21 Jump Street: S4E12: "Things We Said Today"

Written by Glen Morgan & James Wong

Directed by Tucker Gates

Airdate: December 18, 1989

Guest Star: Keith Coogan (Kyle DeGray); Shannon Doherty (Janine DeGray); Lisa Cutter (Cheryl)

On "Things We Said Today" 21 Jump Street seemed to anticipate LOST by 15 years! Of course, I write in jest. The episode uses a flashback structure to provide more of Ioki's backstory, specifically his early days on the Jump Street squad.

The cold open has Ioki getting help up at a gas station by a young man demanding, "Do you remember me?" The young man is Kyle, who a few years before, explicitly dated as 1986, had his life derailed after Ioki befriended him while working a High School drug case. Kyle and his sister Janine were suspected of dealing drugs, but as it turned out, their parents were the masterminds. Kyle turned his parents in, then he and his Janine were put under foster care. He felt manipulated by the justice system as his entire family unraveled

Fuller demands Ioki close one of his early cases during a flashback. 

Three years later, Ioki manages to fight off Kyle who holds him at gunpoint. Afterwards, Kyle is convicted of assaulting a cop. Ioki feels guilty and responsible for Kyle's dilemma, tries to help, but nothing gets resolved. We learn that in 1986, Ioki was in a serious relationship with Cheryl, but he ended it due to his own insecurities. Now in 1989, he attempts to contact Cheryl only to learn she's now married and expecting a child. There's even a bizarro dream sequence with imagery of street violence, Reagan, the Challenger explosion, and the Vietnam War. 

"Things We Said Today" resembles the third season episode "Swallowed Alive" when Hanson and Penhall had to reckon with the consequences of undercover work. It was good to see Nguyen get a strong storyline, a tale full of resigned remorse. Glen Morgan and James Wong consistently delivered strong scripts for all the characters. 

Fans of the series nitpick this episode because it skewed the series timeline, suggesting Fuller took over the program in 1986, a year before the series debuted on air in 1987, although Captain Jenko (Fredrick Forrest) is also referenced. I attribute this to writer's laziness, TV in this era was less concerned with canons and making sure timelines squared up correctly.