‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘To Your Health’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​Sometimes in life, it just seems like the whole world is against you. This is when you worry and wonder if your friends no longer want you around, or if you’re still wanted at your job and thankfully, nine times out of ten this kind of paranoia is proven to be nothing more than figments of our imagination. But sometimes, this kind of worry is amplified and it only gets worse as it festers, to the point where we think all kinds of wild thoughts about who might be out to get us and that tenth time… someone’s concerns are justified when they discover something terrifying is surrounding them. But for the majority of us, that day never comes, but we definitely explore the possibility of what it might look like in the creative world and it just so happens that the next episode of CHiPs dug into this notion in fascinating fashion.
 
For ‘To Your Health’ introduced the audience to a local farmer named Tom Catlin, who is starting to struggle when it comes to finding success with his business. For strange issues arise when he’s on the road while making a delivery and well, when he takes into account that a big business named Glinco Industries made an offer to buy his farm, one that was rebuffed by the owner of the land… he begins to wonder if they’re working to sabotage his loads. So, he will quit the farming business and potentially open the door to sale of all that prime real estate. It’s a theory that he passes along to Ponch and Jon when he encounters them after one of his tires goes flying off and well, Ponch begins to take him seriously, shortly after another odd problem with Tom’s truck happens a few days later.
 
Because the damage to his steering system during incident number two appears to have been accomplished with a hacksaw, and as it turns out, Tom’s initial concerns are indeed true. There is someone out to get him and force him off the farm, it’s just not quite who he thinks it is. Because Glinco Industries more or less moved on when their offer was rebuffed, but the son of the owner of the land, a fellow named Cal, was displeased with the decision. For this is family land, and a place where he grew up and to have Tom living in his childhood home, along with not being able to have any say in the financial future of the land in question drove him to harm his longtime buddy. Which of course led to one explosive confrontation that should put Cal behind bars for a long time.
 
Yet, while that’s a fairly complex evil plot for our Creep of the Week to come up with, it doesn’t really leave one pondering since it’s grounded in greed and jealousy, so what really made this episode fascinating; was its overall structure and surprise bonus plotline. Because there was a subplot involving a young man who was neglected by his father, which seems like a repeat run of the season premiere. But what made this so intriguing is that unlike the similar plot thread in ‘Go-Cart Terror’, wherein a child’s need for an attentive parent was glossed over; the show really did a phenomenal job of addressing how important that is and it offered a satisfying arc on the matter. Almost as though it was trying to right a particular wrong and it was quite amazing to see the show do that in such short order. In regard to the structure however, one key change in this particular tale character wise may be signaling to a modern audience that we are about to witness the decline of this series.
 
Which is a bit of a dark thing to plop down in this recap, but hey… nothing lasts forever, and it’s a well known fact that the series only made it two more seasons, and that its collapse was related to writing issues and the departure of Larry Wilcox and well… you see all of that start to materialize here. Because while the writing apology is nice, it is out of place here and for the most part, the investigation into the farm is handled by Ponch while Jon is teaching up in Sacramento and well, it’s a little strange to not see the dynamic duo working together and see the show put Ponch in the spotlight once again. But while it is grim to think about the end, it is going to be fascinating to see this series transform before our eyes after it spent three years establishing its groove and well, I’m quite curious to see if this altered dynamic accelerates in season four or if we are going to be treated to a slow and steady decline as the series rolls on. Until next time. 

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