Photo Gallery 1 (scroll to find correct episode once you get there)

Friends, Family & Guests: Perry Reeves (Sgt. Tracy Hill), Richard Leacock (Howard "Jam" Smith), Paul Jarrett (Chuckie), Johanna Newmarch (Lisa), Byron Lucas (Davey), Charmaine Steele (Waitress), Ted Harrison (Cop #1), Sonny Surowiec (Cop #2).

Opening Scene: In a dark room, we see Tracy, dressed in tight low-cut clothes. She is negotiating a drug buy with Chuckie, who wants her to do a "split-down" (do the drugs together) or she can't have them. Since when, she retorts, and he replies that it's since she ordered so much. Then he growls "you're a cop," and backs her roughly into the wall and starts feeling under her shirt. She dares him to find a wire, but he doesn't, and she diverts him with a quick lie about how she always does her drugs with "this guy" and bluffs that she's leaving. He relents and sells her the drugs, and as soon as she pays him, the cops bust in and handcuff them both. Chuckie is put into a police van and taken away, and Tracy follows the other cops to their car, asking them to un-cuff her now. They laugh and refuse, and she gets in the back seat of another cop car, where Captain Fuller is waiting. He tells her she did a nice job, and she asks who he is as he un-cuffs her. "I'm your new boss," he says.

In Fuller's office, where we see Fuller's very tidy desk, Mac, Hoffs and Penhall are sitting in a sullen group as Fuller tells them about Howard Smith, otherwise known as "Jam." He's been dealing heroin and is supposedly so smart and patient that no one has been able to bust him. Then he introduces Sergeant Tracy Hill. This time, Hoffs is "Detective" Hoffs, BTW. Fuller says that it's not to denigrate their unit, but Tracy is the "narcotics division's top undercover high school officer" and she has over 30 busts - and more importantly, over 30 convictions. Tracy breaks in to say that it's because she tells the same lie every time. Mac remains silent, his eyebrows raised in shock. Fuller assigns Penhall to be Tracy's backup and assigns Mac and Hoffs to "secondary." Nobody likes this. Then Tracy refuses to wear a wire and, over Penhall's objections, tells Fuller "No wire or I walk," reminding him that he was there at her last bust and she would have been dead if she'd had a wire on. Fuller reluctantly says okay, no wire. Finally realizing that his officers are not real happy with the assignment, Fuller sends Tracy outside and keeps the rest of them back, asking if the problem is that she's a narc or are they afraid she'll show them up. Hoffs immediately points out that Fuller would never accept an ultimatum from one of them. Mac says he's not crazy about the testimony crack, but Penhall calls him a "squeegee-head" and says it was only a joke. Fuller tells them it's temporary, but they are to treat her as a partner and cut her the same slack they'd cut each other.

