Return of the Turks

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## Briefing

Ponch's citation record has jumped over the course of one month resulting in him being recommended for a commendable incident report. Ponch bumps into an old high school friend he pulls over not realising his old school friends are playing Freeway Bumper Cars.

## Report

While Jon's been away Ponch has managed to rack up 278 cites in one month and is getting a commendable incident report.

An officer has pulled over a woman for driving over 55. The officer spots Jon and Ponch and acts nervous and bends down to check the tyres. Jon and Ponch drive past and can't seem to recognise the officer but shrug it off.

A man in his pick up and talking on his radio and signs off as his off ramp is coming up. He sharply turns into the off ramp and knocks the officer off his bike who tumbles across the freeway.

Jon and Ponch receive a call that an officer is down in their area. When they arrive there's no one there but the man and his pick up. Jon asks the driver if he knows about an officer being involved in an accident. The man tells them that he was the one that hit him but the officer left. He tells them he was limping when he got back on his bike and when he told him he had called for help the officer told him it was not necessary and didn't even ask for his licence or give him a ticket.

Jon and Ponch later ruminate on what happened and notice a van bobbing up and down. They decide to pull it over. Ponch goes to see the driver while Jon checks out the van. As soon as the driver steps out Ponch recognises the man and calls him Sid, Ponch tells him he's the Latino Flash. Sid remembers Ponch and can't believe he's in a uniform. Ponch introduces Sid to Jon and reminisce about the old days. Ponch asks Sid about Angy as he heard they got married, Sid tells him he's got a son now aged 4. Jon tells Sid he needs to get his shock absorbers replaced since he was bouncing around like a ping pong ball. Sid tells Ponch that's where he was heading and mentions Rudy Altmyer. Another name from Ponch's past and he can't believe Rudy has settled down to do an honest days work. Sid tells Ponch they should get together and have some beers.

Ponch is relieved he didn't have to write Sid a ticket. Jon asks if he would of deserved one would he have given him one. Ponch tells him he would but doesn't think Jon believes him.

Sid is talking to Rudy who can't believe Ponch is a car chaser. Rudy tells Sid he can get him some shocks once a wreck comes in and he can have a third off the price. Sid agrees since he's got bills. Rudy wants to go for a drink but Sid tells him his wife has been breathing down his neck for coming home late but agrees to have one beer.

Sid and Rudy get in a clapped out car and drive off onto the freeway. A car cuts in front of Rudy and Rudy gets angry. He begins by rear ending the car and then moves to side swipe him, the driver tells them to stop and he didn't mean it. Rudy pushes the car over the median and the driver is forced on the otherside and eventually comes to a halt. Rudy realises that his throttle is stuck, Sid tells him to turn off the ignition. The key is stuck and now the steering has gone. Rudy weaves in and out of lanes pushing cars into the central reservation as well as into the embankment, Sid attempts to pull the key out of the ignition.

Jon and Ponch receive a call regarding the out of control vehicle.

Rudy managed to regain control of the car and Sid notices two cops behind them, not realising it's Jon and Ponch. Rudy decides to make a break for it. They arrive in the city and ditch the car in a side alley, they pull the plates off and throw them in a bin next to the car since it's unregistered it can't be traced back to them. Rudy and Sid run away on foot and when they're far enough they stop and laugh.

Jon and Ponch arrive back at Central for briefing, as soon as Ponch walks through the door he's given an applause. Getraer enters the room and hands out subpoenas, one to Grossman and one to Ponch.

The officer is handing out another ticket to a driver. The driver asks him if he can just give him a warning since he'll lose his job. The officer tells him he should have thought about that sooner and hands him the ticket and then tells him to have a nice day.

Jon and Ponch are having lunch. Ponch believes there's been a mistake and Jon tells him there hasn't since the woman who processes the cites wouldn't make a mistake like that.

A man gets out of his pick up and Jon calls him by name. Pete hobbles over to them and Jon asks what happened and makes a joke out of it. Pete tells Jon he's been working nights which is why he hasn't seen him lately. Jon tells him he'll speak to him later. Ponch is confused and asks Jon if he races why he never became a motor officer like his brother. Jon doesn't know and tells Ponch he was one of the best parners he'd ridden with until he was killed chasing a speeding car. Then his luck changed and he got Ponch.

Jon and Ponch decide to roll, Pete comes out and tells them the freeways are getting worse and people are driving like they don't care. Pete tells them he saw lots of people doing things on the freeway they shouldn't be doing and that they should put more people on the freeway. Jon tells him to tell the governor.

Back at Central in Getraers office, they are going through some notices to appear. Getraer pulls out the ones with Ponch's name on them. Ponch tells Getraer than one of them is his but the others aren't. Getraer asks why another officer would sign his name instead of theirs giving Ponch the credit. Ponch notices that the reference numbers on the papers are the same meaning that the same page has been copied. Ponch wonders how someone managed to get a badge and a uniform. Getraer wants to know how someone was able to steal a page out of his pinch book. Getraer informs Ponch he'll have to withdraw the commendable incident report because of this.

