My Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades

My Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades
Season 1
Episode 5
Penhall gets into some mischief.
Episode Information
Airdate	May 3, 1987
Written by	Patrick Hasburgh; Stephen J. Cannell
Directed by	Gary Winter
Episode Guide
Previous	Don't Pet the Teacher
Next	The Worst Night of Your Life

“	Text of the quote	”
	— who said it

Short Summary

My Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades is the fourth episode of Season 1 of 21 Jump Street (TV series).

Full Summary

The episode begins with several young people—one woman with several men—walking out to their cars in the rain. The woman stumbles as the men help her in the car, indicating that she is likely inebriated.

In a liquor store, one of the young men tries to pay for several bottles of alcohol. When the attendant asks to see his identification, the young man claims "all [he has] is this $100" and hands it to the attendant, hoping to bribe him. The bribe works and he is allowed to leave with the alcohol. On a boat, the young woman pops a bottle of champagne and the group continues to drink. The next day, a paper boy on his morning route finds the young woman caked in mud, lying unconscious in a drainage ditch.

At the chapel, the investigator for the case relays the details to the Jump Street crew and reveals that the young woman, Kim Morgan, had died of "asphyxiation from aspiration," or as Penhall simplifies it, "choking to death." According to the investigator, she had a stamp on her hand from a dance she had attended the night before at West Chadway High School and had been seen leaving with three seniors. He believes drugs could be involved as well, but he would have to wait on the autopsy to know for sure. Hanson notes that she is underage, so if the boys gave her drugs that killed her, it would be considered "felony murder."

When asked why the investigator didn't question everyone at the party, particularly the ones who were last seen with Kim, he said that they had to give them preferential treatment because of the families and side of town they come from. Jenko uses this as a segue to let Penhall and Hanson know that they will be going undercover at West Chadway, with Ioki as backup and Hoffs taking care of the victim side of the case.

At West Chadway, Mr. Patton, the principal, takes Penhall and Hanson through their new class routine and informs them that the girls' school was "on the other side of the administration building." He notes that it's unusual for West Chadway to have mid-semester transfers, such as Penhall and Hanson, but that their records were good, aside from the mishap that got them "expelled" from their previous school.

In their first class, AP English, the teacher leads a discussion of the opening chapters of All the King's Men. Everyone, including Penhall, answers the discussion questions correctly, except Hanson, who makes a joke of his answer, prompting the class to believe him uneducated. The class begins chanting, "state college, state college" to drive this point home. The teacher settles the class and asks Scott Crowe to help Hanson. Crowe makes a snide jab at Hanson before answering the question correctly.

After class, Hanson and Penhall spot Crowe and Taylor Rolator talking in the hallway. Another student, Kerry Graham, joins them and tells them Kim Morgan had died. He asks what they should do about it, to which Crowe says they will do nothing. Rolator smiles, agreeing.

At a restaurant, Hanson and Penhall approach two young ladies sitting alone at a table. They tell the girls they are new there. Penhall compliments one girl's earrings and asks to try one on. The girl consents, giving him her earring. The girl asks if this means she and Penhall are "going steady." Penhall replies that he will let her know, and the two sit down with the girls.

Crowe, Rolator, and Graham then approach, calling Penhall and Hanson "refugees" and mocks Penhall for wearing a women's earring. Penhall retorts that they should get their ears pierced, telling the girls to "hand him that fork." Penhall then relays that he was kicked out of his former school due to "honor code issues." Crowe makes it known that Rolator is the president of their honor council, to which Penhall asks if he "can be bought," winning over the group of boys.

At Kim Morgan's house, Hoffs offers her condolences to Morgan's mother then prompts her for information on the party she went to the night she died. Her mother expresses that nothing different had happened at that party than the multiple other parties she had been to in the weeks preceding her death. She expresses regret at allowing Kim to go to all of those parties, indicating that she was a difficult child to raise, especially after her father died.

When asked about the boys Kim hung out with from West Chadway, Kim's mother quoted her daughter as saying, "I can marry more money in a minute than I can make in a lifetime." She reportedly told her daughter that boys from West Chadway don't marry from the "East side." Then, Vinny, Kim's brother, walks in, unimpressed by Hoffs. He claims he knows, "three rich boys got [his] sister so drunk that it killed her" and that "no matter how much hell [he raises], they're never going to see the inside of a jail cell."

Penhall joins Crowe, Rolator, and Graham in the "fun club," where they drink and snort cocaine. Evidently, the "fun club" needs a new meeting spot for the following week, and they ask if they can have it at Penhall's house. Penhall makes the excuse that his mom would be there, so they could not but that Hanson's parents were "always out of town." Just then, a man claiming to be Crowe's "business partner" (though their reception of him insinuates they are not on great terms) walks in with a case full of cash. Crowe tells him they cannot make another (assumed drug) run for him this semester, because they are too busy with school. The man retorts that they seemed to have plenty of time for a "date" the previous weekend, information that Graham is shocked that the man seems to know. He assures them that he has "cleaned it up" and tells Crowe that as long as they're using his place to party, he will use Crowe's dad's plane to make his runs. Crowe takes the case from the man, accepting the conditions. Rolator suggests that Penhall would be a good "runner," telling him he will need his passport for "an adventure." Penhall seems slightly concerned about this development.

At the chapel, a frustrated Hoffs relays that she has spoken with a number of people close to Kim and they have all said the same thing: "We're not dealing with Gidget, here," indicating the girl did not have a clean reputation. She believes it might not even be a homicide, based on the picture Kim's friends and family have painted of her for Hoffs. Penhall then draws the conclusion that it furthermore, wasn't a rape. Hoffs makes it clear: "[I]t's a rape as soon as she says no."

Cast

Main Cast

• [Actor] as [Character]

Persons of Interest Notes

Character hyperlink

• Relationship to the Case:
• Known Associates:
• Rapport with Jump Street Officers:
  • JS Officer Name hyperlink: Description of relationship/interaction

Summary of role in this episode.

Music

Song	Performer	Scene
"Song 1"	Artist 1
"Song 2"	Artist 2
"Song 3"	Artist 3
"Song 4"	Artist 4

Notes and Trivia

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Quotes

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