Out in the Chapel, Penhall approaches Tracy and starts a conversation with her. She's touchy, asking if he and his friends "dissed the narc." Penhall doesn't even know what this means (he'd better brush up on his teen slang, it's 1990 after all). She says that what people think of her is none of her business, and she's going to memorize her new identity tonight. Penhall says he will be "Mr. Craig," chemistry teacher, and then, looking totally cute (sorry, had to comment), he says that he's a much better cop than a chemistry teacher. Tracy, slightly less guarded, says she's a much nicer person (than a cop?). The next day at school, Tracy, dressed to kill again, is banging on and cursing at the candy machine, and Jam comes along, appreciative of her pretty legs and short skirt. With one bang of Jam's tough little fist, the candy falls into the slot. He is struck by her jitters and craving for the candy bar, and she knows it and lowers her voice to ask "can you help me out?" He says he doesn't deal with people he doesn't know, and she turns on the attitude, asking him if he wants references or the address of her last halfway house. He nods as if this would be a great idea, actually, and asks how long it's been. She doesn't know, she replies, but she could use a bump right now. He offers to give her something for $40 if she comes to 5^th & Main later that afternoon at 4 PM. She laughs and mocks him saying that he doesn't deal with anyone he doesn't know, and he meets her eyes knowingly and says he knows a junkie when he sees one. Saved by the bell, she nervously watches him walk off. Later, at a diner, Tracy is with Mac and Penhall. She has finished one chocolate malt and has ordered another, and Penhall is looking at her, leaving his sandwich and chips completely untouched. Mac is stealing his chips. She says Jam didn't seem that hip to her- he bought her act about craving the candy bar, and then she asks how often they trust police intelligence, sounding completely scornful. Met with their silence, she backs down and touches her chest, saying she usually feels it in here. Penhall says he usually feels it a bit lower, causing Mac to giggle and nearly choke on his food. Penhall says what he meant was his stomach, "of which there's a lot less lately." He tries to explain, but Mac says that Penhall has lost a lot of weight and that he used to be "TRULY undercover." Penhall makes a muscle and says teasingly that he used to be a "powerful mass of molten steel just yearning to bust free," and Mac squeezes Penhall's mouth and says "but this little wimp came out instead." Tracy's second malt arrives, and she starts sucking it down. Penhall yanks Mac out of the seat and asks him to leave, but Mac has noticed his attraction to her and wants to warn him off, saying she's a live wire. Penhall defends her, and Tracy interrupts them and says she just wants to catch the bad guys and go home alive. Then she says her deal goes down in 15 minutes, and Penhall leaves with her, after giving Mac a friendly sock in the shoulder with his elbow.

On the street corner, Tracy is met not by Jam but by Lisa, who has some pills for her and wants $50, not $40. Tracy says the pills are B.S. and that wasn't the deal, and that Lisa can tell Jam next time she deals with him or she finds herself a new man. Penhall watches and picks her up after the buy. Back at the chapel, they bag the pills and put them in an evidence envelope. She signs the envelope, and Penhall notices that her real name is Hilda (Hilda Hill?) He promises not to tell, and they talk about how she has invented herself.Falling hard and fast, he asks her why she told him she was "nice" the other day, and she says that normally she can't afford to care what people think of her, and would it sound like B.S. if she said there was something different about him? He says yeah, it would, but you can tell he believes her. When he asks how the motel is that she's staying in, she jokes about it and says she normally calls her mom & turns in early. He says that she can come over to his place for dinner with him and Clavo sometime. She accepts, and Penhall decides that "Yes is a great word. Later, as Clavo is being tucked into bed, we see a hinged picture frame with photos of Marta and Doug next to his bed. Penhall tells Clavo that he met a girl and that he'd like her. Clavo says he doesn't like girls, and Penhall says she's not really like a girl, more of a lady. Clavo giggles and teases him, saying "YOU like her." Then he says his prayers in Spanish, adding in English his request that God bless "Aunt Marta and Uncle Douglas." Penhall kisses him and turns off the light. After this cozy scene, we skip over to Tracy's motel room, where she cooks some heroin in a spoon and injects it into her upper thigh.

The next morning, Hoffs and Tracy are in the bathroom at Jump Street, complaining about Fuller's early morning briefings. Hoffs asks if Tracy is OK, and Tracy says she just stayed up too late watching Arsenio. Hoffs asks for help getting a bracelet on. As Tracy compliments it and tries to fasten it, her hands are shaking so badly that she can hardly do it. Hoffs asks if she's sure she's okay, and Tracy says that her hands always shake before she gets that first cup of coffee in the morning. Hoffs eyes Tracy's empty coffee cup next to the sink and says nothing. Later that evening, Penhall is pumped up with anticipation because Tracy is coming over for dinner. She arrives, and she's dressed in a very toned-down silvery-grey dress & jacket ensemble. Penhall takes her jacket and introduces her to Clavo, who is immediately enchanted with her because she is able to speak Spanish with him. Penhall asks what Clavo said, and Tracy says that he told her Penhall was married to his aunt. Penhall fingers his wedding ring and says that's it's true, he was, and then she says Clavo also told her that Penhall bought his shirt special for tonight. It's a nice dark yellow shirt. Penhall mock-glares at Clavo and tells him to wash up for dinner. Over the next few minutes, we see dinner progress line by line, as Tracy and Penhall share increasingly personal stories with each other, and by dessert, he's totally gone (and, BTW, we get another reference to Joey, with Penhall calling him a bum this time). They go and sit together on the couch (by this time Clavo has gone to bed) and talk about Marta. Doug says that Marta would have liked Tracy and that Marta was reserved but brave, "even for a female." He says that Marta would listen to him just like Tracy is, with her eyes, and that it was like "all the lights were on and everyone was home." Tracy completely understands. Then he says he knows it's not smart to do this, since they're working on the operation together, and he moves to kiss her, but she backs off and says "it's all right, we're not doing anything." He sits back and chuckles softly, admitting that he has to respect her for that, and he asks if she's been here before. "I don't think so, not like this," she says softly. He gets her coat for her.

