The show is going to be getting very dramatic now, right after the pilot, so bear for a moment.

Assignment: Jonathan and Mark are assigned to help both a boy with a serious disease fulfill his last wish and a runaway kid who has given up on his life.

But first: the audience finally got the full opening. The scene is unbelievably slow, and manage to encapsulate the series ingenuity and good-heart at the core of it. Here it is, the first official introduction.

That’s what’s going to be like for the first three seasons; then, for some reasons, David Rose will slightly alter the score for the fourth and fifth season. Just, because.

And still about David Rose, he must really have a knack for synchronization: the Little House On The Prairie had that hilarious moment when Carrie tumbles over a fake plastic flower that was perfectly combined with a shift in the score. Well, something similar recurs here: the score begins as a mellow, ethereal tune over breathtaking shots of the sky. Then, as a cloud moves away and a ray of sun sparkles for just a fleeting moment, the music abruptly swells.

The panoramic sky fades away, the first minute of the pilot replays here: Michael Landon, whose character we now know is named Jonathan, walks over with his mysterious bag — what it contains is still a mystery. At least now we know why he looks like a convicted felon: he’s a “probationary” angel. Actually, his look may even be foreshadowing Landon’s new TV project after Highway conclusion, in which he would have really played a convicted felon on probation. However, that series never came to be due to his premature passing during its production. But let’s stay focused on this show.

Just back for a moment on the score again—longtime Little House fans might notice it sounds familiar. Well, they’d be right: it’s a rearrangement of the tune from the Season 9 episode Marvin’s Garden, just a bit more dramatic. Some viewers may have had already picked up on this in the pilot, but now it’s clearer as we’re seeing the scene in its final form.

Now, that’s why they sound familiar. And it’s not even from an early season.

That episode of Little House aired on 1983, just one year before Highway — but maybe they thought nobody watched the ninth season (they were right about that) and people in the audience were unaware of its existence. Also, this won’t be the last time one of his older tracks from Little House is recycled in this series.

Apparently, it was a common practice at the time for David Rose to rearrange some of his old music for a new TV show, as he had already done that multiple times for Little House as well. If somebody is really an old-timer: the very same Little House theme itself comes from a Bonanza episode.

This was that Bonanza track. It saved time and efforts to Dave Rose.

Now, back to Highway: it’s the same scene as in the pilot except this time, when Jonathan turns, there is no truck with Eddie Quillan approaching —it’s Mark in his staple Ford. Apparently, that’s the first scene they ever made on August 2, when production of this episode began and officially kicked off the series. There, Mark pulls over, smiles, and waits for Jonathan to get in before driving off the highway. And yes, as many have pointed out, the background when Jonathan trudges down the highway (a desert landscape) is different from the one where Mark picks him up (shot in Tucson). Explain that how you will.

Now, to the actual episode: a boy is playing with some toy rocket ship, and accomplishes his mission hinted at in the title.

He did it. End of the episode, closing credits. Bye.

Now, just a minute. Of course, it is just the prologue. That kid is Arthur, who is going to be part of the assignment.

But, hold on there: to anyone who grew up in the 1980s or had parents living in that period, his face must be familiar. Well, let’s see if this can stir up your memory a little.

That’s right. He is Barret Oliver, or the kid who played Bastian for many. And just one thing: that was released on august 1984 in the US, and this episode was shot that same month. Either the production was lucky enough to intercept him just moments prior his breakthrough or Landon predicted that beforehand. Maybe he really had powers.

Anyway, isn’t it curious: this show is set at the same time as Stranger Things. Just picture it: there are a bunch of kids trying to save the world against otherworldly creatures and at the same time, there is an angel walking on Earth with an ex-cop helping people.

So, about Highway, the main characters get in: Mark is driving with Jonathan through the second backdrop from the intro. There, first thing to notice: Jonathan is already wearing his official outfit—blue shirt, blue jeans, sometimes covered in his brown, “convicted felon” coat. It’s the same as the introduction, and it’s how he’s going to be for most of the series. Mark, on the other hand, still wears the blue-checkered shirt from the pilot (and the opening of this episode) which looks like a blue version of Mr. Edwards’ shirt from Little House — you know, the one he never changes over nine seasons of the series. So, not his official look yet. At least he still has his trademark A’s baseball cap.

