‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘Supercycle’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

I suppose that if there is a single question that properly describes and/or relates to season two of the police serial CHiPs, it would have to be ‘what if?’ Because year two’s diverse and dynamic stories speak volumes to a writer’s room that asked that question on a consistent basis and well, this isn’t a bad thing by any means. For this season really has challenged the characters like never before and its given the audience plenty to chew upon and it would seem that particular question was once again on someone’s mind when the time came to assemble the script for the next episode of this series, since ‘Supercycle’ is clearly the result of someone wondering as to whether or not a lighthearted police story can handle some classic elements of noir.
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Which sounds like quite the feat when all is said and done since noir requires a lot of darkness and deception, the kind where people play games with one another and move some truth around in order to get precisely what they want, and it just so happens that this particular tale was able to inject said deception into the story in the most positive way imaginable and it accomplished such a feat by outright embarrassing Ponch and Jon in the opening moments of the show. Which at first glance, really doesn’t seem to have all that much to do with deception but have no fear. For seeing themselves being utterly embarrassed by a daredevil on television opened up a window for Getrear. Because he knew that their pride was dinged, and that bringing this hot shot in was the only way to make them whole again, so he quietly set them up to get their hands on a powerful motorcycle to test and deploy and, well the guys were wise to the Sarge’s little creative ruse to motivate them, and felt the need to spread that positive, deceptive love, too.

Because they used a few context clues to figure out that a woman named Sheila, who worked at the ad agency that helped get the film on T.V., wasn’t quite telling them the whole story, and in order to draw out the daredevil known as the Phantom, they played it coy and invited Sheila and a man named Roy, who was the hotshot daredevil in question, out to the testing track to show off the power of the Supercycle in order to send a message that now was the time to stop with the crazy stunts before someone got hurt. If anything, it was inherently obvious that Ponch and Jon knew full well that Roy was the Phantom, and his raw joy at seeing bikes in action only clued them in further, but it was quite cool to see Ponch and Jon play the long game like this and do their best, by way of a white lie, to head this whole mess off at the pass. But alas, despite Sheila getting the message loud and clear, dear Roy didn’t quite understand what Ponch and Jon were getting at, a problem that was compounded by our true Creep of the Week.

For the brains behind this operation was a greasy producer named Fred Gesslin, and come hell or high water, he was going to complete his bold and illegal ad campaign and well, he manipulated Roy at every turn and his machinations honestly led to some wild chase scenes in this story, the kind that took us to unique places to say the least and well, while this one ends happy with Fred getting busted and Roy getting put on probation thanks to a tip from Sheila, I have to admit that I’m quite taken aback by this episode when all is said and done. I don’t mean that in a bad way, because this is CHiPs and it really is one of my all-time favorite shows, I just honestly didn’t expect to ever see the good guys playing the long con on this series or telling white lies to get what they want. It’s just so supremely out of place for this show but somehow…it works. Because everything really was done in the most lighthearted of fashion and handled in a manner that was designed to benefit the law and keep people safe, but that doesn’t make the end result any less jarring. 

Does it make the episode bad? Of course not, it just means it shatters the norm and leaves one a touch uncomfortable since you’re not used to watching Ponch and Jon play the game, so to speak, but really, in the end, I’m good with how this one turned out. Because stories need to challenge their audience, especially a police serial where the good guys never lose, and this one definitely challenges you with its design and its plot, and I was legitimately impressed with the incredible stunts present in this one as well because they really pulled out all of the stops to make the Phantom a genuine daredevil. In the end, however, there’s a fair chance that this one will stand as one the most unique episodes of season two, since this story found a way to throw some classic detective elements into the mix, all while giving us everything we know and love, and I applaud CHiPs for really pushing the envelope and trying new things just for the heck of it and I am now quite curious to see how experimental season two is going to be, because something as bold as this tale, has to be a clue of what’s to come. Until next time.

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