‘CHiPs’ Retro Recap: ‘Valley Go Home!’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

I’ve always found it fascinating how people express and defend their pride when it comes to their hometown or where they currently live. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing by any means. Because where we grow up is important to us and it provides us with fond memories, and where we call home means the world to us since it holds meaning and beauty. But the part that fascinates me, is the darker side to that celebration since people firmly believe that those two places, belong to them and no one else and that’s just silly. Because the world is for everyone to explore and people can live wherever they want, and it just so happens that this particular concept is on my mind today, simply because it served as the focal point for the next episode of CHiPs.
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For ‘Valley Go Home!’ took us to the beach in order to introduce quite the conflict brewing by the waves. Because a group of surfers, who grew up in this area and called it home, weren’t cool with the fact that folks from the valley came down here on a regular basis to act as though the beach was their own. And it just so happened that one particular group of valley kids got under their skin over anyone else and that led to an ugly rivalry, the kind that quite frankly escalated quickly and became dangerous. For these rival groups damaged one another’s property and engaged in high speed chases, all in the name of turf and territory that didn’t belong to either of them and their constant battling prompted Ponch and Jon to step in before someone got hurt.

Which was a classy thing for our dynamic duo to do, and for a brief moment it seemed as though their plan to make peace was going to pay-off, since these two groups were finally getting along and sharing surfing practices. But our Creeps of the Week helped to destroy any hope of peace between these two groups, since the surfers blamed the valley kids for what the COTWs did (more on that in a moment) and that led to a boiling over of frustrations, the kind that brought about the worst case scenario when they trashed both their cars in heated pursuit of one another and this… was just frustrating to watch. Because these kids were basically idiots, and they subscribed to a silly notion that caused them more harm than good, and well, folly of youth or no, this was just outrageous and oddly enough it hit home in a weird way as well.

But I digress for the moment, because I made mention of the COTWs being part of the problem in this tale and well, our greasy crooks this time around were a pair of dudes looking to make some extra change by ripping off CB Radios and Tape Decks from cars. And their repeated robbery of the surfer group’s car is what led to the crash in question and they made things personal with the cops by ripping off Jon’s radio as well. But what made their arc unique in this story is that they stayed in the shadows until late in the episode. Which meant we got a little bit of an honest mystery to work with in this tale and I rather liked how they were brought to justice, because being in the wrong place and the wrong time because they got greedy was just poetic in its own right and it’s nice that Ponch and Jon brought them down with minimal fuss.

In the end however, this was a surprisingly high octane episode, one filled with morality moments, thanks to some lectures that Ponch laid on some people, including the ladies he eventually dated because… it’s Ponch, and I loved that this episode struck a nerve in me. Because I’m a native Coloradoan and I constantly hear about how people shouldn’t move here for whatever dumb reason and that drives me nuts because, that’s just ridiculous. But it is cool that the show had a message in that vein that still resonates after all this time and what matters more here is that this story was a ton of fun. It was just non-stop action and adventure and it is quite awesome to see the series just let loose this early on into a new season and well, I definitely want more. So, on that note, it’s time to bid you all farewell and report for roll call. Until next time. 

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