In the aftermath of the previous episode: Penhall still thinks the partner (Officer Adabo) he got assigned to work with while on uniformed patrol killed a kid by pushing them off a roof and is an abusive cop who thinks he's above the rules. When Captain Fuller makes it clear he doesn't believe Penhall's suspicions of Adabo being a murderer, Penhall resigns from his uniformed patrol duty and Hanson takes over instead.
Now working with the suspected Dirty Cop Adabo, Hanson actually thinks Adabo, though he's pretty rough towards suspects, didn't kill the kid Penhall thinks he did. Penhall, now disbelieved by both his boss Fuller and his best friend Hanson, then becomes even more desparate to prove Adabo committed murder.
When Penhall consequently pours his heart out, because he's frustrated about this situation, towards Judy, he and Judy kiss each other and almost have sex, which makes for an awkward situation since they are co-workers.
Hanson, now as a uniformed police officer, again runs into Ronnie Seebok, a teenager he arrested in the previous episode and who's now roaming the streets again.
Judy still tries to connect with Darlene, the girlfriend of the previously murdered Ozzie, but Darlene is pretty much hitting rock bottom now.
This episode provides examples of:
- Bittersweet Ending: Ronnie turns out to NOT have been involved in the murder of Ozzie, but at the end he's still roaming the streets freely doing crime. Adabo turns out to have murdered Ozzie, but instead of making a Heel–Face Turn, he commits suicide at the end. Doug is proven to be right about his suspicions about Adabo, but this leads to Adabo committing suicide. Darlene applies for a rehabilitation program in order to stop using drugs, only to hear that she can't enroll for another four months.
- Corrupt Cop: Penhall is still convinced that the cop (Adabo) he did street duty with in the previous episode, killed a kid by pushing them off a roof, amongst other violence against citizens. These suspicions turn out to be right at the end.
- Crapsack World: As evidenced in the page quote: the 21 Jump Street officers, even though they themselves already are used to a big share of crime and social problems from their previous cases, are shocked at just how bad the people living in the neighborhood (the Piedmont) this episode takes place in have it; crime and violence is rampant, nobody has a job and everybody is addicted to drugs and even the cops working there have all turned cynical and rogue and have taken matters into their own hands.Penhall: What's going to happen to these people?Officer Adabo: They will die.
- Darker and Edgier: While most episodes of the series deal with heavy stuff (it's essentially about troubled teens and social problems, after all), the more serious/tearjerkery main plotline usually is accompanied by a more comedic and lighthearted sub-plot. This episode however stands out by lacking any lighthearted or funny scenes/subplots, and it only has very grim scenes (see Crapsack World).
- Office Romance: Subverted. Penhall almost sleeps with his close police co-worker Judy, but they don't go through with it and afterwards decide to remain strictly co-workers and friends; afterwards, this moment is never mentioned in the series againnote .
- Series Continuity Error: Hanson mentions in this episode that he's been working with Penhall for "about six months". But in In-Universe reality that must be about 18 months or a year and a half, seeing that in Real Life the series has lasted about 18 months at this point and that In-Universe time flows at the same speed as Real Life time does.note
