Season 1 Overview

Airdate: 01/16/1985

Directed by: Michael Landon

The previous episode was a crime story, so now the series needed to compensate with a more outright dramatic one—a good one, too. But it’s also a very unusual, starting from the title: it sounds like a very odd title for an episode, and belongs to the category of those very confounding ones, with no apparent relation whatsoever to what happens in here. I mean, who are the “Angels” and why is it plurals. It will be clear by the end of the episode, though.

Trademark Features:

• Assignment

This episode marks the first time Jonathan and Mark are assigned to help two people fall in love, or something like it. Actually, there has already been an episode with a similar premise: it was Hotel Of Dreams, with its “Cinderella” story between the maid and the titular Hotel’s owner, concluding with their wedding and their vow to rescue animals together. However, that episode actually features multiple, unrelated assignemnts, such as the doozy kid Mark deals with or the old actress pining for her lost colleague — and then it included the love story one. Instead, this episode just revolves around it. And there are going to be many more of these “love assignments” in the future, including others in this same season.

• Jonathan’s Wings (or the “wings mystery”)

Presumably, the “one-winged” part of the title is a reference to Jonathan’s wings. Now, before any legitimate question, here’s the myth about them: apparently, in the original idea, the definition of being a “probationary” angel was an angel without wings. Through each assignment successfully carried out, Jonathan would gradually earn wings to eventually ascend to Heaven. Such synopsis has multiple implications: first, Jonathan’s work on Earth is actually motivated by personal desire to ascend to Heaven, and not to help people selflessly. Second, that he actually has never been to Heaven in the first place. Quite something, isn’t it.

Except it is not the case. That’s right: in the pilot, when he confesses Mark his identity, he never, ever, tells anything about his wings or something related to them. And nobody talks about this in the series neither. Actually, the first time Jonathan mentions his wings is in the season two Halloween Special episode, but that’s it, nothing more.

Yet, somehow, it must have taken foot between the audience, and many people (who probably only heard of the series without watching it or just forgot much about it) still believe that there are some wings involved in all of this — the “wings mystery” (which is part of the “Highway of Mysteries” as well).

This idea is so popular that, by looking the series up, every synopsis includes something related to Jonathan’s wings. And that was also the way the series currently appears everywhere, like in the official image on the season one episode list, depicting one boundless Highway and Jonathan lonely carrying a bag (that only appears in the Pilot and not anymore) and walking in a convicted felony attitude with some wings projected behind him.

No idea how it all came to be, and people believes it’s all about wings.

More details on both the “probationary angel” definition and Jonathan’s wings at the “Guidelines and map” entry “Angels, probation and wings“, right after the “Assignments” part.

Anyway, what it all boils down to is that the title of this episode might be the first reference to Jonathan’s wings in the whole program — or so it seems like. Because one other way to see it is that the title could describe anybody’s wings — it applies to Mark or to the people in the audience. That way, they are not actual wings, and the “angels” (plurals) in the title could be explained as a “every human being”, or something like it.

• Background

It’s rather unclear when this assignment take place: it is plausible that it’s on January 1985, maybe some time after the conclusion of the latest episode, but it’s hard to say precisely, as there are no indications whatsoever. As for the episode time-span, it seems that it lasts about one week. That’s implied at the beginning, when Jonathan tells Mark to “Sit back” for this assignment.

Of course, that’s not going to happen, but Mark will still believe it for a moment.

So, they are going to be staying by the lake for a week. However, the vacation is cut short when Jonathan decides to pack up earlier (after giving Libby the flowers), and it’s probably not a whole week, but still not as long as other assignments.

• Characters

In this episode, Mark tries to smoke again. It had already (and randomly) been revealed in Hotel Of Dreams that he’s smoker, but that time they quickly dismissed it when Jonathan made that startling revelation he was a human and died of smoking at a young age, and Mark made a face like “Alright, I Get It, I quit now”. But, apparently, Mark didn’t learn his lesson — or maybe the producers realized they didn’t properly address this problem — so they expanded on this here as well. Eventually, by the conclusion of this episode Mark promises he quits, and nobody will further discuss his problem with smoking ever again in the series.