Now, Mark is joyfully singing a 1922 classic melody on the radio, although Jonathan is not pleased by his friend’s vocals, to say the least.

So, he telepathically turns the music off.

A few thoughts come to mind here. First, what kind of station plays music that old? It’s like tuning into your regular fm modern radio station and suddenly hearing a choir sing Bringing in the Sheaves. However, keep in mind it’s 1984, so a 1922 song wasn’t as old then as it is now. Maybe it was not that uncommon to hear a local rural station still playing the ol’ goodies after all — or, more likely, the producers needed a song without copyrights.

Second, it’s hard to tell whether Mark’s off-key singing matches the actor’s real vocals or if French is so committed he’s able to convincingly sing badly. I mean, we already know form the pilot he was a method actor, and a damn good one, so that wouldn’t be a surprise.

Third, Jonathan and Mark already seem like two, old-time buddies knowing each other for a long time, despite only meeting, like, one episode ago; maybe it’s just the actors’ terrific onscreen chemistry. Anyway, we don’t actually know whether this is their first official job together (which they refer to as “assignment”), or if they’ve had worked off-screen on something else after the pilot’s conclusion.

Apparently, they had addressed this question in the first draft of the episode’s script. It originally went like this:

Jonathan and Mark are driving on the highway at night. Mark is at the wheel. Jonathan uses his powers — the “Stuff” — to suddenly halt the car, which startles and confuses Mark; then, Jonathan tells him they’ve just received an assignment.

At this point, the script reports a key passage.

Mark glances up and inquires: “He just gave it to you?”—to which Jonathan replies positively.

Then, there’s a comical moment where Mark tells Jonathan they’re running low on gas and Jonathan uses the Stuff again to instantly fill the car up — but, that’s not important here.

Now, in the series Mark never suspiciously looks up at the sky and asks that question whenever Jonathan gets a new assignment. So, it is entirely plausible that he does those things this time (or, at least, he was set to do those things in the script) because it is their first mission together and he’s still unsure about how the process of receiving an assignment works.

For some reason, however, this part was removed from the final version, which makes all of this just an assumption. It might be true, but it would still be unofficial.

Maybe they deliberately omitted that part because it would tie too much this episode to the Pilot, making them consecutive, while omitting it would have made this episode more similar to the rest of the season. That way, in case it aired multiple times during the year, it could be inserted almost seamlessly at any point and work all the same.

Anyway, back to the actual scene. Mark seems puzzled by the sudden interference on the radio, while Jonathan eschews any responsibility.

Then he admits he actually used his power to turn off the radio.

Now, it’s unclear if Mark’s expression to Jonathan’s confessions that he had used the power on the radio reveals more annoyance or rather some bewilderment, as he has just witnessed an angel breaking one of the Ten Commandments by lying to him. It seems like angels have feelings, too.

Then, as soon as Jonathan repairs it, he ironically tunes every single station to some random noises, and Mark reacts with what would become his catchphrase whenever Jonathan plays one of his harmlessly funny tricks on him.

“Cute, that’s cute, real cute“

It sounds more like a minced oath for a common swear word, but whatever.

Also, for the record: the “Cute” line wasn’t improvised on the spot; it could have been since French was known for his improvisations. But apparently, it is not the case here, as this particular line was already in the script.

Later, they pass a boy hitchhiking, just like Jonathan did in the previous episode: is he an angel too, you might be wondering.

No—he’s just a runaway. Not Barret Oliver from the beginning: he’s Tony LaTorre. Apparently, he was a child actor who retired from acting in 1988 and now has turned into a singer impersonator at various private events.

Back here: as they drive past him, Jonathan once again uses his power to abruptly halt Mark’s car, visibly irritating him. This kind of sequence—Jonathan abruptly halting the car and annoying Mark—is going to be played from time to time throughout the series, but on a very random basis. It seems like it was going to become a running gag, though it never actually happens. I mean, it just doesn’t occur as frequently as it should to qualify as running gag, unlike the “Cute”. Maybe it’s because this was just the first season, and the producers had planned to feature it more often than they ultimately did.

