‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘High Flyer’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

My favorite style of episode, when it comes to the magnificent police serial CHiPs, just so happens to be the ‘day in the life’ episodes. For when we have smaller plots to deal with, we are treated to some supremely personal stories involving Ponch and Jon, the kind that allow for us to really understand what makes them tick and what they stand for and while we know they’re good men through and through, seeing their moral code in action time and time is just a treat since there’s no grey areas when it comes to these patrolmen and you just don’t see that on television anymore. And really, this is on my mind today simply due to the fact that a ‘day in the life’ served as the focus for the next episode in this storied franchise, ‘High Flyer’.
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Now what I truly appreciated about this particular tale, is the sheer fact that it found a way to provide equal time for Ponch and Jon’s stories, and when it comes to  Ponch, we dove deep into his fear of flying. Something that was accomplished in the simplest of fashion since Getrear was rotating officers into the CHP helicopter and Ponch, well he worked hard to skip out on having to go up into the sky in the most creative ways possible. Because he convincingly faked a cold to stay on the road, and did a fine job pretending to have a hearing issue in order to stay grounded and well, this was just quirky and personal and delightful because it felt realistic and relatable. But despite Ponch’s best efforts to avoid a skyward voyage, eventually he found his way into the chopper, and well…we will come back to the importance of that in a moment.

Because we have to talk about Jon’s story in this tale, because he found himself in quite the conundrum. For a teenage girl named Kim, developed a powerful crush on him, since she was a little lost without her father in her life, and she simply could not stay away from him, to the point where she would show up at his place at one in the morning to talk and seek his guidance since he was right across the street. And to make matters worse, a fight with her mother, prompted her to just, invite herself into Jon’s apartment as a roommate, and now you have a fine understanding of the problems he faced in this tale. For if he played the bad guy, he would have damaged Kim’s already fragile psyche, but clearly, he could not let that kind of unhealthy behavior continue and oddly enough, Ponch is the one who saved the day here by getting Sindy to pose as Jon’s girlfriend, shattering the fantasy and setting things right again. But what matters more when it comes to this plot thread, is that Jon took every precaution to follow the right path in this matter and did everything within his power to make sure all were happy because that’s the kind of guy Jon is.

Yet, I made mention of the fact that eventually Ponch had to go up in the CHP helicopter and now is the perfect time to revisit that, because there were some Creeps of the Week to be found in this story as well, some crafty car parts thieves to be specific. And despite Ponch and Jon’s best efforts to round them all up at the same time, they only got their hands on a few, that is, until Ponch took to the sky. For while he was on observer duty, he found the thieves’ hideout, allowing for Jon to arrest another one while Frank laid into an epic pursuit worthy of a Hollywood movie since he and the pilot actually took the time to use the chopper as a proverbial weapon and drive the last thief off the road and while I’m pretty sure that breaks every damn regulation in the book, who cares? It was thrilling to watch and it was just downright cool to see Ponch hop down from the chopper and get his hands on the creep.

If anything, this was definitely a low-key episode compared to everything that preceded it and I won’t lie, it was a welcome palate cleanser. For this season has operated in some supremely cerebral territory and put our heroes in some tough places, and this one really did bring the fun through and through and I really enjoyed getting to know Ponch and Jon better once again and really, season two can do no wrong. Because if it’s not wowing me with thrilling new storylines, its sticking to what made the series so great in the first place and well, considering the fact that this show is dropping a different style of episode my way as I chug along, I’m quite excited to see what it will deliver down the line and well, you know exactly what that means, so on that note, until next time.  

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