21 Jump Street - The Complete Second Season

Rating:
Summary: America's favirote youth cops are still on the beat
Review: The second season of this FOX action series continued to blend pop and politics together in an irresistible mix. People who were tuning in to drool over Johnny Depp (among others) may have subsequently had no idea they were getting a dose of `issues'. Building on the success of last season, this series talked about issues much more directly than the standard after school special.

"Two for the road" has the Jump Street squad confront the dilemma of what to do when their superior officer, Adam Fuller, is arrested for drunk driving during the investigation of a counterfeit drivers license ring. Because these cops are also supposed to have a clearly defined sense of right and wrong, they are visibly shaken by such a development inside their own tight knit group. Hinting at his own (then-upcoming) 90's issue-laden series, Jason Priestly guest stars in this episode.

"Honor Bound" is a junior grade foreshadowing of the gays in the military debate of the early 1990's. Penhall and Hansen go undercover at a military academy after the cadets are suspected of killing homosexuals. Their interpretation of the military code of honor subsequently prevents many cadets at this school from being open with the Jump Street program cops about what has happened. The cops are troubled by this development, but many of the cadets honestly had internalized their own silence as the normal and respectable thing.

Another riveting emotional storyline comes from Christmas in Saigon, when Harry Ioki is revealed to be working under an illegal alias which he used to escape from Vietnam. Based on the real life experiences of actor Dustin Ngyuen, this storyline asked viewers to consider that illegal immigrants were actually friends and coworkers. This issue remains amazingly relevant today.

One episode which does not translate well into 21st century America is "A big disease with a little name". Hansen must protect a youth with AIDS from being harassed by ignorant and scared peers. It is difficult to explain to many present-day elementary school and junior high school students that public schools across the country had once attempted to bar people with AIDS, the national cases of Ryan White and Ricky Ray undoubtedly had helped to influence this storyline.

Overall, this is another excellent season which would be a good purchase for the 1980's and/or Depp aficionado on your list.