Or maybe they put that because they felt every TV show post The Dukes Of Hazzard must include one reckless driving joke scene. Or maybe they needed some action beat in the show to keep the audience awake.

Anyway, Mark’s reaction is a bit unusual.

Now, that’s odd: he doesn’t look startled or confused, as anyone would do in his place. I mean, when Jonathan tampered the radio, he was puzzled and said “What is this, what’s happening” or something like that. But now, he just seems annoyed and already knows it’s Jonathan’s magic. As if it had happened before and he saw it coming this time.

And in a way, it had: it was supposed to happen in the prologue of the original screenplay, remember — the moment which implied this was their first assignment together— but that part was scrapped from the episode.

Now, that first script would have included at least three notable features: the possible implication this assignment is their first one together; the first official account of Jonathan using his telepathic power; and the beginning of the recurring joke of Mark being annoyed by Jonathan halting the car. Without that setup, some moments in the episode feel a bit random.

Anyway, Jonathan orders Mark to make a U-turn and pick up the kid.

Because, you know, it’s a human need, isn’t it.

Anyway, they come back for the kid, Tony — right, apparently actor and character have the same name.

So, he refuses to tell his identity, but Jonathan doesn’t mind and they all stop to eat at a nearby place, together like a happy blended family. Tony refuses to go in, so Mark and Jonathan leave him unsupervised as they head inside.

There, another first for the series: Mark ordering an unabashedly amount of food.

Here, notice two things: first, Mark only takes a quick glance at the menu and closes it about three seconds later but he’s still able to remember all of that stuff. I mean, he either has feline eyes and a strong memory, or the actor simply memorized what to order before shooting the scene.

Second, in that heap of stuff he’s taking, he forgot the pancakes. I mean, what happened to that “Didn’t see any kid, I had my minds on pancakes“.

Anyway, Mark hastily explains the reason behind quantity of food:

So generous of him, isn’t it.

Because he thinks that the boy is a broke runaway too proud to accept charity. Very thoughtful, everybody’s thinking right now — except the boy, who is sneakily climbing into the front seat and drives away.

When Mark realizes it, he reasonably gets mad and asks Jonathan to do something, maybe with his power. This time, however, Jonathan is of no help, and he tells Mark to report the theft to the police on his own, as he has another assignment.

Then, he quietly leaves while Mark still keeps on talking to him.

I mean, he doesn’t even tries to cheer him up with one of his idealistic punchline. And then people say “A friend in need is a friend indeed”.

In the meantime, there is an hospital.

And from the board it reads “Queen Of Angels Hospital“. Apparently, it was a functioning hospital founded in the 1920s that also served as filming location for multiple Hollywood productions; in 1989, it was closed down and, in 1994, it was turned into the Dream Center, which instead is a social charity organization. Anyway, it just confirms that this episode takes place in California.

Here, a woman is arguing with a doctor in his office about her son’s disease.

Pause right here. Anything familiar in this? It’s not the actress for now, it’s the painting behind her: that’s the Little House, from the TV show, of course.

Click on the picture for the Model Replica.

Anyway, she is Mrs. Nealy, mother of Arthur — or Barret Oliver from the beginning, or simply Bastian. Played by Carrie Snodgress, the Academy Award–nominated actress for her role in “The Diary of a mad housewife” — which is not a revisited version of Little House with Caroline as the protagonist, despite the title might point that way. And they even share the same first name.

When she gets home, Jonathan knocks at her door.

He introduces himself as a fellow astronaut who went to the moon with her late husband.

That’s right, of all the possible works, they decided to go with a family of astronauts. And not just normal astronauts, like those who just have a spacewalk. Because that way would have been more believable — I mean, with space tourism approaching, everybody will go for a spacewalk once.

But no: he’s an astronaut who actually set foot on the moon.

I mean, they probably said: “If we are going to choose astronauts as the family’s profession, we are going to go fully in it”. Anyway, the woman believes him and invites him to go tell her son about his father’s lunar adventures.

Here, just some random context: apparently, Mrs. Nealy’s house is precisely at 10501 Kling St. in LA; that, according to Google Maps, is about 15 minutes drive from The Queen of Angels Hospital she was earlier — which is plausible.

