21 Jump Street Comp Third Seas

I have been waiting for season 3 of 21 Jump Street for a very long time - this is by far the best season in the entire series. I was surprised to see another reviewer belittle this season to nothing at all. I would like to present several counter-arguments why this is the best season and not the worst:

First, while Johnny Depp is the lead actor on 21 Jump Street and he usually finds himself most often in the best episodes, he does not necessarily carry the show entirely by himself. Jump Street also consists of 3 other important cops: Penhall, Hoffs, and Ioki, plus captain Fuller. Additionally, the 3rd season adds a 4th cop, Booker, and makes Sal the custodian a more recurring role. You can see throughout seasons 1, 2, and more importantly season 3, that all the characters are part of the show and it's not just about Johnny Depp. In 'The Blue Flu', each character has a very small role independent of the other as the city's police force goes on strike in a failed bargaining attempt. On the other hand, there are several episodes in which one character carries the entire episode. For example, in 'The Dragon And The Angel', Ioki is the star as he infiltrates a Vietnamese gang. In 'The Currency We Trade' Penhall takes the lead role as he arrests an innocent journalist and ruins his career - both excellent episodes that do not rely on Johnny Depp. However, there is one episode, 'Swallowed Alive', where the 4 guy cops on Jump Street go undercover in a juvenile prison/school facility. At first, Ioki and Booker (as the 'Samurai Twins') and Penhall and Hanson (as the famous 'McQuaid Brothers') are all part of the episode. Suddenly, in the middle of the episode, you find everyone gone except for Hanson (Johnny Depp) who puts on a solo performance in what I would call one of the best episodes in the entire series. So I do not agree that Depp hated the show and wanted out. If he did want off the show, he would not have been able to put out such a stellar performance in 'Swallowed Alive'.

Second, Booker arrives in season 3 as the 5th Jump Street cop. I wouldn't say he was a replacement for Hanson, as they have nothing in common. Booker is a totally off-the-hook character, much like a modern James Dean. Hanson, on the other hand is the handsome and polite guy who can become a rebel at times, but sticks to his soft-hearted personality more often than not. I think Booker was brought on to add diversity to the storyline and more importantly, to prepare for the spin-off show with the same title. Why else was he not featured in the opening credits?

Third, the writing for each episode is *NOT* downright terrible! A new writer(s) took over the show in season 3 through the end of the series. While I was skeptical at first, I could hardly tell the difference in storyline quality. If anything, I would say that season 3 had more swearing and violence, but overall, more mature and intelligent themes. Just take the episode 'Hell Week' for example. This is probably my favorite episode in the series. Here we find the Jump Street investigating a rape in a prestigious college full of rich-boy frats. The entire segment featuring the actual "hell week" where initiations take place is so funny, intense, and exciting that I could watch it over and over a thousand times and still not be bored. The whole fork, spoon, knife test involving Ioki and Hanson is deserving of an award in my opinion.

One last comment on this season: 'High High' is another awesome episode that features all of the characters independently of one another. This time, we find Jump Street infiltrating a liberal arts school where everyone is unique, creative, and... into drugs! This episode feels more like a movie full of elaborate storylines and plot building throughout. It doesn't let go until the final credits roll.

With that said, I definately feel season 3 is one that isn't hurt by Depp's lesser role, but actually strenghtened by the overall excellent performance of all 7 characters.

Although series creator and executive Patrick Hasburgh was gone by this season, episodes throughout continued to hold viewer intrigue.

Richard Grieco joined 21 Jump Street as Dennis "Booker" Booker. Booker is initially challenged by Hansen in the episode "Fun with animals" at the start of this 20 episode season (1988-1989). Booker's racist attitudes have inevitably lead Hansen to deduct that this new colleague must have raped a black student. Booker was supposed to have been killed at the end of this same season, but was later spun off into a very short-lived show called "Booker".

Another serious episode is "The currency we trade in". A popular sportswriter is suspected of being a child molestor by his ex wife. Penhall's subsequent belief of those same allegations complicates that writer's public life.

In "Whose choice is it anyway" Judy "Hoffs" Hoffs goes undercover as a pregnant teen to expose the threats which were being made against a family planning center by anti-abortionists. Before there was a federal law against clinic violence, owners and staff actually were at the mercy of their local law enforcement's priorities. This episode perfectly encapsulates then-present reality without boring the intended target audience.

The Jump Street division gets another hefty dose of politics when they attempt to bust the mayor's son for drug dealing. In 'fathers and sons' City Hall responds by trying to control who these cops can legally bust. The Jump Street cops are doing the right thing unless their actions hit too close to home.

Home is a visible theme throughout this season. Officer Harry "Ioki" Ioki (played by real life immigrant Dustin Nguyen) is an 'American cop' but continues to wrestle with Vietnam. During "The dragon and the angel" he learns of a way to get his grandmother out of Vietnam. After Ioki is seriously wounded in a dramatic two-part season finale "Loc'd out", Hanson honestly becomes motivated to seek revenge for that incident.

I adore both the first and second season of Jump Street, so obviously I couldn't wait until this one came to DVD. Unfortunately, I'm not quite as impressed with this season.

I found there to be some problems with the third season of 21 Jump Street. Here are just couple of them:

1) Johnny Depp intensely disliked the show, and desperately wanted out of his contract. He was tired of being labeled as a teenage "heartthrob", and so he didn't put as much effort into his acting. He even offered to do a season free if Fox would let him out of his contract. Because of his lack of enthusiasm, Depp isn't included in this season nearly as much. However, there are a few episodes in which Depp reportedly expressed interest in the script, so he actually attempted (and succeeded) to give a brilliant performance.

2) Although there are a few that are decent, most of the episodes are somewhat boring and cheesy. One example of this would be the episode called "Woolly Bullies." It's about Penhall and some bully troubles he's having, and the rest of the episode includes flashbacks of each of the Jump Street members' childhood bully experiences. One good thing about this episode is the guest appearance by Peter DeLuise's father and brother. Another disappointing episode is "What About Love?" where Officer Hoffs discovers she's been sleeping with a married man. There is one scene where a sad song is playing while the screen is showing Judy walking around in slow motion looking sad...for a lengthy three minutes! It literally seems like they ran out of good material to use.

Despite these problems, there are a couple of extremely good episodes. "Hell Week" is an enjoyable episode about fraternities and hazing. One episode, in particular, is probably Johnny Depp's best performance of the entire show. It's called "Swallowed Alive". In this episode, Hanson and Penhall go undercover as inmates in a juvenile prison in order to find out how heroin is getting in the prison. After a bloody fight, Hanson becomes the "Hammer" (the guy in charge), while Penhall is shipped off to a psychiatric facility after being locked up in solitary confinement (because of his claustrophobia). Hanson is all alone, and he contemplates the fact that everyone he has busted in the past ends up in this prison, which he considers Hell. This episode is Depp's most emotional performance, and the story is intriguing and suspensful.

So, if it hadn't been for the couple of good episodes, I would have given this season 2 or 3 stars. It is still a marvelous show, and all the characters are thoroughly enjoyable, especially Penhall (who is hilarious, as usual) and Captain Fuller. If you enjoyed seasons 1 and 2, you will most likely find this one entertaining as well. I just found a few episodes to be a little uninspiring.