Sid returns home and gets a call off Rudy telling him they got the front page. Rudy managed to clip 22 cars beating his previous record of 17. He invites Sid to go again but Sid declines the offer so Rudy tells Sid to look out for the 11 o'clock news.

Ponch can't believe someones going around writing cites under his name, on the bright side Jon tells him they're all righteous cites or else he'd have a lot more subpoenas.

Rudy starts his campaign of clipping cars on the freeway. He even does it to an ambulance causing it hit a lorry transporting pipes before eventually hitting some road works and turning on its side. The lorry in turn skids 180 and hits the ambulance and the load of pipes it's transporting comes loose and rests on the top of the ambulance.

The police officer who we now know is Pete is on his bike. He gets off and starts controlling traffic. He spots Jon and Ponch arrive and quickly slips away. The ambulance man tells them there's a girl on a respirator inside and he manages to get one of the doors open. Another man climbs out and tells them his leg is broken. Ponch climbs inside the ambulance and asks the girl if she's okay. The girl gasps and tells Ponch she can't breath. Baricza arrives with a partner in tow and checks on the situation. Ponch tells the ambulance man that the girl is having trouble breathing and the man tells him the respirator generator must be broken. Jon tells Baricza to get a crane over so they can get the ambulance back on the right side. The ambulance man tells Ponch there's a manual hand pump next to the generator. Ponch climbs back inside and Jon goes to see if there's anyway they can secure the loose pipes. Ponch introduces himself to Kathy and tells her everything is going to be alright now.

Jon attempts to secure the pipes but the chain comes loose causing one to come down on him, it misses him narrowly. The crane arrives and Baricza joins Jon. Jon asks Baricza about the other officer guiding traffic, Baricza tells Jon he didn't see anyone directing traffic, but he did see a motor officer leaving when he drove up.

Ponch starts telling stories to Kathy.

The crane lifts off all the loose pipes from the ambulance and Kathy is freed.

At Sids place he's ruminating on the past, he feels like he's in a rut. Angy asks him what happened because only a couple of days ago he was different. Sid tells her they're lives are mundane and they should be living like everyone else. Doing what they used to do. Angy tells him they're not kids anymore.

Jon spots the officer again on the opposite side of the freeway and they stop to look. A call goes out to them regarding a stalled vehicle. Ponch tells Jon he'll check it out and rides off leaving Jon to watch. The officer completes writing his ticket and returns to his bike only to notice Jon looking right at him. He gets on his bike and rides off, Jon's mind is definately in deep thought. Back at Central Jon is still in deep thought in the report room and Ponch walks by to check on his pigeon hole. He spots Jon and casually walks in, reaches into his pocket and throws a penny on the table. Jon tells him they're worth at least a nickel. Ponch disagrees. Jon tells Ponch he believes he knows how someone was able to remove a page from his pinch book and put it back without noticing. Ponch throws a nickel on the table and takes the penny back. Jon tells Ponch he believes it was Pete Bertram who did it. Ponch agrees and it's where he would have got the badge and uniform from. Jon tells Ponch he can't prove it, Ponch tells him to get a warrant and go to his house. Jon wants to give him a chance. Ponch reminds Jon about the conversation they had before about showing favouritism to their friends. Jon reminds him that his brother was his partner and asks Ponch to let him handle it. Ponch agrees but not before taking back his nickel.

Pete leaves his garage dressed in his police outfit riding his bike and Jon is watching from across the street in his pickup. On the freeway, Jon purposely speeds past and Pete takes the bait, he motions Jon to pull over. Pete asks him for his licence and registration, Jon keeping his head down and wearing sunglasses lunges at Pete with a pen. Pete is surprised. Jon exits his pick up and tells Pete what if his pen had been a gun and then asks him a lot of what if's and tells him he's likely to get himself killed as well as any innocent person with him. Jon tells Pete there's more to the job than handing out traffic citations and there's a reason they spend months in school for it. Pete tells Jon he wanted to be a cop but they wouldn't accept him. Pete tells Jon he's colourblind and because he couldn't be a cop he talked Gary into being one and blames himself for Gary's death. Jon tells him Gary wasn't dumb, he knew what he was doing. Pete asks Jon what's going to happen now. Jon tells him he's under arrest for impersonating an officer. Pete asks if Jon is going to take him in. Jon tells him he's not, he's to take himself in tomorrow morning at Central. He wants him to turn in Gary's uniform, gun and badge. Jon tells him he'll be waiting for him, and if he doesn't come then he's coming after him.

Rudy is at the scrap yard wanting to buy a car thats only use is for spare parts. Rudy tells him he's going to soup her up and is going to be the next star of the Freeway Bumper Game.

Sid is out playing pool with Ponch and tells him how he feels trapped in his current situation and that a recent crazy stunt made him rethink his priorities. Ponch tells him what he's feeling is the weight of responsibility.