Actually, just during one episode in the fifth season there is going to be a brief mention of it when Mark is asked to take some cigarettes, and he’ll admit that he doesn’t smoke anymore. So, this time will be the last he will have cigarettes around. Maybe they wrote this story to address this problem once and for all, which Landon doesn’t consider as serious as Bums, Bins, Drugs, apparently.

Finally, when Mark tells Jonathan he’s happy to have a vacation and a “whole week of fishing“, it’s the first time Mark reveals he likes fishing, which he will be doing also in some future episodes. But again, he won’t get much time to do that here.

• Production and Settings.

As for the settings, this episode was produced in the city of Copperopolis, in California. In particular, the motel where much of the assignment takes place is the Lakes Treatment Centre, which is actually standing nowadays.

It looks much livelier now than in the episode, though.

The building is currently by the Lake Tulloch, prominently featured in the episode as well.

Instead, production of this episode took place by the beginning of December 1984. Even though it’s rather unclear when it was produced specifically, it’s possible to work that out. Apparently, the screenplay was completed November by Jan Heininger, and production of most episodes (excluding those very early in the seasons) usually took place around two or three weeks later.

Now, considering they produced one episode at the time, it is plausible to assume this episode was produced at the beginning of December, immediately after December 4, when they concluded the latest one.

It’s likely production took about one week, as most episodes (the longest one are 10 days). After completing it, they probably began working on Going Home, Going Home right away and then took some two weeks break for the Christmas holiday, at last.

• Highway Actors

In the episode, the character of Earl will play relevant role in the assignment.

However, the actor is John Lawlor and should be kept in mind, as he would appear again in one episode of the fourth season, playing a different character. He’s going to be one of the few actors appearing in more than one episode of the series.

• References

When Jonathan used the “Stuff” against Earl and is confronted by Mark about it, he tells him that he forgot how hard and painful it is to leave somebody that you love behind. There, Mark replies by seemingly aknowledeging that.

Now, this may be just a casual sentence, but it could also be a reference to Mark’s love story with Stella in Help Wanted: Angel, that concluded pretty dramatically. If that were the case, then this would make it the first time in the series Mark applies what he has learned so far to a new assignment: on that episode, Jonathan taught Mark the importance of love and how to properly appreciate it, while now it is Mark that reminds Jonathan of such lesson.

Also, on that episode, when Jonathan warned Mark about the thriving love story with Stella, then Mark dismissed Jonathan and believed he wouldn’t understand his feelings, claiming that angels don’t need a “woman to love” or to spend life with. Now, this episode reveals that Jonathan is still a man (even though as angel), and actually falls in love with a woman. But Mark acknowledges that, and teaches Jonathan how his feelings are his strength, and how he actually never

• On the “Stuff”

The most relevant part is Jonathan’s strength in the episode: he has already proved to be capable of otherworldly force when he needs to (and Plane Death episode was a remarkable instance), that he resorts to even in case when it’s unnecessary (again, on Plane Death an example of this), but he always got along with the idea that, if he can do that, he’s allowed to. Here, instead, he actually throws a ball just with the purpose of hurting someone who is seemingly innocent. Of course, maybe it was necessary for the assignment, or maybe he was allowed to even though it was wrong in order to see that it was a mistake and learn by it, and so he won’t be doing that anymore. Still, it’s unclear. But it could be, as this episode brings a new idea on what it takes to solve an assignment, its burdens and its teachings for everyone.

Glossary:

“Cute“. This episode contains one “Cute” instance. However, it won’t be for Mark this time, but rather Jonathan: when he reveals he stayed out late dancing with Libby, Mark jokes that she must have enjoyed spending time danncing with an angel.

And Jonathan probably didn’t see that coming, and laughs back.

This marks the first time in the series when it’s Jonathan that says “Cute” to Mark, and not the other way. It happens very rarely (only twice in the first season, incluidng now), but it reveals that Mark can be particularly cunning as well.

Doozy. The son of Libby is just a doozy kid. For instance, at the beginning he’s shown throwing a ball to the motel’s guests, just because.

