2 Jump Street: S5E10: "Number One with a Bullett"

Written by Ann Donahue

Directed by Peter DeLuise

Airdate: December 22, 1990

Guest Star: Ken Tremblett (Barry Wells)

The episode begins with Penhall finding himself in purgatory after getting shot in the line of duty. While there he meets his parents and his deceased wife Marta. It was a mob hit connected with a payola scheme with college radio. I always thought college radio was pure, left of the dial and all that, but I guess not.

It was a long time TV trope to put a beloved character in mortal danger as they enter a netherworld, this was oddly similar to the time Tony Soprano was shot. 

McCann and Hoffs easily uncover the payola scheme, while Joey must take care of Clavo. Penhall wakes from his coma and decides to resign from the force.

The goodbye scene was understated and well done. Fuller says, "I never say goodbye" and shakes Penhall's hand. Hoffs looks shaken and holds back tears, as Penhall says, they went through a lot together.

The episode marked the end of an era for Jump Street. If the new cast had caught on, there was a chance of continuing as syndicated series. Unfortunately, the one-time juggernaut of the Fox Network would limp to the finish line. 

Peter DeLuise was an essential part of 21 Jump Street. While Depp was the breakout star, DeLuise always matched him in every scene. He carried stories on his own and seamlessly provided comic relief. 

21 Jump Street: S5E6: "Brothers"

Written by Jonathan Glassner

Directed by Don McBrearty

Airdate: November 17, 1990

Guest Star: Michael DeLuise (Joey Penhall)

Doug Penhall's estranged younger brother Joey shows and is now part of the Jump Street Unit. Doug still holds a grudge against Mike for leaving the family, but now they are co-workers! 

When a distraught father visits the Chapel explaining how his daughter joined a cult that he believes is also involved in the drug trade. Fuller asks for volunteers, and Joey agrees to infiltrate "Heaven's Family." Once there he finds a peaceful community practicing communal living - and completely buys into the program! The Jump Street Unit needs to deprogram one its own members. The drug accusations were false.

McCann and Hoffs help Penhall literally kidnap Joey, and Doug manages to talk him down. Questions about the ethics of kidnapping one of their own get sidetracked, but, hey, it's television!

A compelling episode for the most part. The series is clearly winding down - and "trapped in cult" stories were a staple of the era. Michael DeLuise shows some potential, but one wonders how the character was kept on the force after joining a cult! 

21 Jump Street: S5E4: "Poison"

Written by Ann Donahue

Directed by Don McBearty

Airdate: November 3, 1990

Guest Star: Perrey Reeves (Tracy Hill); Richard Leacock (Jam)

Undercover Officer Tracy Hill from narcotics is temporarily assigned to Jump Street to help take down High School drug dealer "Jam." Penhall becomes smitten with Tracy, but soon discovers her risky methods hide a deeper problem.

DeLuise does a good job in the episode, still raising Clavo, he decides to take a chance on Tracy. But as we find out, she became a user at some point in her undercover work. The plot never rises above typical TV cop show tropes, but the acting was above average.

Perrey Reeves still works today, and she brought a lot to her role as Tracy, her charisma and edge would've made her an excellent member of the cast. Penhall even says at the end, "I hope she comes back."

21 Jump Street: S4E25: "Everyday is Christmas"

Written by Glen Morgan and James Wong

Directed by Ken Wiederhorn

Airdate: May 21, 1990

Guest Star: David Barry Gray (Officer Dean Garrett)

Penhall flees a stakeout after learning Clavo's been injured, leaving Ioki without backup. As a reprimand, Penhall is removed from Jump Street and sent to the 43rd precinct as a beat cop. 

The 43rd precinct is full of corrupt cops taking kickbacks, considering themselves "lone wolves." Penhall is partnered with a rookie Dean Garrett, who some suspect is from internal affairs. Meanwhile, Jump Street is running its own investigation of the crooked precinct. 

The episode resembles Serpico, and there's cinematic flare later episodes lacked. It's a bit of a downer to see Penhall diminished, but he returns to Jump Street by the end. Officer Garrett was clearly being set up a new series regular, probably to replace Depp, but it never worked out. This was also final appearance of Dustin Nguyen as Ioki, a steady presence through four seasons. 

21 Jump Street: S4E23: "How I Saved the Senator"

Written by Gary Rosen

Directed by James Whitmore Jr.

Airdate: May 7, 1990

Guest Star: Ray Parker Jr. (as himself)

"How I Saved the Senator" opens with a news crew barging in on the chapel - sending everyone for cover. Earlier that day, the Jump Street Unit was working security for a senator and foiled a plot. The reporter confesses she's actually a screenwriter and wants to get everyone's account of what happened. It's a fun take on Rashomon and a showcase for the entire cast. Appropriately, it would the final time all the principals appeared together. 

