‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘Nightingale’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​I think we can all agree upon the fact, that sometimes the world is a rotten place and it does a fine job of getting you down. Because it is always quite incredible to see the cruelty and selfishness that people are capable of and when you do, it really does give you pause. For it makes you wonder how exactly we’ve made it this far and if this kind of ‘evil’ is infecting every facet of the world since you start to notice the happier stories are nonexistent on the news or social media and well, this is the kind of stuff that makes the day a bear to get through. But despite how ugly the world seems to be, there is indeed something good going on, you just have to truly pay attention to find it, and all of this is on my mind today, simply because these notions just so happened to be the focal points for the next episode of CHiPs.
 
Because ‘Nightingale’ saw Jon Baker be a little down on the world and what it stands for, and his sour demeanor was constantly being reinforced by all the selfishness and anger he was seeing on the highway and our ‘Creep of the Week’ only added to the negativity as well. Because a young kid named Jeff was determined to run away with his girlfriend Kim and he really didn’t care who he hurt in making that happen. In fact, he even went so far as to steal a painter’s ride, under the guise of working for him, in order to break Kim out of her own home and his stupidity and his close mindedness almost cost him and his love their lives and thanks to the quick response time of the CHP and the genuine bright spot in this particular tale, they were able to live another day.
 
Which brings us to the good stuff in question. Because on several occasions in this episode, Ponch and Jon found themselves being assisted by a sweet, older lady who claimed to be a doctor and she really worked some wonders. For this woman knew every first aid trick in the book and she wasn’t afraid to perform lifesaving surgery in the middle of the road. But there was just one problem with this Good Samaritan in that… she wasn’t a doctor after all. She was just someone with extensive medical knowledge who clearly felt the need to help out and well, while there’s great joy to be found in that, the legality of her actions and the dangers inherent of practicing without a license put her squarely in the hot seat.
 
But rather than let her fall into great trouble for her actions, Ponch and Jon set out to try and find her and understand why she would put herself at risk in this manner, and thanks to the help of an intrepid reporter and Bonnie, they were finally able to get that face to face and what she revealed about herself was powerful. For Lucy Kenton wanted nothing more than to just help people, and give back to the world, something she learned was fulfilling and valuable when she worked overseas with her late husband, who was also a doctor, and she knew of the hope her actions brought to others. Which is why she set up her own private practice for illegal immigrants with nowhere to go for medical care and well, how this storyline wrapped up was pretty magical in its own right. Because Lucy should have been shut down, but the Sarge figured out a program she could enroll in that would allow for her to practice medicine legally and of course she passed all of their tests and was able to continue to help others and that’s just a lovely way to close this one out.
 
If anything, I have to admit that I’m quite impressed with the fact that this particular tale more or less abandoned the standard formula of this series and still found a way to entertain. Because the COTW was just a young and dumb kid instead of some outright thug and it also focused heavily on the positivity of Lucy’s actions and it was just refreshing to see an episode of this series dive into elements such as this and have an uplifting message to send our way as well. For Lucy really does serve as a solid reminder that there are people out there genuinely trying to make the world a better place, and they should be supported in every way imaginable, and I am really proud of the fact that a series about crime, that has featured some dark stories in season three, found a way to leave us feeling good right before the season comes to a close. Until next time. 

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