Season 1 Overview

After taking one week break from the previous episode, now Highway is back. That’s because that year, NBC had to air the Baseball World Series, which fell exactly the day this Highway show was scheduled too, so they moved it the next week. It wouldn’t be the first time that happens: every year they are going to skip one week of Highway on the second week of October (And that will happen from the first to the fourth season), but then they’ll be back.

Anyway, despite the title suggests a Western, the episode is actually less so than the previous one (it’s not a comic one though). Also, it’s the first airing episode of the series directed by French rather than Landon, although it isn’t the first in chronological order; it’s actually the second he directed, but for some reason, the episode that he had directed before this aired one month later.

Assignment: Jonathan and Mark are assigned to help both a mother reconnect with her daughter and a woman reclaim her job from a corrupt gambler.

The initial part is similar to the previous two episode: Jonathan and Mark are driving to the next assignment. This will be established as the way most episodes will begin for the rest of the series.

But now they have abandoned the Los Angeles setting and to the barren “Vast desert of the American Southwest” (as the script describes it). About that: it was apparently written by three different people, one being Dan Gordon (series headwriter, already discussed about him), but there is very few about the other, except they were a couple, and retired in the 1990s following the death of one of them.

Either way, it was produced in Tucson, Arizona (the same place where they made the final part of the Pilot). And that’s the only episode of the first half of the season produced out of California; because that State doesn’t look like desert enough.

Now, during the trip, Mark makes a casual reference which Jonathan doesn’t appreciate much.

And the car abruptly breaks down.

Cute, Jonathan.

Curiously, there are very few mentions by Mark of that word in the series. Maybe that’s because he has learnt the lesson after this episode.

Anyway, they are forced to stop at a gas station, where Jonathan overhears a young girl singing by the street. He approaches her, and it turns out she’s an aspiring singer who spends most of her time performing there.

The actress is Michele Greene and she is a real singer, so it might be she actually played the guitar. Unlike Landon and his fiddle on Little House. But also French and the accordion during season nine.

Who was he trying to fool, really.

Anyway, the girl reveals that her mother was once a country singer as well.

But she passed away years ago, leaving her with little memory of her.

Then, she is called back by her father, the gas station’s owner.

Also, about the actor: he’s Jerry Hardin, who had already collaborated with Landon in 1979 for the fifth season of Little House, where he made an appearance playing a desperate folk robbing Landon’s character of some medicine.

Back to Highway: once the car is repaired, Jonathan and Mark head to a saloon, where Mark reads about a host night featuring Patsy Meynard, a singer he claims is one of the best.

A fictional one, of course.

But by now, it’s clear that Mark has a thing for old, copyright-free material — and presumably for the sake of producers. Like that time in To Touch The Moon when he Jonathan shut the radio off.

Also, it’s curious to hear French talking about “western”, considering how the actor was fond of it.

Anyway, they enter, and are hired by the owner Nick to sponsor that night event.

And everyone knows her.

Then, they witness they witness Nick casually mistreating his employee Trudy over her food.

Maybe he says this every time, but more likely it’s just to establish him as the antagonist for the audience.

So, apparently, early on in the series, they seemed to feel the need to give the story a clear protagonist and antagonist, which felt a bit forced and childish too. Later, they realized it was rather simplistic and moved away from the simple view of the world of either good or bad characters, instead working on creating more nuanced ones, sometimes even helping the antagonist along the way. But for now, it’s the beginning of the series, so Nick’s role as the villain is clear. And he’s smoking a cigar and has a cowboy hat, just to make it further clear this was the deep south and not California.

Also, Trudy seems to be just as enslaved as the elderly in the Pilot if she’s willing to be treated like that. At this point, the series must have problems with people accepting to be like that. But at least she has a reason for it.

That she likes being enslaved?

Sorta.

Apparently, she used to run the saloon with her husband until he lost it to Nick in a gambling game. So, her husband died and now she remains because it reminds her of her old times there.

Although, as she goes on, the place has changed now.

Of course, what could people in such a town use it for, a secret literary circle for angels maybe.

That was close.

Even though there should be no problem with that, considering Jonathan’s attitude in the Pilot about that. Or maybe they wrote this episode to make it clear that the series is against gambling. Unless your elderly house is at stake, of course.

Later that night, Jonathan and Mark are hired to look after the saloon, and Mark checks around the room.

But, hold on there: where does the cowboy hat come from.

So, Mark gave up on his trademark A’s cap just to fit the idea that it’s the deep south, and everyone is a cowboy there. Just like Nick with that cigar all the time. It’s the only time in the series Mark has a different cap on.

Anyway, just like a dutiful sheriff, he reports to Jonathan what’s in there.

Essentially, everything’s rigged.

As though he were some expert gambler.

Also, there’s something weird about it: Mark just notices these problems by giving a quick glance some seconds around the gambling room earlier. I mean, if he could notice that, it’s just too hard to believe none of the locals realizes it’s all rigged as well.

Anyway, they are interrupted when Patsy Meynard finally kicks off the event.

And he introduces as a “former great”, as if he were fooling her.

Anyway, after the show, Patsy is about to go home when she is approached by Tim, the gas station’s owner, who calls her “Evelyn”, revealing that “Patsy Meynard” is actually the mother of that girl who was singing by the station earlier, and that she’s not dead, but she ran away to pursue her dream of becoming famous.

Then, he confronts her about her abandonment years ago.

And she confronts him about his unforgiving attitude.

And he realizes she’s right.

You brought it up in the first place.

Anyway, he warns her their daughter is planning to subscribe to the contest the next day, so he asks Evelyn, just in case they met, to conceal her true identity from her, otherwise she’ll run away to pursue her dream.

