Directed by Mario Van Peebles
Airdate: October 2, 1989
Guest Stars: Thomas Haden Church (Tony); Tracy Griffith (Linda); Michael Des Barres (Gavin)
"Eternal Flame" is one of my favorite episodes of 21 Jump Street. Hanson is assigned to bust up a drug ring at a trendy club. He finds that his old flame Linda - is the boss's fiancée. Directed by Mario Van Peebles, the MTV aesthetic of the episode is all Dutch angles and late 80s neon. Depp's in full Miami Vice mode, stylish, remote, partially invested in the story. His engagement during late era Jump Street was often erratic, sometimes barely present, but focused if the story was right.
Michael Des Barres plays the sly club owner taking on Hanson as his protégée, in the previous season Des Barres played an acting teacher in "High High." Tracy Griffith holds her own with Depp as Linda and the two rekindle their romance. Naturally, they go bowling and there's a montage sequence that could only exist in 1989. Hanson reveals he's a cop and confesses to Penhall he's ready to quit and start a new life with Linda, but, alas, in the end, Linda decides they are better off apart.
Thomas Haden Church appears rocking an epic mullet in one of his early TV appearances. Holly Robinson plays Hoffs as a party girl looking for a score, totally committed to her undercover identity.
The episode has the narrative structure of Casablanca with the emotionally vacant vibe of American Psycho. It's more mood piece than procedural. Network television of the era was starting to experiment with cinematic techniques, Twin Peaks and Miami Vice being two examples. The medium was changing beneath the radar of critics. "Eternal Flame" lives in that space, soaked in late night neon and end of history energy.
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