At the Chapel, Hoffs and Penhall are arguing, and Penhall defends Tracy again. "You're a lot smarter than this," she points out, adding that she is just telling him what she saw and Tracy seems a little wired. Penhall says Tracy acts normal around him, and Hoffs counters with "It's her JOB to act." She tells him to be careful, and he leaves, waving her off dismissively. At school, Jam, Davey & Lisa meet up with Tracy in the hallway. She's now wearing a tight maroon velvet dress. Jam gives her an address where she can meet him later to buy more drugs. At the diner, she pours a ton of sugar in her coffee and sits there, jittery. Penhall sits beside her and asks about the deal. She's talking in short phrases and nearly twitching, and when Penhall says she seems a little "up," she says it's just an adrenalin rush that she gets before all of her buys. He suggests that when all this is over, they should see each other, and she says her life is really complicated and gives him a bunch of excuses. Then he opens up even more to her, saying "I go to work, I crack jokes, I keep Clavo fed and all that kind of stuff, but I don't feel good. Then you come along, and life ain't so bad. Maybe even it might be good again." He just wants to spend some time with her and see if there's anything there. She hugs herself and asks if she can think about it, and he says he'll give her till Arbor Day. As they leave, he wraps his jacket around her saying that she must be cold, she's shaking like a leaf. Later, she goes into a rundown building at night. Jam has a needle all ready to go, and she says she does it alone. Split down or no sale, he says, and then he laughs, saying "you're a junkie all right, I just gotta make sure you're no cop." She gulps, and he asks what it's gonna be. Sitting down and unzipping her boot, she takes out a little bag and shows him that she has her own set of works. He thinks this is amusing, that she's a leg girl, just like he thought. She says she's seeing some friends from Minneapolis next week and will need some drugs, and he says he'll see what he can do. That arranged, she reaches out to him, her need plain, and says "Give me."

Later on, at her motel room, Penhall is waiting for her to come out of the bathroom and says Clavo wants them to pick him up for ice cream on their way back from the lab. She comes out, walking a bit unsteadily and manages to focus on him. He asks if Jam gave her any trouble, and she smiles, saying "Smooth sailing, baby, smooth sailing." He stares at her and asks what the hell is going on? When she doesn't answer and just looks up at him, his face falls. "How could you be using?" he asks, but she makes excuses, saying that it's just work, and she fakes it - it's an occupational hazard because she shoots through the vein into the tissue and every so often it registers by mistake. He is outraged and says he has to tell Fuller. She doesn't want him to tell - he'll blow the case - and says "everybody knows and nobody is talking." He sighs and says "I am." Tracy looks up at him seductively and says she wishes he weren't so mad at her right now because she feels so good. When she tries to put her arm around his neck, he holds it down and away from him, saying that he has to go to the lab. In Fuller's office the next day, Penhall is sitting quietly, having confessed everything. "I try to tell you people otherwise, but the truth is, narcs are poison," Fuller says, his disappointment in Tracy clear. Penhall tries again to make excuses for her, and Fuller says "Things don't always go by the book, but you don't jump to the other side." Penhall thinks it was a mistake, and Fuller cynically asks if she gave Penhall her "occupational hazards" speech. What's that, Penhall asks slowly. Fuller explains that they always say they'd like to be good cops, but the job requires otherwise. "Doesn't it?" Penhall asks. Fuller decides that she has to wear a wire from now on and says if it happens again she's going straight to detox with a bust on her record. At school, Tracy is on her way in and is stopped by Jam, Davey and Lisa. He asks her who she's loyal to, and she says "myself." He says Davey and Lisa are loyal to him and that Tracy is loyal too, and then he sticks a potato chip in her mouth, pointing out to Lisa that Tracy is a "good woman." Once inside, Tracy spits out the chip and washes her mouth out at the drinking fountain. Penhall comes up to ask her if she's okay. Tracy nods and says "That guy is one weird freak. Do I still have a job?"

