‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘The Poachers’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

I think we can all agree upon the fact that sometimes, life just gets you down. Having to deal with traffic, bills and job duties that get monotonous, simply wears upon all of us, to the point where sometimes we just need to get away for a few days and clear our heads before returning to the grind. But for some people, getting away from it all for a little bit just isn’t enough. For they truly cannot stand the rat race and everything it represents, and these are the folks who would love nothing more than to leave it all behind and start anew in the solitude and comfort of nature and well, that notion does elicit some important questions. Specifically, is it possible to live off the grid and the land in modern times? Or does our hectic world prevent such a possibility? And it just so happens that the next episode of CHiPs felt the need to explore those questions.
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For ‘The Poachers’ introduced us to man named Nathan, who lived in the hills with his grandson Davey and it was clear that he left behind a normal life, all in the hopes of reconnecting with nature and his family’s Native American heritage. Which was a fascinating and seemingly impossible idea, since these hills were a hop, skip and a jump away from civilization. But Nathan worked hard to keep a low profile with his grandson, in the hopes of avoiding people and trouble, all so we could get to the most fascinating part of this tale, why he made such a decision. Which was in part due to the fact that he wanted Davey to understand his heritage in proper fashion and what better way to do that, than by living exactly as Native Americans did so long ago. But the real reason behind this, added a bit of sorrow to Nathan’s actions.

Because along the way we came to learn that Nathan really made this decision to escape the world and all the bad that it offers. For the loss of Davey’s mother, and the state of things in general was more than he could bear and now seemed like a perfect time to just… run away with his grandson. Which also meant that this particular decision/excursion wasn’t sanctioned by Davey’s father, and that young Davey was listed as missing. An unfortunate fact that didn’t come up until our dynamic duo lost sight of the little guy. But of course, eventually everyone was reunited, and Nathan backed down on his attempts to teach Davey about nature, allowing for this family to reunite and start the healing process. But before we get into the finite details on what this plot means for the questions that I posed, it is important to discuss how Nathan and his grandson were discovered by the CHP.

Which relates to our Creeps of the Week. Because this time around, a pair of scuzzy dudes named Crain and Al were trying to hunt down deer that live in the area, in order to make a quick buck on the black market by selling fresh venison meat directly to vendors. But their consistent failures, along with Nathan taking the time to scare them, raised enough trouble in the area that Ponch and Jon were forced to investigate and discover what Nathan and our Creeps were up to. And thankfully, Nathan did do his part when it comes to trying to make the world a little bit of a better place, by helping Ponch and Jon flush these idiots out into the open and well, despite their best efforts to escape, the rugged terrain and a touch of panic finally brought these poachers to justice and that’s about as perfect an ending as one can expect when it comes to this series.

If anything, this episode makes it clear that while it is indeed possible to escape the confines of the modern world and be one with nature, certain things have to come into play in order to make that happen in proper fashion. For instance, one cannot just drop everything and try to disappear, since there are people that love us and depend upon us. Plus, one cannot do this in the hopes of escaping one’s problems because those always find us and all moral lessons aside, this really was a solid episode. Because it featured an engrossing plot, fine dedication from Ponch and Jon and the philosophy lesson was kind of cool in its own right, and it was nice to see the show try and offer up something fresh and new plot wise. If anything, it just goes to show that even though this series is in its fourth season, it can still surprise us with its storytelling, and it was nice to enjoy an inventive tale that stayed true to what we love about this series. Until next time.

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