Then, when he finds out that his mother is dating Jonathan, he decides to slash the tires of Jonatahn’s car (which is actually Mark’s for that matter).

But Jonathan uses the Stuff to restore them and blow off the kid’s ball instead.

This power will be used again in the series.

Recycle: in this episode, David Rose will decide to recycle some compositions from earlier assignments. In particular, there are two melodies from Help Wanted: Angel that were featured here on two consecutive moments: somebody decided to throw in the dramatic score they used for Mark and Stella’s poignant wedding at the conclusion of that episode for the part when Earl buys some flowers to Libby in this episode.

But this episode is unworthy of that composition, so let’s move on.

Immediately after that, when Earl decides to get rid of the flowers, that somebody (who was probably watching Help Wanted: Angel for the first time) now decided to use the melody featured in the flying seagull part.

I mean, they’re the same — except for the sound of the seagull, of course

So, they recycle two different parts of Help Wanted: Angel for two consecutive moments on this episode.

Curiously, that seagull moment will be a recycle again in the future seasons (compare to season two episode “The Secret” and season three episode “A Father’s Faith“); at least the producers really appreciate that episode.

Highway Of Mysteries: at the conclusion of the episode, there’s a part where Jonathan packs up a luggage with clothes, before leaving the motel. However, that seems odd for multiple reasons: one is that Jonathan is an angel, so he doesn’t need a bag for toothbrush or anything, and he could use the “Stuff” to have clothes without carrying a bag around. Second, that bag is just shown for the first time here. I mean, when did he precisely buy that.

Unless they wanted to imply that is actually Mark’s bag and Jonathan is such a friend that he’s packing it up for him.

Also, that brings up an old problem from the series: where is Jonathan’s “convicted felony” bag that he carries in the introduction of each episode, then at the beginning and conclusion of the Pilot, and then it’s not seen anymore in the series.

Again, what was in that bag.

At this point, the bag likely carries clothes, and by the time he created the Pilot, Landon simply didn’t figure Jonathan wouldn’t need them anymore in the series. I mean, Landon probably didn’t have a clear idea of what the series was going to be like either.

Highwayman. This episode is written by Jan Heininger, and he’s the first Highwayman of the series. Just to be clear, the highwaymen are those writers that were not regulars in the series (like Dan Gordon), and instead contributed to possibly just one episode. In this case, such Heininger wrote this episode and nothing more in the show. Actually, he’s a mystery nowadays: apparently, this episode of Highway was his first contribution as a writer in his career. Then, he wrote a bunch of episodes in “Scrubble“, a 1980s game show, and basically he’s not credited for much later: informations about his career are missing after the 1990s anywhere. He seemingly retired, but it’s unclear now.

The “Stuff” powers: In the episode, Jonathan will be able to blow air off of a ball with the “Stuff”. But he’ll also be able to blow a water balloon against the doozy kid.

Or maybe the kid was just so clumsy he pressed too much.

Anyway, Jonathan laughs at him.

Again, Landon must think it is particularly humorous to get water on people (on Hotel Of Dreams there’s more).

Then, there’s also an instance of Landon the Mechanic, when he repairs Mark’s tires slashed by the doozy kid.

Punchline. This episode, like many, features some punchline moments. In particular, there are two of them to point out. So, the first one is when Mark takes Jonathan fishing, and there’s something unusual: Mark asks Jonathan some help.

Of course, Jonathan is such a great friend that he refuses to — but with a punchline.

Now, the weird part is not Jonathan that refuses to assist his friend. I mean, there’s already been already past instances of that (already in the second episode “To Touch The Moon” there’s one). The point is the reason behind it: Jonathan refuses to kill animals.

That must have some implications for the character. I mean, if he refuses to be part of killing animals, then he shouldn’t be eating them either. It’s important to keep in mind because, on some future episodes, he will go to the restaurant and will actually take meat (that will happen very soon in this season).

Anyway, the second moment is the slew of punchlines that Mark has been keeping up his sleeves when Jonathan is crestfallen after breaking the rule with the Stuff.