In the counselor's office, Jam enters and talks to Hoffs, telling her that he wants information on getting into an Ivy League school. She asks him to sit down so she can get out some resource aids. Back in the hall, Penhall tells Tracy she has to wear a wire, and she throws a fit. He grips her tight and walks her into an empty classroom, where she proceeds to yell and scream (real smart) about how she's a good cop and how he can check her arms for track marks. Penhall is somewhat angry with her, asking her if everything she said at his apartment even meant anything. She says it meant a lot. She backs away then, shaking and near tears, going off on a tangent about how after lying to the dealers and the courts because it's the only way to get the bad guys, it spills over into her life sometimes. "You lie in your life - are you lying to me?" Penhall asks softly. She says she had given up and then met him and his son and a voice in her head said "this is real." He looks down, and she comes over to him, thanking him for going to bat for her with Fuller and saying that she's going to make some changes in her life. Her arms encircle his waist, and he hugs her and says he believes in her. They are interrupted by a scream from out in the hallway, and after they leave the classroom, Hoffs leaves the counseling office, brushing through the crowd. Lisa is on the ground in convulsions - she's been stabbed. Back at the Chapel, Hoffs says Jam was using her to have an alibi. Fuller asks if he made her, and she says no, she was just a convenient place for him to be. Penhall says that Lisa makes a 20% profit off drug running for Jam. Mac points out that Davey has been at or near every deal Jam has been arrested for, and he left school after the knifing. Fuller realizes aloud that Jam has other people do his dirty work for him and it's going to make him hard to nail. Tracy enters and says that they'll nail him, she just set up the big deal and all they have to do is show up. "And get out alive," Fuller adds.

Fuller, Penhall and Tracy are in the police van, with a technician running the wire so they can hear the deal. Penhall warns her that if something feels wrong, she should let the bust go. Fuller asks if she is wired, and she replies, "Like a Christmas tree." She tells the technician how to do his job and leaves the van. Once she gets upstairs, the door swings open after she knocks, and Jam comes up from behind her in the hallway - he just wanted to make sure she came alone and tells her to go inside in an ominous tone. Penhall is edgy and thinks Jam has made her, but Fuller tells him to wait. In the apartment, Jam tells her that he's hip to her and then turns on her, adding menacingly that she doesn't have any friends in Minnesota. That's it, Penhall says, and he and Fuller both take off their headsets and leap out of the van, running upstairs with their guns drawn. Jam thinks she's going to deal it herself, like Lisa did, and she defiantly asks if he's going to stick her like Lisa. He says he'll hurt her worse. She pleads her case, lying quickly that she is on her way to Los Angeles and this was going to pay for it, but he pushes her up against the wall and puts a knife to her neck, asking her where she got her buy money from. You saw my legs! she yells, and he puts the knife away. Penhall and Fuller listen from outside the door, and she finally makes the deal and buys two ounces. They burst in, and Penhall handcuffs him as Fuller says he's under arrest for possession and sale of a narcotic. Outside, Fuller puts Jam in the police car as Tracy stands next to Penhall. He puts her in another car and tells her to go home, take the phone off the hook and get some sleep, and he & Clavo will bring over a pizza later.