Ioki's fantasy imagines himself in a Bruce Lee film with elements of the 1970s TV show Kung Fu. Hanson pictures himself in a silent film with Depp doing a dead-on Chaplin imitation. Hoffs is a 1930s nightclub singer, evocative of the Billie Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues. Even Sal gets into the act, I guess he's in a slasher film? Penhall spins a 007 yarn, and Fuller reveals himself a fan of Westerns. 

It's hard not to get a little sentimental about this episode. One thinks back to the Pilot when Hanson reluctantly joined the unit, Penhall and the rest believed him too square to make it as an undercover cop. Jenko was the still the captain, lecturing Hanson on the genius of Jimi Hendrix. Seeing them all together one last time four years later, laughing and joking after they've been through the ringer together makes this the closest the series ever came to a farewell episode. 

21 Jump Street: S4E20: "Last Chance High"

Written by Michelle Ashford

Directed by Kim Manners

Airdate: March 19, 1990

Guest Star: Diedrich Bader (Paul); Sarah Trigger (Frances)

Hanson and Penhall take on their McQuaid Brothers persona for the final time for "Last Chance High." Both realize they are getting too old to be working High Schools but decide to anyway. They're undercover at a school for kids struggling to socialize. Future Drew Carey Show star Diedrich Bader appears as a gifted, but maladjusted student.

The main plotline follows Frances, an art student, and we learn she kidnapped her baby sister because of abusive parents. Hanson takes a personal interest in the case to Fuller's chagrin, but everything works out ok. 

The episode is mostly a middling melodrama but tempered by some comedic moments. Penhall adjusts to being Clavo's adopted father. Hanson seems fine after being held captive by a death squad in the previous episode! One major difference between the network and streaming eras of television - emotional stakes are taken more seriously these days. 

21 Jump Street: S4E18: "Awomp-Bomp-Aloobomb, Aloop Bamboom"

Written by Glen Morgan & James Wong

Directed by Jorge Montesi

Airdate: February 19, 1990

Guest Stars: Shawn Levy (Lance); John Waters (Mr. Bean); Jensen Daggett (Ashley)

One could argue the original premise of 21 Jump Street was a joke (undercover High School cops), but the show played everything straight. By season four, 21 Jump Street no longer resisted its own absurdity, it leaned into it. Many consider the fourth season to be the final one proper since it was the last with the principal cast. This episode would be the last carefree pairing of Hanson and Penhall, one last, strange road trip before the show leaves them behind. 

Everyone's uncharacteristically grumpy at the chapel, the squad pesters Fuller for more vacation time. Hanson and Penhall are investigating an explosion near a "radical" college newspaper run by student communists. They follow the editor Lance who hops on a bus to Florida for Spring Break, we learn he's chasing his ex-girlfriend Ashley - a swimsuit model. 

The bus is chartered by an esoteric self-help cult led by none other than cult filmmaker John Waters as "Mr. Bean." Depp had just worked with Waters on Cry Baby, making the cameo feel like an inside joke. They get kicked off the bus and hitch a ride to Florida. The spectacle of college students converging on Florida became a defining image of 1990s pop culture, and 21 Jump Street gets there early.

Spring Break Adventure

Penhall keeps an eye on Lance as they get caught up in a beer pong game. Hanson locates Ashley and they really hit it off, but she eventually reunited with Lance. And Sal shows up at one point - he's also partying at Spring Break? Wasn't he married with two kids, as we saw in earlier episodes. Sal appears almost as a specter, not unlike the way Depp exited the series. 

Morgan and Wong's script joyfully disrupted structure. We get random detours, Hanson and Penhall are drifting more than investigating. Scenes feel incidental, even disposable. The plot is more about movement than narrative. 

Shawn Levy would go on to a big directing career. Jensen Daggett as Ashley also exuded star power here, her claim to fame would be starring in Jason Takes Manhattan. 

Despite all the drift and absurdity, the episode ends on a serious note. Penhall plans on going to El Salvador to track down his estranged wife, a reminder the show still centered seriousness. 

21 Jump Street: S3E16: "High High"

Written by Eric Blakeney and Bill Nuss

Directed by Mario Van Peebles

Airdate: April 23, 1989

Guest Stars: Michael Des Barres (Mr. Karst); Phillip Linton (Jimmy); Mario Van Peebles (Dana)

The Jump Street unit crashes art school in the fan favorite episode, "High High." Drugs at rampant at a local performing arts school so Hanson, Penhall, Ioki, and Booker are sent in to mix with art students (Hoffs as well, but she's not been given much to do recently).

Everyone manages to find their niche at the school. Hanson joins the rock band class allowing Depp to whale on his guitar for the entire episode. Penhall takes acting class but struggles until he finds his way through by reinterpreting Jackie Gleason. Booker has the most fun of all by joining the performance art troupe, he spews punk poetry and smashes televisions, considered one of his iconic moments from the series. 

Mario Van Peebles directed the episode with style and appears in one scene as a film professor. British rocker Michael des Barres is also memorable as the acting teacher who pushed Penhall to greatness on the stage. 

Wake up Penhall!