During the confrontation, Mark proposes a different idea of their job. Basically, it implies that Jonathan and Mark are not just the passive vehicles the series uses to get to the actual story of the assignment — and they only serve to the purpose of shedding a light on some problems society is facing at that moment. Instead, it’s the reverse: the assignment is the vehicle and Jonathan and Mark are the subjects. It means that Jonathan and Mark should not take an assignment as: “We are assigned to help this person making this choice at this life crossroad”, but rather “We are assigned to learn from them, with them”. A different way to put it.

Assignment: Jonathan and Mark are assigned to help both a divorced woman and her ex-husband’s best friend get through their emotional problems.

So, Jonathan and Mark are headed to the lake.

Curiously, the landscape will be recycled in a second season episode set in New York, although now they are in Lake Tulloch — pretty much the other side of the country.

Anyway, they are headed to the lake, and Jonathan is doing the driving this time.

At this point, it seems that whenever an episode begins with Jonathan driving, it is a signal that the show will be a peculiar one.

Eventually, they arrive at a motel.

It probably went through some renovations, it looks so different now.

Then, Jonathan meets Libby, the motel’s recently divorced owner.

Later, they take a walk together by the lake.

However, Mark becomes increasingly worried about Jonathan’s real feelings for her. So, that night, Mark confronts his friend about it.

But Jonathan reassures him it’s all part of the assignment, and explains his great strategy.

So, Jonathan believes the best way to push Earl to act is by making him jealous— a plan that never actually worked on multiple Little House shows, like on one episode in season two, or another episode in season five, for example. I mean, Landon is really obsessed with this idea of having people fall in love by making them jealous — or maybe he just forgot he had already featured such trope before.

Instead, Mark (or French, at least) must have recalled that TV series, as he looks wary and rather skeptical about it.

He’s like: “We were both on Little House, we know there’s no way it’s gonna work out”.

The next day, Jonathan invites Earl to join a game of football with Libby’s doozy son.

When the game begins, Jonathan and the boy seem to be having fun—until Earl actually joins, just as Jonathan had hoped.

Upon seeing Libby and Earl together, Jonathan suddenly feels jealous and uses the “Stuff” to throw a football a bad ball at Earl, seemingly injuring him.

Now, hold on: was he really allowed to do that? In previous episodes, Jonathan was forbidden from using the “Stuff” against the will of his superiors. But here, he uses it to hurt someone—who seems innocent. Maybe Earl wasn’t entirely innocent after all, or maybe this was somehow justified, if Jonathan has to learn from his mistakes. Or maybe Jonathan didn’t use his power, and he’s just good at playing football.

Anyway, Mark understands Jonathan hit Earl on purpose, and they looks at each other.

That night, Jonathan stares blankly at the lake, and Mark joins him.

This time, it’s Mark who delivers the punchline — because, you know, he has gained some experience from hanging around Jonathan all these assignments.

So, they have a touching and very heartfelt conversation in which Mark argues that no assignment should be dealt with in a detached or impartial way, but with empathy and emotional involvement. Then he adds thas and deep down, Jonathan is still a man—even if he’s dead and now an angel—so it’s natural for him to make mistakes and learn from them.

This sheds new light on Jonathan and Mark’s work: there’s no assignment that only involves one subject (Libby, Earl, a runaway kid, a busy actor, a car dealer, etc.): Jonathan and Mark are always part of that process too. In each assignment, for any episode, they get to the front line to help those people, and they are changed from each one — finishing every assignment differently than they began it. So, to some extent, any assignment it’s not just about someone else, but it also involves them, challenging them and teaching something to them as well. Because they can make mistakes, grow with them and eventually getting to be better themselves — alongside those in the assignments as well.

Also, it could offer an explanation to this episode’s title: it’s possible that it describes Jonathan’s probation and wings. However, it’s “One Winged Angels”, I mean, “angels” is plural even though only Jonathan is one. So, that might imply that everybody, like Mark or the people in the audience, can actually be angels, or act like one. And “One winged” angel means that such angel is imperfect, as everybody is. Otherwise, it would have been “Two winged angel” or just “A winged angel”, of course assuming that angels must have two wings in the first place. Still, that doesn’t matter as long as those who act like angels do it for a good purpose.

