that made life hell for Jon and Steve. Because he didn’t believe in following the law in regard to bringing his bounties in, nor did he believe that humane treatment of criminals was a thing, and that led to all kinds of problems and awkward encounters with the CHP. In fact, Jon’s first dealing with the man is what established his view on how criminals should be treated. Since his mark was tied up and gagged in the trunk of his car, and his seizure of said criminal was handled without a warrant from a judge. And to complicate matters further, when the time finally came to bring his bounty to justice, the right way, he actually managed to break the law whilst pursuing his target. Because he kept CHP officers from doing their job and he caused an accident along the way, putting him and his bounty behind bars.
 
Yet we discussed our heroes dealing with an unwholesome amount of COTWs and the rest of them were introduced in between that bounty hunter plot line and well, the other villains in this tale were quite the doozy as well. Because Jon and Steve were forced to deal with an elaborate and intricate plot involving a scuzzy dude who was doing his best to keep out jail, and he used his vast funds to try and bribe a judge and keep that a secret. But thanks to his bumbling thug, the money and a tape that incriminated him were stolen by a pair of joyriders, and in order to get it all back they put the heat on Steve since he was the one who first came anywhere near this case. Which means that he and Jon had to figure out a way to keep those joyriders safe and bring everyone to justice, an act that they eventually pulled off in sneaky and cool fashion.
 
If anything, this episode was downright exhausting to watch. Because it was just one plot point after another and there really weren’t any breaks outside of the country singer plot line and even that was manic and quick, and our intrepid bounty hunter even found a way to inject himself into it. But all intensity aside, this was a damn entertaining episode, and what was truly impressive about this tale; is that they found a way to sneak Ponch, into a Steve McLeish episode. Granted, they never once cross paths, but that just goes to show how much was going on in this story. But the big question hanging over this one, is whether or not it’s a decent episode in a season filled with up and down moments and the answer to that question, is yes. Because everything that makes the series great is present here, and while it may not be the deepest story, it keeps your attention and it entertains and there’s nothing wrong with that. Until next time.  

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