21 Jump Street: S3E2: "Slippin' into Darkness"

Written by Clifton Campbell

Directed by James A. Contner

Airdate: November 11, 1988

Guest Star: Richard Coca (Raffi)

Noirish music plays in the background as the camera drifts through dark streets of Metropolitan (Vancouver) as Hanson and Booker try to nab a notorious drug dealer. Hanson dons an earring and a hat, wearing a dingy coat through the episode. He and Booker seem simpatico at this point, the gritty streets are becoming their natural habitat. All is going smoothly until a street vigilante group known as The Rangers mess up their investigation. 

Watch groups were a byproduct of the 1960s, largely a movement of white suburbanites terrified of civil unrest spreading into their neighborhoods. The fear and subterranean racism of the movement were in tune with the Reagan ethos. Rhetoric from such groups is often marked by a lack of faith in law enforcement to control crime so citizens must take matters into their own hands.  Thus, the central conflict of the episode.

The episode was possibly inspired by The Guardian Angels. Curtis Silwa, the group's founder, became a national media figure and skillfully directed the group's public image as protectors of the people. Others saw them as menacing vigilantes creating even more tension. 

Fuller sends Ioki and Hoffs to infiltrate the Rangers, finding the group well-intentioned but misguided and confused about their methods and purpose. They keep disrupting Jump Street investigations and even end up killing one of their own. Their leader Raffi personifies all their contradictions, eager to stop crime but naive about methods. 

Hanson as a shady dealer.

The script skillfully undermines what the Rangers hope to achieve. At one point, the drug dealer is able to get police protection because of harassment from the Rangers! They get in the way of undercover work, they kidnap Hanson without knowing he's actually a cop. The camera lingers on Hanson's uncertain fear after he's taken hostage. Fuller, increasingly central, exudes a calm professionalism (he's got a cool car phone!) The three-way struggle between criminals, cops, and vigilantes deepens the institutional uncertainty the series has begun to explore. 

James A. Contner directed the episode, a veteran of Miami Vice and Crime Story, both Michael Mann produced shows (also was the cinematographer on Cruising). You can feel the cinematic edge, mostly shot on location, the nighttime energy pops. 

Final Report: Jump Street's most noirish episode yet, the tonal shifts are skillfully subtle.