This idea that anyone can help other people their own way (even without being angels) was already mentioned in the Pilot — especially in its concluding moments. However, that time Jonathan discussed it to to Mark by telling him that it doesn’t take to be an Angel to be able to act like one and do some good, while this time, they put it quite differently: they assume that everyone can be an “Angel” in unique ways, by helping other people out. Or maybe the title just describes Jonathan’s probation and wings.

Anyway, Jonathan is moved by Mark’s argument, but still points out how painful it is to process these feelings and leave them behind, so he asks how to move on.

Finally, Jonathan turns to Mark, who hugs him.

And they silently walk back.

The next day, Mark successfully convinces Earl to go fishing with him, and while they’re alone on the boat, he tells him that Jonathan isn’t serious about Libby—but just pretending to.

When Earl questions Mark’s friendship to such a despicable person, Mark simply replies that he’s used to it.

Well, maybe we’re “One Winged Angels” nonetheless.

Anyway, by implanting this idea like a dream thief (Mark probably realized the subtle power of dreams in the Christmas episode), Earl resolves to stand up and confront Jonathan about her.

Rather annoyed, Jonathan dismisses Earl and suggests him to make a move on Libby if he cares that much about her.

Here, notice that Jonathan still seems bothered by Earl’s intrusion in the matter with her, even though making him jealous was the idea in the first place. So, it’s unclear whether Jonathan suspected Mark was behind this and is just playing along to finish the assignment the way he had intended to (with Earl speaking up to her) or if he doesn’t suspect anything and he’s really annoyed because he still really does love Libby. And Landon’s acting reflects both possibilities.

Also, it’s ridiculous to watch Earl trying to play the tough guy and saying something like “You’ll have to deal with me” to Jonathan, who is no man.

That simple human being is threatening an Angel, who could instantly erase him.

Anyway, the plan nearly works: that night, Earl buys flowers to Libby, describing her as the prettiest girl by the lake — while David Rose makes the the first recycle from Help Wanted: Angel anticipated earlier.

Then, as he walks by her door, he has a sudden change of heart and walks away.

Maybe he felt what he wrote was insincere.

Anyway, Jonathan, who had also considered giving flowers to Libby, eventually gives her Earl’s flowers instead.

As it’s been noticed, now Jonathan changed what Earl wrote to “The most beautiful girl in the world“, but it’s not a real mistake: I mean, it is plausible the flowers are not the same either.

Anyway, the next day, Jonathan and Mark prepare to leave right away.

When they inform Libby, she runs to Earl, who finally reveals his feelings.

She seems puzzled by his confession, but doesn’t reject him right away.

Eventually, she accepts to go to dinner with him—though it’s unclear if she truly reciprocates or she’s just being kind.

Anyway, Jonathan and Mark watch them from a distance and then drive away.

And that’s it. No thanks from the characters, no sneaking off. I mean, they drive off, just like that.

Now, assuming their assignment was to help Earl fall in love with Libby, It’s not even clear whether they succeeded in that. I mean, it is not that obvious Libby and Earl will stay together— maybe they won’t. She only accepted an invitation for dinner, that’s all.

But maybe, that was not their assignment in the first place: maybe the real one was to help Earl and Libby, who were both stuck in their life (she has to get over her divorce, he has to get over her) to move on, and in order to accomplish that, Jonathan was told by his superior he had to make them fall in love— even though that was not the real purpose. Maybe he was only given some partial indications on this assignment — or maybe, as Mark told him in his confrontation, this was all about helping Jonathan reconnect with human emotions.

Either way, as mentioned at the beginning, this episode is a peculiar one. Not necessarily one-of-a-kind like some earlier episodes, but still different. And being different turned out to be a smart move: this episode aired on January 1985 and earned more than three rating points over the previous episode, scoring higher in ratings than most episodes in the season Actually, it became the second most-watched episode of the series up to that moment, after the Pilot. But the second half of the season is bound to be even more successful. For some reason, the series greatly increased in popularity after the Christmas holiday. I mean, without doing nothing: the series still aired on the same day at the same time, it did just better on that.