Rudy tells Sid he's got the shock absorbers a third of the cost like he said he would. He offers to take Sid home in his car and bring him back in the morning. Sid notices the new-old car and gets in. When they arrive on the freeway, Rudy announces the Auto Boppers are about to ride again. Sid shows unwillingness but there's not much he can do now he's in the car. Rudy starts his campaign of bopping cars off the freeway. Jon and Ponch listen to an APB regarding a reckless driver and respond. Rudy rear ends another car causing the female driver to 180 on the freeway. Sid removes the key from the ignition and Rudy brings the car to the shoulder. Sid gets out and Rudy asks what he's doing. Sid tells him he's growing up and throws the keys back at him. Rudy continues to bop cars off the freeway.

Jon and Ponch pass the woman who 180'd in her car and Rudy spots them in his mirror. Rudy makes a break for it. Off the freeway, Jon and Ponch lose Rudy. Jon spots a scrap yard and points Ponch towards it, they go to check it out. They split up and look around. Jon approaches a stack of tyres and Rudy is not far from the stack, seeing Jon Rudy drives out and hits the stack of tyres causing them to topple over in Jon's direction, he manages to avoid them. Ponch spots Rudy however he's in front of Rudy and Rudy starts chasing Ponch. Jon gets off his bike and gets into a fork lift truck, as soon as Ponch passes, Jon releases the car that's on the forks dropping it in front of Rudy who crashes into it. Ponch immediately recognises Rudy.

At Central Getraer tells Jon that Pete came to the precinct and told them he was under arrest for impersonating and officer and left his brothers things with him. Jon tells Getraer that Pete's a good guy and hopes the DA will go easy on him. Getraer tells Jon that he didn't use the badge for his own gain and has a hunch the DA will recommend probation. Getraer knows the DA and she'll listen to him since they dated when she was at law school.

Jon and Ponch are at the hospital celebrating Kathy's birthday. Kathy asks Jon to help her blow out the candles. Jon tells her she has too and sneakly helps her blow them out. Jon tells her by the way things are going she'll be out of the machine soon enough and requests the first date with her to go to the movies. Ponch disagrees telling Kathy he gets the first date with her. Kathy tells Ponch he should have girl waiting for him on his day off. Ponch tells her he has a dozen girls tearing their hair out over him, Kathy has a look of disappointment. Ponch tells Kathy he doesn't like bald-headed women.

## Notes

* When Rudy starts to side swipe a car there's already dents on the front panel when there weren't before.
* When Ponch is talking to Getraer about the Notices to Appear, Ponch tells Getraer that the numbers are all the same G686635, however all the serial numbers start with a Z and the ones Pete hands in have a serial number Z389669.
* Pete uses Ponch's name on his cites, and uses Jon's plates to ride around.
* Gary Lambert was Jon's partner before Ponch, however Jon was previously a patrol car officer when he met Ponch and not long after meeting Ponch Jon became a motor officer. Jon couldn't have spent much time with Gary on the freeway since as soon as Ponch joined the CHP he was partnered with Jon. We know Ponch was briefly a patrol car officer not long after joining the CHP and had been with Jon 6 months prior to the Pilot episode. However Ponch didn't really know Pete or Gary which would suggest this happened before Ponch arrived at Central.
* A conversation between Jon and Ponch regarding favouritism amongst their friends, Jon believes Ponch is reluctant to give his friend a ticket. The dilemma plays out when Jon is presented with the same predicament. However Jon is still reluctant to arrest Pete and allows Pete instead to turn himself in. Technically this makes Jon's arguement valid against himself (Which hasn't gone unnoticed by Ponch), however he uses a get out clause which he gets Pete to turn himself in so he doesn't have to. To cement his arguement even more Getraer tells Jon and Ponch that he knows the DA who will listen to him and will essentially get Pete off with only probation.

### Quotes

* Officer/[Woman]: Have a nice day. [Have a hernia.]
* Jon: Friendship, like love, can be blind.
* Rudy/[Driver]: You looking to get trashed, you little creep? [Ah, get yourself a skateboard, it's faster.]
* Jon/[Ponch]: They're worth a nickel at least. [Your thoughts? No way.]

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Larry Wilcox: Jon Baker
* Erik Estrada: Frank Poncherello
* Robert Pine: Joe Getraer

### Recurring

* Brodie Greer: Baricza
* Paul Linke: Grossman
* Brianne Leary: Sindy

### Guest Stars

* Kaz Garas: Sid (Lambert)
* Mark Thomas: Rudy (Altmyer)
* James Houghton: Pete (Bertram)
* Dee Wallace: Angy (Lambert)

### Co-Starring

* Tara Talboy: Kathy
* Loyita Chapel: Blonde
* Nancy Alexander: Motorist
* Lanny Duncan: Van Driver
* James Ferrier: Intern
* Christopher Skinner: Businessman
* John Wheeler: Wally
* Alyscia Maxwell: Housewife