However, keeping Google Maps open, there should be an even closer one, The Sherman Oaks in Van Nuys, just 10 minutes drive from her place. And it was founded in 1969, so it was there by the time this episode is set. That means Mrs. Nealy actually goes to a farther away hospital for her son’s treatment. Which, in case of emergency, is less plausible.

Also, the Sherman Oaks Hospital is the very same hospital where Victor French died in 1989, following a lung disease. But, again, just random context. Now, back to the episode.

Meanwhile, as Mark exits the police station, he happens to bump into his own car—that Tony is driving quite recklessly.

Though not more than Mark did in the pilot with his abrupt U-turns in the desert.

Mark immediately jumps into the limo on the left and orders the driver to give chase. As it is obvious in such cases, there is no famous singer or actor or whatever in the limo, but rather an old lady doesn’t mind Mark’s intrusion.

That old woman encouraging the driver to go faster is played by actress Margaret Wheeler, who would return in future episodes of the series.

So, after the chase, the boy eventually surrenders: he abruptly abandons the car and flees into an old apartment block. Mark rushes out of the limo—though not before thanking the driver for his service—and sees the boy entering one of the apartments.

Mark follows him and finds the kid’s grandma, who turns out to be an Italian immigrant woman. And she’s played by Penny Santon — also known as Pierina Burlando — actual Italian actress. Anyway, he informs her about her grandson’s crime.

And now, get ready for a showcase of a very typical Italian self-afflicting outburst example.

Finger pointing, so Italian.

And then she realized Mark was there.

And Mark stands there like this.

He must be thinking: “Boy, is she mad or something”

No, Mark, she’s just Italian.

I mean, she literally hands the boy over to a complete stranger—who, let’s not forget, is reasonably irritated as he had his car stolen and might well be tempted to seek justice through different ways rather than turning the boy to the police or something. But she doesn’t seem remotely concerned, and the boy follows Mark in his car.

At least Tony has some basic survival instinct and questions Mark’s intentions when he is told he is not going to press charges against him.

Fair enough, kiddo

Mark, though, is no longer the alcoholic man we met in the pilot; he’s a reformed person now. So, he gives him a choice.

Well, that would be a tough decision for anybody.

So, after some moments of reluctance, Tony makes up his mind.

But had he said jail, Mark would’ve probably taken him to have breakfast anyway. I mean, he still have to eat all that stuff he ordered earlier.

Anyway, Mark finds Jonathan at Mrs. Nealy’s address and tells him about Tony.

Then, Mrs. Nealy invites all of them to have dinner together.

Mrs. Nealy, you must be somewhat confused right now

I mean, she’s inviting some random guys she just met a few seconds ago to have dinner.

It’s totally relatable, considering what she’s going through with her son’s health, but she still should have taken the situation more seriously than that.

And there they are: an unheard-of colleague of her late husband, his random friend and a runaway boy they all just met that morning. Great, what could go wrong.

But reckless generosity doesn’t end here: when Arthur learns Tony doesn’t have a place to go, he invites him to crash in there.

Again, it’s hard to buy that Arthur is so desperate for companionship that he invites a complete stranger he met just hours earlier to sleep over—but that’s exactly what happens. And again, nothing could go wrong.

Except Tony remembers he’s a crook and sneakily burglarizes the house while everyone is asleep.

But Jonathan catches him at the front door.

So, Jonathan convinces him to stay by revealing that Arthur is severely ill and needs him as a friend. Notice how Jonathan hasn’t dropped a single punchline in this episode yet—he probably ran out of them in the first one.

It’s lunchtime the next day, and everyone is at the park enjoying themselves. Jonathan shows Arthur the peculiar behavior of animals who follow everybody instinctively, even when unrelated one another.

Arthur then grumbles that he wishes it were that easy for people to trust each other and Jonathan replies that it actually is. You know, people are just animals.

Now, are they really hinting at the possibility that Tony could be adopted by Arthur’s mother? Quick reminder: they only met the day before, and I don’t buy the idea that time is compressed for TV purposes.

