#50 "Fathers & Sons" (Season 3 #15)

 

Original Air Date: Apr. 9, 1989

Writer: John Truby

Director: Jefferson Kibbee

Production Code: 16323

Things To Note:

Opening Theme:

Closing Theme:

Music: Alan Parsons Project, "Time"

LOD:

Regulars:

Friends, Family & Guests: Michael Laskin [ Unknown ], Ricky Paull Goldin [ Unknown ], Timothy Owen [ Unknown ], Steve Prutting [ Unknown ], Bobbie Eakes [ Unknown ], Warren Salko [ Unknown ]

 

Episode Summary from The 21 Jump Street Episode Guide:

NOTE: Stop with this one if you don’t want spoilers.

Fuller and the Jump Street unit are given a lot of flak and told to pull off the case when city hall learns Hanson and Penhall are about to bust the mayor's son on drug dealing charges.

 

 

Detailed Episode Review (contains spoilers!):

(NOTE: I am doing these from the FX repeats. Email me with missing scenes & I’ll add them).

 

Commentary:

 Cyndi Glass: Something sloppy I noticed recently - Fuller has all this history with other cops, yet he supposedly spent several years undercover on a case for the NYPD before he came to Jump Street. Oh well. Nice how they work in now that Davis is on their side. He’s suddenly the mayor and not city councilman? Hanson’s showing a reluctance to give much of himself to Jackie. And it looks like Dorothy is out of Penhall’s life forever. Thank God. But why was he homeless? Couldn’t he have gone to her and demanded to at least stay on the couch (he was anyway, right?) He was making the house payments, I’m assuming, or at least contributing. How could he not have been notified that she put the house up for rent? I’m assuming again that his name is on the deed with hers. And in #52 "Blinded By The Thousand Points Of Light" - why doesn’t he just take the kids to this house - why is he looking to buy another house in the first place? The "main plot" of the drug bust is totally subverted by the Penhall subplot - no funny Odd Couple theme music this time - this time it’s Alan Parson Project’s "Time," a heartbreaking song to parallel Penhall’s sense of being left totally alone and without any place to go. It’s totally fitting that he would get drunk and show up at his former apartment and demand to sleep there, no matter WHO was living there at the time. His shock and embarrassment the next day was priceless as he woke up in Randy’s bed and realized what he had done (and what he was glad he had not done).

John DeCarli: Here's an episode which attempts to tie up loose ends. It does lots of things well. But the more times I view it, the more flaws that I see.

The best thing here is the Hanson/Jackie breakup. It's totally believable that Hanson would choose honesty and loyalty to Fuller over his (basically) physical relationship with Jackie. It's a breakup that is not as sudden as it might appear; "Jessica" mentions that the relationship is not going well with Booker in #49 "Nemesis" in a scene that was originally written for Jackie and Hanson. I'm reminded of the final scene in "I'm OK, You Need Work" where he makes a similar decision. The main action plot goes well enough. As soon as Davis wins the election, he is referred to as "mayor." But since he really does nothing that only a mayor can do, perhaps he hasn't been sworn in yet and its just shorthand for "Mayor-elect." From the third season on, Hanson has his "I HAVE AIDS-PLEASE HUG ME" poster prominently displayed behind his desk. We see it more clearly here in the last chapel scene than at any other time. A nice touch.

Now we move on to Penhall. The physical comedy scenes in Davis's house go well. So do the scenes in Ioki's apartment. But a lot of the plotline seems forced. Why doesn't Penhall have a place to go? I can't believe money can be a problem since two episodes later in "Blinded by.." he has no problem getting some quick cash from a 24 hour machine. And why doesn't he go talk things over with Hanson who we know is home that night. Instead, he decides to "tie one on" and ends up in his old apartment. As cute as that scene is, is seems strange that it would take a stranger, as opposed to Hanson, to stimulate him to make contact with Dorothy. I also have a very hard time believing he knows nothing about her leaving the house. Aside from the mortgage questions, etc., he certainly didn't abandon the truck he was rebuilding (remember that Dorothy told him to leave when she found him working on the engine at the dining room table). We see the rebuilt truck in throughout season 4.

Finally, there's that "T-Men" flub which occurs about 80 seconds into the episode. Right after Penhall says it, Hanson (or probably Depp) starts to crack up and says "the T-Men?" To which Penhall replies, "I can't believe I said that." I guess TPTB were in such a hurry that they couldn't do a retake and left it in. Actually I kind of like it because I think its the only time I can remember Hanson actually smiling or laughing at anything in the third season. It sort of sums things up; overall commendable, but could have been really good had a little more time been spent on a rewrite or in re-shooting some scenes.


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