‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘Tight Fit’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

If there is one unfortunate lesson about the world that each and every one of us learn at some point during our lives, it would have to be that not everyone has our best interests at heart. Because sadly some people are selfish and see others as a commodity designed to further their goals, and they are eager to take advantage of others in order to make that happen. But while this lesson often breaks our hearts and leaves us angry and untrusting for a while, more often than not, we emerge from this lesson/scenario with only a few emotional bumps and bruises, and some newfound knowledge and that makes us quite lucky to say the least. Because there are some folks out there who learn this lesson in a supremely damaging manner, one that haunts them for ages on end, and it just so happens that the darker side to this lesson was explored in great detail in the next episode of CHiPs.
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A feat that ‘Tight Fit’ accomplished in quite the unique manner. Because early on, it seemed as though this particular story was going to go in a more lighthearted direction. For shortly after Bobby and Ponch busted a couple of crooks that made a grand effort to steal a photographer’s gear, Ponch was offered a job to model some sexy new jeans by a talent scout and that led to some supremely funny moments. The kind that saw Ponch posing as a professional model, complete with stone cold gazes and dance moves in order to sell these jeans and the fun didn't end there. Since the response around Los Angeles when his hunky billboards went up on the streets, led to plenty more laughs. But while it was nice to enjoy a few chuckles, these moments were critical for certain. Since they set up the unsettling exploration in question. 

For it turns out that a model named Sheila, that Ponch was working with, was having trouble with the photographer of this outfit, a dude named Geoffrey. And it first glance it seemed as though their bad blood related to Sheila owing Geoffrey some cash, since Ponch and Bobby overheard them talking about monthly payments. But once Ponch dug a little deeper, he uncovered some twisted machinations on Geoffrey’s part. Because this guy took a few photos of Sheila when she wasn’t of age, and no… they weren’t appropriate photos in the slightest, and he was using the existence of those photos to extort money from her so he wouldn’t make them public. But what truly made this segment of the story so powerful, is the sheer impact that this whole mess had on Sheila. Because the threat of having those photos leaked, caused powerful psychological damage, the kind that drove her to contemplate suicide over potentially having her life ruined.

Which is, a dark place for CHiPs to go, but this twist definitely expresses to the audience how a person that sees us as nothing more than a commodity or an ends to a mean, can cause us great harm in more ways than we can imagine. If anything, this plot thread made it seem for a moment that this series was getting back on track and offering up unique and thoughtful storytelling once again. But alas, that's basically as far as the series went in exploring the impact of this unfortunate reality. Because it resolved this whole situation in a quick and neat manner, and that’s a shame. Because had the episode focused exclusively on this matter, this episode could have offered up some powerful commentary on toxic masculinity and it also could have been ahead of its time by recognizing and addressing issues that the #MeToo movement has brought to light.

But instead, the show opted to shoehorn another one-dimensional Creep of the Week into the story, one that was all about stealing diamonds. All so that Bobby would have something to do in this story and look like a hero. Which of course, he does in the end since the California Highway Patrol gets their baddie, every single time in this series. But had this episode dumped that plot line, the other one would have allowed for this story to be ahead of its time and it would have shown audiences back then, that the series could thrive without Jon Baker on the streets and that it was still capable of touching upon topics that no other police serial dared to. But instead, this was nothing more than a frenzied attempt to make Bobby a big part of this series quickly, rather than allow for him grow and that’s unfortunate. Because it made what would have been a poignant episode, mediocre and pedestrian at best. Until next time. 

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