Also — does Tony even want to stay with Arthur’s mother? I mean, Arthur should’ve confronted him about it earlier. Okay, maybe it’s just symbolic and he only wants Tony to be her friend, but still.

But, what’s even more ridiculous to an otherwise poignant scene is that, when Jonathan ends his preaching, they dramatically turn to watch what’s happening behind them. And there goes another example of those exuding ’80s moments.

So, Arthur’s still face as Tony moonwalks to impress Arthur’s mother and Mark. Very touching. But it must not have occurred to Tony that Mrs. Naealy’s husband literally walked on the moon—and that’s not how it works at all.

And another thing, isn’t that funny: she might even be taking this dance move as a symbolic link between her late husband and her soon-to-be surrogate son. Because that’s what’s going to happen, and by now everybody got that.

Back at the house, Arthur and Tony prepare for bed. Before hitting the sack, they have one final confrontation: Arthur finally confesses he’s ill and asks Tony to take care of his mother in case something happens to him.

Tony, in turn, admits Jonathan had already told him about his illness and reassures him he will stay with Mrs. Nealy in case something happened to him.

And now, yet another 80s moment — a time compressing one.

Now, there’s just too much going on I don’t even know where to begin with:

• first, one of those random 1980s uprorious laughter scene where characters just start laughing for no reason at all;
• then there’s a dog the family didn’t know to own that just makes a random appearance for the first time in the episode (really where did that come from), but it’s a short one as he’s about to drown in a pool and Mrs. Nealy seems to find this particularly fun, so she takes a picture instead of rescuing him (anyway, didn’t see any “no animal was harmed in the making of this episode” during the credits);
• everybody’s watching the TV, and look at Mrs. Nealy, what is she doing — stuffing all those popcorn in Tony’s mouth, does she wants to suffocate her soon to be son-in-law or something — while everybody’s laughing, just because;
• finally, the last scene at the park — well, there’s nothing wrong here, just that it will resemble the last episode of season one; but that’s for another time.

So, nothing wrong until now: Tony seems to be much at ease with his new mother (despite her attempts to murder him and the lack of perceived danger), while Arthur is happy for his mother and almost forget he’s ill. But, the episode reminds the audience it’s a drama, and suddenly Arthur is rushed to the hospital.

When his mother leaves his bedside, Jonathan suddenly appears to grant Arthur his final wish: to go to the moon. Interpret the dream however you will.

Jonathan tells him to look at the moon.

Slowly, he zooms on the window.

And the moon draws closer.

And closer.

And almost here.

Alright Houston we have a problem now. It’s about too close now. Please Jonathan do something.

Finally, Jonathan probably felt the same threat and put an end to it with one final punchline.

“You’re home now“.

Then, the assignment is complete, and they can move on the next one.

Well, it’s a bit random to conclude the episode just like this. I mean, no final scene with Jonathan and Mark leaving in Mark’s car and driving towards their new assignment (as it will become the habits for future episode), no goodbye to Mrs. Nealy or Tony, no funeral, anything. Just Landon with a sobbing face.

Credit where it’s due: it is going to become a recurring adjective throughout the series, but this episode was brave. I mean, how often do kids die in a TV show, or how often does a show openly deal with illness like this? And mind—these are the ’80s. And mind again, this was supposedly a “Christian drama” or a “wholesome show” or a “family-friendly show” or whatever. Actually, many “Christian” TV shows or movies have defied boundaries (see Gibson’s film), but this show was the first of its kind, which makes it even more impressive.

The ratings paid off too: this episode aired one week after the pilot and was similarly successful, although it lost about three points in ratings. But Jonathan and Mark’s assignments are just beginning, with more to come. Actually, when this episode aired for a second time on March 1985 , shortly before the conclusion of this first season — its ratings even improved a little. That might be a further evidence to show that, despite a struggle in ratings early on at the beginning of the season, Highway somehow experienced a larger success during the first months of the following year. And it is going to be very beneficial to the score of the second season as well.

Episode’s trademark features: Jonathan’s official shirt makes its first appearance; the invention of the “Cute” motto; the recurring joke of the car’s abrupt stop, to Mark’s annoyance; the 80s time-compressing sequence of people laughing with some jolly music in the background.