Season 2 Overview

Airdate: 01/08/1986

Directed By: Michael Landon

The new episode continues the series’ recurring themes of bums, bins, and drugs. This marks two episodes in a row with this subject. Also, this episode aired on January 1986, the first episode of the season to air in the new year, after two weeks Christmas break. And it is nothing about Christmas, for that matter.

Complete show available here.

Assignment: Jonathan and Mark are assigned to help both a homeless kid and an ill one fulfill their wish of having a family.

It’s a double assignment: Jonathan and Mark are driving in some random L.A. slum neighborhood, and Mark helplessly observes the surroundings and the bums all around them.

So, Jonathan remarks it’s because they have no choice, and Mark wishes to do something for them.

Not if you’re with an angel.

And Jonathan drops a weird remark.

Now, what is that supposed to mean: that if the right person asked for it, maybe all the bums’ problems would be solved just like that.

Anyway, they find Arnie, some homeless kid with an unspecified mental impairment, while he’s expressing a wish for his birthday.

The actor is John Franklin, who is not mentally impaired, for that matter — but he often played kids (like in this case) although he’s an adult.

Anyway, the assignment is making it come true.

But, hold on a second: this whole premise doesn’t really work. Think about it: Mark had told Jonathan he wanted to help some of those bums, yet he added that just wanting it wasn’t enough, and Jonathan replied that the person asking it could make the difference. And their assignment is about helping a kid (that Jonathan defines as “special”) make his dream of being loved come true. So, if Arnie had asked for solving all the bums’ problems instead of asking to be loved, maybe that would have come true too.

And very, very selfish too.

Anyway, to solve the assignment, they drive aimlessly for a day until they get to Larry’s family, a kid whose parents have recently gotten divorce — and who’d rather spend most of his days in bed with the excuse that he has to recover from some illness he has come down with some months earlier.

It’s actually unclear whether the child is actually sick or just pretending in order to draw his parents’ attention —or if he’s pretending without even realizing it.

Also, the father is much suffering for the same reason as his son, and spends the night crying in the dark.

So, it seems like this family is going through some delicate, personal problems, and it’s not ready to adopt anybody at the moment.

But that’s exactly where Arnie will barge in.

That kid learnt by Jonathan how to sneak up on people to startle them.

Anyway, it’s an assignment about adoption and family issue (plenty of it). It should sound familiar: that’s exactly the same premise of the first season episode To Touch The Moon, about a runaway kid who is adopted by an ill kid’s family thanks to Jonathan and Mark, of course. And both episode were written by Landon too.

Also, in some way, it’s quite similar to The Banker And The Bum, when they found a dying bum making a wish and their assignment was to help him with that. Only now the bum is a kid, and is not ill. Even though there’s some illness involving another kid here.

• Background

It mostly takes place in Los Angeles, though unfiltered and with plenty of bums and bins around.

The timespan is about a week. That’s apparent because the characters say they are going to go fishing on Saturday (and supposedly the first Saturday they work there), and then Arnie gets adopted and the episode concludes like that. So, as established in the assignments guide, it’s likely about ten days.

• Characters

There’s something odd about Jonathan. When Arnie runs away tells him that he ran away because his father used to beat him, and now he’d like Jonathan to be his father.

And sure he can, you just have to blow off some candles now.

Jonathan replies that he’d like that too.

That implies Jonathan would like to be his father, but he can’t for some reason. Maybe because being an angel wouldn’t allow him much spare time to take care of a kid. And the way it works is odd too: the whole assignment stems from Arnie expressing a wish of having a family and someone to love him, and Jonathan told Mark the assignment is about helping Arnie with that. But now Arnie is making another wish. to have Jonathan as his father, yet Jonathan can’t do that.

• Production and Setting

As for the setting, it’s Los Angeles, as usual.

Instead, as for the production, if the premise hadn’t given him away, of course the episode was written by Landon (the first episode he wrote for the season). But that was quite obvious by the whole adoption part (that man was an advocate for that). And he had already written To Touch The Moon, which had almost exactly the same premise too.

Anyway, the production took place took place around November 1985, about two months before it aired. It was the first episode they produced for the second half of the season, after taking one week off from the production of The Monster Part 2 (that chronologically concluded the first half, although The Good Doctor aired later).

Also, this episode breaks the streak of consecutive episodes Landon didn’t direct, four episodes: The Secret was by Claxton, The Monster Part 1 and Part 2 by French, and The Good Doctor by Claxton again. Of course, these episodes weren’t produced in that chronological order, so it’s not like Landon took one month off duty; yet, for the 1980s audience watching one episode every week in the airing order, it’s been four consecutive episodes without him.

Glossary

Angel Revelation: one instance, when Jonathan finds Arnie and reveals his identity.

But that shouldn’t sound weird anymore: in the first season, there was just one episode where Jonathan made such revelation, while in this second season it’s the fifth time — and it won’t be the last either.

