21 Jump Street: S4E26: "Blackout"

Written by Larry Barber & Paul Berber

Directed by Tucker Gates

Airdate: July 16, 1990

Guest Star: Peter Zapp (Mr. Gebbert)

"Wildling" was a term used during the 1980s and 1990s to describe violent youth crime, often fueled by media hype. "Blackout" was the closing episode of season 4, finding Hanson, Hoffs, and Penhall undercover at a geographically isolated high School where a group of students are suspected of engaging in gang rapes. 

Hoffs and Hanson are posing as students, and Penhall as the substitute gym teacher. When a powerful storm knocks out the power, all hell breaks loose at the school. Throngs of teenage boys start roaming the halls terrorizing teachers and other students. Order is restored just before Hoffs and Hanson are about to be attacked.

There's a real thriller/horror vibe to the episode, and an even eerier element is the students running for their lives in the hallways. One cannot think of the real-life terrors brought upon High Schools in the coming decades. 

I suspect this episode was kept on the shelf for some reason. It's a bit odd Fox waited until July to air it, a time when most shows were on hiatus. Perhaps the episode was considered too bleak. It's as if the Jump Street world is collapsing in on itself. 

"Blackout" was Depp's final appearance on the series, and it was an anti-climactic farewell. Depp haunts this episode like a ghost, barely present. He gets a scene pulling a prank in shop class and has a few interactions with Hoffs but that's about it. Modern TV would give the character a big send-off, but Hanson's character, once the central focus of 21 Jump Street, just slowly faded away.