The only drawback to the script is the exhausted trope of drugs in schools. Apparently, everyone is getting high. Booker befriends Jimmy, a proto–David Foster Wallace type harboring a symbiotic relationship with substances. In a staged assembly, the entire school is arrested by the county judge! That was sort of awesome. Who's up for some community service?

21 Jump Street: S3E9: "Swallowed Alive"

Written by Eric Blakeney

Directed by James A. Contner

Airdate: February 5, 1989

Guest Stars: Michael Champion (Facility Director)

After the unit's sent into a juvenile facility, Penhall observes "we send these kids to hell."

We also learn they sent in without Fuller's permission to investigate a murder and the drug trade going on inside. Booker and Ioki are pulled out quickly, while Penhall cracks up. Hanson is left going solo in the most dangerous environment yet. 

The episode is like a hybrid of Midnight Express and Bad Boys. Left alone, Hanson establishes himself as "the hammer" after he takes down one of the enforcers. He looks on with indifference during a bloody fistfight and even stays on longer to finish the case after Fuller offers to get him out. There's also a sex trade going with a girl's reform school nearby and he almost decides to partake but instead collapses in tears.

At the heart of the episode is the idea that incarcerating teens only makes their problems worse. The institution is a microcosm of a criminal underworld with violence, drug trade, and sadistic guards. By the end Hanson is seriously questioning his line of work. Fuller calmly tells Hanson their job is to enforce the law - and the reality of that can get ugly. 

Another strong episode because it interrogates the basis of the series. Penhall is pushed to the edges of sanity, while Hanson takes his undercover persona to its extremes. "Swallowed Alive" might've been the grittiest entry of 21 Jump Street.

Final Report: Jump Street continues to take the series in more morally ambiguous direction. 

21 Jump Street: S3E4: "Coach of the Year"

Written by Bill Nuss

Directed by James Whitmore Jr.

Airdate: November 27, 1988

Guest Star: Gary Lahti (Coach Lyle Rickman) Scott Allan Campbell (Teddy)

Booker and Penhall are assigned to investigate a popular High School football coach who's forcing his players to play through injuries. After a student suffers a serious spinal energy, Jump Street tries to build a case against the coach.

Despite some contrivances, the episode manages to distract from its shaky premise. Unsurprisingly, Booker and Penhall clash as they join the team as football players. I'm not sure if it was even legal for them to play - but whatever. At first Penhall suspects nothing until he visits the paralyzed player Teddy who talks about the relentless pressure he was under. 

The episode culminates with a big game where Penhall gets injured, but the coach forces him to play. Despite it all, the Coach gets off free. His friends in the City Council and the community protect him because he keeps winning. Penhall does another rash move, giving a rambling speech at an awards banquet that's honoring the unethical coach.

In this case, justice fails to prevail. But it seemed like a slim chance anyway, how could they pin the coach for breaking the law? Sports themed episodes remain popular and that's a big part of the story's appeal. In the time since, the cult of the football coach remains stronger than ever.

For the second week in a row, Penhall was given a strong storyline, and we see more fraying of his confidence. 

Final Report: Once again proof 21 Jump Street was ahead of the curve on many issues.

21 Jump Street: S3E3: "The Currency We Trade In"

Written by Eric Blakeney

Directed by Neil Fearnley

Airdate: November 20, 1988

Guest Star: Perry Gilpin (Fitzgerald); Yvette Nipar (Jackie)

Midway through the episode, a desperate and disgraced Penhall consults Capt. Fuller for advice, and is told "reputation is the currency we trade in."

Still working with the intelligence unit, Penhall cracks a big case and was moved to the "major crimes" unit. There he finds the culture toxic and unfriendly. He and his new partner Fitzgerald are assigned to a case involving explosive accusations against a local celebrity. Convinced the suspect has sexually assaulted his own child, Penhall's aggressive interrogation technique backfires when it turns out the accusations were false. 

Penhall receives verbal abuse for his mistake and must live with himself after destroying the suspect's career. It's clear he let emotions get in the way, not helped by his arrogant demeanor among more experienced detectives. We've never seen Penhall this desperate as he flails around trying to make amends. Ultimately, Penhall confides to Fuller "I want to come back" and "start over" because Jump Street was the only place where he ever made a difference. 

Penhall confides with Fuller

A subplot introduces a new love interest for Hanson, Assistant DA Jackie Garrett. Although their blind date at Penhall's went bad, they reconnected later at Hanson's favorite spot, the bowling alley. Hanson's love interests tend to be fleeting, but there's hints of real connection here. 

Another hard-hitting episode, once again exploring themes of moral ambiguity and ethical roadblocks. Penhall learns the limits of his abilities and feels the wrath of the system after his screw-up; Jump Street seems to symbolize a space of moral certitude and refuge. The episode nicely juxtaposes Jump Street idealism with institutional reality. We're glad Penhall's back but also wonder whether he -and we, as the audience - are ready for failure and ideological pushback. 

Final Report: One of the more devastating episodes, idealism and confidence comes crashing down.