Also, one thing worth pointing out: when Arnie learns Jonathan’s true identity, he’s understandably startled and says he thought only dead people could see angels, but Jonathan reassures him.

Now, what that means, exactly. It seems to imply that everyone who can see Jonathan is “special”. But that also mean that anyone Jonathan has encountered so far—like the corrupt dealer he helped redeem for Christmas—was “special”, too.

And if you’re not “special”, maybe that means you can’t see Jonathan anymore. Because, if that’s the case, then all those times Jonathan suddenly disappears during his quiet quitting instances (including one in this episode), that means it’s because those people helped in the assignment aren’t “special” anymore.

Just as long as Jonathan isn’t through with you.

Also, it’s unclear whether being special is being good or bad. Because Arnie seems like a good kid, but if only good people could see Jonathan, then there wouldn’t be much point to him walking on Earth in the first place—he should be saving those who are struggling to do the right thing, not those who already have it figured out.

Or maybe they imply that only “special” people are worth discovering the truth about Jonathan being an angel.

Bums: it’s officially the first episode of the series about bums. And not just because there’s Arnie: the episode opens exactly on a random bum walking alone.

There’s plenty of bins too.

And it concludes with supposedly the same random bum that is still walking that way, behind Larry’s car.

And everyone just ignores him.

Perhaps bums are those people Landon talked about when discussing how he series wouldn’t be afraid to tackle drugs and deal with those people that everyone forgot about (more details about it here at the last entry, about true story assignments).

Anyway, besides the bums and the bins, there’s even a reference to drugs, just because Landon wanted to put his three obsessions in the same episode.

It’s partially a lie, Mark, because sometimes he was actually shown drinking.

Friendly Jonathan: there’s one instance of when he introduces Mark to Arnie, because Mark couldn’t do that.

And then there’s another instance when they begin working as handymen, and Jonathan scolds Mark for asking him to use the “Stuff” on it.

Not for an angel’s one.

And he even enslaves him.

Because you could use the Stuff to do that, but you might as well tell your simple human friend.

Anyway, on this episode, Jonathan is particularly enslaving towards Arnie too: for instance, when the kid offers to build a doghouse, and Jonathan scolds him for taking a break from his work to befriend Larry.

And Arnie even tries to justify that.

Slaves do not have time to make friends, kid.

Also, I’m not sure Larry’s father will pay Arnie for it, because it was Arnie’s idea to build that doghouse. But it’s quite apparent that Jonathan likes slavery by now, and he couldn’t care less if Arnie gets payed or not.

Punchline: there are many punchlines in the episode, but there’s a particular one to point out. Toward the conclusion, Jonathan scolds Larry’s father for preventing his son from seeing the man’s ex-wife, and he justifies himself by telling him that he doesn’t want to lose his son, because he’s all he has got. So, Jonathan drops a punchline for him.

That’s similar to what Jonathan told Mark in Pilot, when he told him that she should get off Leslie (his sister) for some time, Mark pointed out that his sister had no one else except for him, and Jonathan corrected that Mark is the one who has no one else except his sister.

But there’s another punchline worth pointing out: when the shopkeeper accused Arnie of stealing the cat food, Jonathan tells the shopkeeper it’s because Arnie had to feed his cat, so the shopkeeper replies the kid should get a job for that.

Of course he would, Jonathan, but not there.

That’s a bit far fetched. I mean maybe the shopkeeper didn’t need help at that moment, and even if he could use it, maybe he’s not willing to hire someone just like that, without references (as he said in the Pilot, it was the way it used to be back when people didn’t use lock because they trusted each other). But even though Jonathan doesn’t like that, at least the shopkeeper has to make sure that kid is a certain age.

He’s like: “Of course I wouldn’t without references, he’s just a kid, that would be slavery”.

Also, even if the man could use some help, maybe he couldn’t afford to pay someone. Unless Jonathan had planned to give him the money to pay Arnie, but that would mean Jonathan can actually create money out of nowhere (and that is hard to believe, if in the Pilot he had to gamble to save the retirement house). Or maybe Jonathan was offering Arnie as a slave, like he did in the Pilot when he offered to work for a month without being paid. But I’m not sure Arnie would like that.

He’s like: “Jonathan, I’m not a slave; you should have asked me how I feel about it”.

Fishing: the characters happily go fishing, a recreational activity Mark likes so much. But there’s odd to point out: when they all come back home to eat what they’ve caught, there’s Mark handing everyone a fish — Jonathan too.

I mean, in the first season episode One Winged Angels, Jonathan refused to give Mark some nighcrawlers when they went fishing by the lake because he didn’t want to hurt animals — implying he doesn’t eat them too. Then, in the second season episode The Smile In the Third Row, he ordered shrimps for dinner, and in The Monster he insisted Diane eat a lobster for dinner.