A little while later, at the Chapel, Mac and Penhall slap hands as Mac congratulates him for busting Jam. Mac says he can't find Davey though, saying "The guy's thin air." Penhall says that Davey always does Jam's dirty work and tries to call Tracy, but the phone is off the hook. In a panic, he runs out and drives over there, skidding to a stop. He runs to her room and knocks , finally busting the door in - and Tracy is sitting in a chair, getting ready to shoot a needle into her leg. As he stands in the doorway, staring at her, his concern and panic turn into hurt and angry disillusion. After he puts the phone back on the hook, never taking his eyes off her, he sits and quietly asks how she does it - does she dip into the evidence of every bust? Not EVERY bust, she says, the needle hovering above her leg. He gets angrier, asking if she sweet talks all her partners and do they all end up buying shirts for dinner? The phone rings, and she starts to put the needle in, but he grabs it, ignoring her cries of how she needs it, and he forces it out of her hand. She slaps him, and he grips her arm tightly, forcing her back down into the chair. On the phone, it's Fuller - he and Mac picked up Davey at the wharf, so Tracy is safe. He hangs up, and she sits and begs him to just let her have this one last hit. He says "I thought he knew you - I thought I actually found somebody." She says he did, and continues bargaining, saying that she'll quit. Staring at her, he depresses the plunger, forcing the liquid out and onto the carpet, and she sobs. He kneels at her feet and very quietly tells her that she is under arrest and recites her rights as he puts handcuffs on her.

Closing scene: Penhall is channel surfing on the couch, a basket of laundry on the coffee table. The yellow shirt he bought for dinner with Tracy is right on top. Clavo comes out and says he had a bad dream. Penhall turns off the TV and pulls him over to lie with him on the couch. Clavo asks why Tracy won't come see them anymore, and Penhall says that her work took her away. Clavo asks why God takes people away. Surprised at the hard question, Penhall chuckles a bit to buy time and then says that God takes people away because sometimes he wants them to be with him and sometimes because he wants them to come back better. Clavo ponders this for a moment and then announces that he doesn't like his pillow. Penhall says that the couch's pillow is a special sleeping pillow and offers to let him sleep there with him. Clavo says he wants to. Before he falls asleep, he asks if Tracy will ever come back. Penhall says he hopes so.

Cyndi Glass: This is a classic Penhall episode. Reeves is excellent here as Tracy, playing her with some much needed intensity and substance. Yet again we see that Peter DeLuise is capable of carrying an episode basically on his own, and we can see his attraction to Tracy (she's kind of like Dorothy without the bitchiness, although I'm sure that would have made an appearance after the initial courtship wore off). It was nice to see Penhall’s frustration and anger over having finally, after much internal torment, trying to put Marta’s death in the past and move on with his life - only to find out that Tracy is someone he could never trust - a drug user. Penhall seems very violent and edgy this season, for some reason. I almost thought he was going to hit her back when she slapped him.

My only problems with the episode are these: I’m not sure why they made Tracy be a high school narcotics agent. If they have high school narcotics agents, why don't they work for Jump Street? What's the difference, really, besides the fact that Tracy deals only with drug cases? Haven't we seen plenty of cases where they are following the same procedures and busting drug dealers? I remember in one of the early episodes when Captain Fuller told Penhall to learn how to puke, and I remember in #51 "High High" how Hanson pretended to take a drag off the joint and Booker faked snorting heroin. Aren't they prey to the same temptations? There must be SOME difference: Fuller seems wary of her involvement - apparently he's familiar with the potential for problems. And why do Hoffs and Mac have such an immediate negative reaction to Tracy in the first meeting - they don't know she's an addict yet. I have trouble believing her as a high school student - she looks too old - maybe they should have set this one at a college.

Beyond that, I liked seeing Penhall outside of work and opening his heart again, and I like the relationship developing between Penhall & Mac - almost a older/younger brother dynamic, foreshadowing the upcoming arrival of Penhall's younger brother.

Main 21 Jump Street Page * Season page * CucFan’s Page * Email CucFan