‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘Suicide Stunt’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​Normally when audiences tune into a popular television series, they haven’t a clue if trouble is on the horizon for said show. They simply know that it is on the air and ready to entertain them and they enjoy every single second that is available to them. But sometimes, trouble does arise for a particular series. The kind that eventually leads to the end, and thanks to the wonder of streaming services and home video in general, we can now go back and pinpoint where things went wrong for shows that were cancelled ages ago and it just so happens that home video and in turn these Retro Recaps are going to allow for us to revisit the beginning of the end of the wildly successful police serial, CHiPs. Because season five of this magnificent series, saw some serious turmoil behind the scenes.
 
Because Erik Estrada entered into a contract dispute with the producers in regard to his pay and disappeared from the series for seven episodes in protest, which of course prompted the producers to bring in a replacement actor to hang on the highways with Jon by way of Caitlyn Jenner, who then identified as Bruce Jenner. And while contract disputes are nothing new on television, this particular one seemingly opened the flood gates for all of the drama that was going on, off camera, and it would plant the seeds for all kinds of surprises in season six. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves in regard to that, it’s best we refocus upon the all-important fifth season. Because there are still some fascinating stories to discuss, such as the epic season five finale, ‘Suicide Stunt’.
 
For this particular tale saw Ponch and Jon and the CHP dealing with some big problems for certain. After all, a smart trio of thieves known as the Box Office Bandits were eluding the CHP at every single turn with their carefully crafted escape plans, and the folks at Central also had quite the annoying superstar to babysit as well. For a Hungarian motorcycle star named Janos Sbazo was in town for a charity event and since his country was still under Soviet rule in 1981, he was enjoying his newfound freedom to the fullest and was definitely eager to rekindle a long-lost romance from his youth. Because a woman named Maria, who now worked for the CHP, once had his heart years ago and he consistently kept finding ways to meet up with her, in order to show her how much he loved her. Which was… oddly creepy and oddly enough, the capture of the Box Office Bandits, turned him into one of the more memorable Creeps of the Week to ever appear on the series.
 
Because as the CHP finally brought said bandits to justice, Janos saw an opportunity to escape his wrangler and be with Maria and he went above and beyond to make that happen. For he set a dumpster at Central ablaze as a distraction, and then he stole Bonnie’s car with Maria in it while everyone was putting out the fire, all in the hopes of convincing her to marry her, and thanks to Ponch’s bravery, they were finally able to bring the guy in and send him back to Hungary post haste. If anything, the only real flaw in this tale is that no one bothered to deal with Janos sooner, in regard to his creepy and unsettling obsession with Maria. Because uh… pretty sure stopping a bus to ‘be with your lady’ and telling her that she will eventually love you, will indeed get you arrested and slapped with a restraining order in 2020 regardless of your standing, but here we are.
 
But issues with the CHP’s handling of Janos’ behavior aside, this episode was referred to as epic in nature simply because it is obvious that a lot of cash went into this construction of his particular story. For the series never really made use of aerial photography in the manner that it did here, and that made for some gorgeous shots and obviously there were some incredible stunts to be found here as well and really, while this was cool to see, in retrospect it is a tad frustrating in nature. Because while that kind of spending speaks to the show’s popularity and the producers’ willingness to invest that kind of cash to give the audience something worthwhile, why not take that money and give it to Erik and keep a star of the series happy? But alas, hindsight is indeed 20/20 and there’s no going back to fix this mistake and it is going to be downright fascinating to see how the series and the cast are going to juggle the challenges that lie ahead, as we dive into season five. Until next time.  

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