But she disagrees about that.

She really said that.

But eventually, she does that, and when the next day, the girl arrives to subscribe for the talent show, Evelyn hides introduces her with her fake name.

That’s back in those days when you couldn’t easily look up the real name of some singer, and you can’t know if Patsy is a real name or not. Just like people likely didn’t know Michael Landon was born with the name “Eugene Orowitz”, though he eventually changed it and used Landon even in his private life.

This wouldn’t work now.

In the meantime, Trudy tells Jonathan about the night her husband gambled the place.

And he lost it.

Then, she’s abruptly fired by Nick, just because.

And she walks aimlessly around the aisle.

It seems like she’s about to sing as well.

Suddenly, there is a hand.

Where did that come from? Like, there’s no way she didn’t see him there.

So, she tells her to go have some gambling, just because.

It’s impossible Jonathan really told her that.

Really, her husband lost everything at gambling and now, Jonathan wants to convince her to give it a try again. Maybe that’s another warning to the audience: never gamble, unless you have an angel to back you up.

And she is pretty confused about it.

Still, she’s too desperate and accepts it.

Here, the music playing as she talks to him is going to be recycled multiple times in the future episodes, particularly when the characters are at some country place. Because here’s no point in creating multiple background score when they can pretend that everyone across the Country listens to the same stuff (which is likely the same as Mark some episode ago).

So, that night, she follows this advice and gambles a dollar.

And she wins the first match.

Now, people might believe she stops right here. I mean, she knows what’s gambling like, she has experienced firsthand how her husband was winning but he couldn’t stop because he was “on a roll” and eventually lost, that’s exactly what she told Jonathan earlier. So, she’d better stop while she still can, before she gets caught up by her streak just like her husband.

Instead, she does something weird: she turns to Jonathan, he winks at her, and she keeps on playing.

I mean, what is that supposed to mean: that Jonathan is encouraging her gambling, like she wanted some comfort and Jonathan reassured her to play again. Or that she knows he’s an angel and she won just because he used the “Stuff”, his powers. Either way, it just won’t work: if Jonathan were really helping her with the “Stuff”, then he could have just told her that the truth, not that he’s an angel, but that he knew the game was rigged to make Nick win, so he secretly rigged it back to make people win (without mentioning his powers) and that she should be choosing a specific number because that’s where he fixed the wheel.

Otherwise, this way it seems more like she believes she won by luck and he were encouraging her to keep gambling, with the chance it will get over her head just like her husband. It’s quite clear now why Jonathan’s still on probation: what kind of angel would encourage gambling. Or maybe he knows she’s a good person and it won’t be the case.

Anyway, she keeps rolling, and Nick orders Jonathan to do his job.

It’s time to for Jonathan to go back to work, and teach Nick a lesson: he uses the “Stuff” to let everyone win something.

But that doesn’t really work: I mean, if Jonathan were using the “Stuff” to make everybody wins, then he could have used it in the Pilot as well, during the final race, instead of pretending that it was beyond his will. Unless it were to be implied that he can use the “Stuff” now because the game is rigged and there is no other way. So, learn the lesson: gambling is bad, unless it were against a despotic Southern man.

Maybe you should tell him to stop working, or to work without being enslaved by you.

Then, Jonathan suddenly appears back to the gas station (likely he used the power to go there instantly) and tells Tim that his wife didn’t tell their daughter her identity.

So, Tim decides to forgive Evelyn about her past, and he’s alerted that a woman got stuck in the “Interstate 80”, so he goes there with Jonathan.

Of course, Evelyn is that woman, and instead of a confrontation, he apologizes to her and acknowledges her efforts.

And she does the same.

Eventually, they reconcile.

While Jonathan is hooking Evelyn’s car, apparently. Because he knows how to do that.

Then, they all come back to the saloon, where Trudy informs Evelyn she won the place back.

But Jonathan believes she’s kidding, and she convinces him.

I mean, this is curious for two things: one is that Jonathan is faking his feeling, because he knows she broke Nick, as he allowed it to happen in the first place. And the other is that she has to tell him she’s not kidding on his life. The audience knows he’s an angel (and he’s not alive), so it’s not the right choice of words.

Anyway, she also tells him Nick will be working there as employer and there will be no gambling anymore.

Before someone else won the place again.

Not sure it was good, though. I mean, if gambling was successful, it surely means there was somebody who liked it, and who is not going to go to that saloon anymore now.

Anyway, Evelyn gets to the saloon and joins her daughter to sing, while Jonathan tells Mark it’s time to for them to move on — but not before he drains the beers from the glasses around.

Basically, gambling is good on some occasion, but drinking is never.

Or maybe he wanted to prevent Mark from drinking it (remember he’s a recovered alcoholic, but he may always come back).

Cute, Jonathan.

Also, notice that Landon (unlike French) isn’t watching the glasses on the table, but rather someone directly. Probably somebody in the production who was making faces. And that leads to a horselaugh.

Apparently, it was written that their characters silently walk away, but they improvised this laugh instead; likely they didn’t even plan it, but it just happened like that.

It’s palpable they were really having fun making this series.

So, this episode aired in October 1984, exactly two weeks after the previous one (the first episode of the series to air after one week break). That might have had a slight negative impact on the ratings, as it lost over two points compared to its predecessor and on that week, it didn’t rank as high as other shows.

That’s not a good way to continue the series, especially considering that it’s just the beginning of the season. But maybe it was likely because the series had to build its audience yet.

Actually, just like To Touch the Moon, when this episode will air a second time on March it will improve the ratings. Maybe it’s just that the first half of the season, with all the episode before Christmas, weren’t much successful. Or maybe it’s the serie sthat had to find the right foot.