‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘Something Special’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

It is definitely safe to say, that our journey through the sixth and final season of CHiPs has provided all of us with some incredible lessons on what can cause a popular television series to go off the air. For now, we know that massive cast changes are something that displeases an audience, since they enjoy tuning in to see their favorite characters week in and week out. Plus, we’ve also come to learn that toying with a tried-and-true formula and going for gimmicks is something that can tick off an audience as well, since it speaks volumes to the fact that a particular series is no longer interested in offering its fan base what they love, it just wants to up its ratings and stay relevant. 

Which are some sound lessons for certain, the kind that this reviewer expected to see more of, as we continued this fascinating journey. But as it turns out, this particular series had a new lesson in failure waiting for us within the framework of its next episode, and this one was quite the doozy for certain. Because ‘Something Special’ wasted no time in informing us of the fact that if a popular television series is going to explore something charitable and relevant to the world, that it has to focus on that and only that. Otherwise, it will be viewed as insensitive and cold, and audiences will come to think that a great cause is only being featured, to once again play the gimmick card and draw people in. And this episode accomplished that incredibly upsetting feat, by woefully mishandling a story involving the Special Olympics and people with disabilities.

Which is stunning to say the least. Since this show has in the past, made an effort to be ahead of the social curve by spotlighting topics and individuals that most mainstream/popular shows in the 70s and 80s avoided acknowledging or discussing in the slightest. But alas, this episode basically opted to use the aforementioned storyline as a 'feel good' bumper to a pair of plot lines that quite frankly… felt out of place and unimportant to say the least. For one involved a daredevil that everyone was eager to help, because he had a super important stunt coming up and let’s be honest, this is a plot line that goes nowhere and has zero gravity and depth. And the other storyline involving an angry and jaded former car factory worker, honestly felt as though it belonged in a different episode and that’s really frustrating when all is said and done.

Because the plot line involving a young man with a disability had the potential to really make this episode ahead of its time, since it observed how people with disabilities are sometimes viewed by the general public in a negative light. For Nicky Grieve, the young man in question, was deemed to be a burden and a failure by his father, and that’s a bold thing to insert into a television series since few shows would ever have the guts to call that particular prejudice out in the slightest. But rather than properly explore the root cause of that unfortunate line of thinking, and examine how and why it is wrong, this is when the story opted to take that 'feel good' route that we mentioned a moment ago. By resolving dear old dad’s concerns in a prompt manner so that this whole storyline ends in a hunky-dory, love conquers all manner. Which straight up glosses over the negative stuff, and that’s just awful for so many reasons. 

For it really is a gimmick through and through, and it presents people with disabilities as weak and unable to function, rather than presenting people with disabilities as individuals that are just living their lives. And to make matters worse, some of the words used to describe Nicky in this tale are woefully outdated and considered inappropriate now, making it awkward to hear and really in the end, this is a true low point for the series. Because it really does make every misstep possible in regard to the subject matter, and the excessive plot lines present here make the episode feel frenetic and disjointed and well in the end, this really was a tough one to sit through. Largely because it speaks to how far the show has fallen in season six, but also because we have sixteen more episodes to go in this final year of storytelling and seeing something this rough now, leaves one to wonder… if things are going to continue get worse, well before we reach the finish line. Until next time.

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