Now, he happily went fishing with Arnie, and even though angels don’t have to eat, he has a plate of fish before him.

At this point, it seems that either Jonathan doesn’t follow his own ideals, or that sea animals are unimportant.

Highway Of Mysteries: there are some new mysteries here. One is about Arnie at the conclusion: when Jonathan saves him from the fire in Larry’s room, he seemingly disappears, and Mark later explains that he has left at some point earlier. And they never explain whether Jonathan and Mark helped him get away or of he sneaked out on his own.

Now, it’s quite hard to believe that they would let the kid leave like that after the fire, without even taking at the hospital to see if he’s alright. But that’s just odd, not a mystery.

However, when Jonathan offers to take Larry’s family where he thinks Arnie has gone now, they all come back to the card box where Arnie used to sleep before making that wish to Jonathan, and they find out he went back there.

Yet, the problem is how exactly he could do that. Because at the beginning, when Jonathan and Mark found Arnie and took him with them, apparently they drove for a whole day before getting to Larry’s place — they found him during the day and drove until night — and that suggested it is quite far. So, if it took them one entire day to get there at the beginning, how could Arnie come back to his box in just one day, without even a car. Unless it were implied that he hitchhiked his way back, or stole some money from Larry’s father and took a cab or something. Or maybe Jonathan and Mark didn’t quite know they were headed to Larry’s place at the beginning, and they went aimlessly driving for a day before getting there.

A second mystery is about the entire final part: when Arnie is caught stealing food for his cat.

So, right when the shopkeeper is about to call the cops, Jonathan and Mark appear behind Arnie and help him out.

How did they get there, too?

Just like how Arnie got back there from Larry’s house is a mystery, now Jonathan and Mark getting to Arnie’s back is one. Think about it: that shop must have just one way to get in, likely the front door — otherwise, if it had a back door too, Arnie would have used that to sneak out with the stolen food, instead of using the door that’s right next to the shopkeeper.

So, if there’s just one way, how exactly Jonathan and Mark got there behind Arnie in the first place. Even assuming they were already inside the shop by the time Arnie got in, that doesn’t explain why they didn’t stop Arnie before he actually tried to sneak out, instead of waiting for him to get caught by the shopkeeper and then do something about it. The only reasonable explanation is that they either use Jonathan’s stuff to appear there behind him (and that’s hard to believe, as there was no use for Jonathan to bring Mark as well), or that they were deliberately waiting for Arnie to get caught, because Jonathan wanted to drop the shopkeeper some punchline about getting Arnie a job (or selling him as a slave, that’s the same thing for Jonathan, apparently).

There would be another sort of mystery about Larry: it’s not much whether he’s actually sick or just pretending to, but rather how he can move around. Apparently, his bedroom is in the first floor upstairs. But later in the episode, he’s shown going out just on his wheelchair.

How did he get outside now.

So, either the kid has some sort of powers like Jonathan, or the family as a private elevator in the house. But it could also be that he’s pretending to be unable to move, so he walked downstairs and then got back in his wheelchair just to have his father to see him and feel guilty about it (because he cut Larry’s mother out of their life). It’s never really explained how he can move around the house, but it’s not a big mystery either.

Quiet Quitters: at the conclusion, there’s one instance Jonathan and Mark walk Arnie to meet his new family.

Then, Arnie turns around to thank them, but they have already walked away.

It can actually be a Highway Of Mystery too, because apparently nobody saw them.

The “Stuff” Powers: in this episode, Jonathan doesn’t directly use the Stuff on a single instance, but something wold be hard to explain otherwise. For instance, when Jonathan contacts Larry’s mother and asks her to join them for fishing, it is implied that he used the Stuff to do that (otherwise, how could he know her phone number). And the curious part is that the other characters don’t know that: the audience can assume that he used the Stuff to know her phone number and make that call, but nobody there (except Arnie) believes he’s an angel. So, when Larry’s father scolds him for meddling into his life by calling Larry’s mother and inviting her to go fishing, he probably believes that Jonathan sneaked up into one of his room and took the woman’s number there.

He dares to interfere with people’s dreams too, sometime.

Then, there’s the mystery about how he got behind Arnie at the store (if the store had no back door, it could be justified by taking it that he used the Stuff to get there), as well as the quiet quitters instance (it is implausible nobody saw them leaving there, so it could be said that he used the Stuff to vanish from there, and brought Mark too). But the only moment in which he’s directly using the “Stuff” is when Arnie gets caught by the shopkeeper, who is about to call the cops, and Jonathan creates some money to give him to pay him.

Now, in the first season, it seemed like Jonathan couldn’t do that (otherwise the conclusion of the Pilot wouldn’t work anymore); so, either Jonathan now has a new power, or those are not real money (like he did for As Difficult As ABC), or he had them well up his sleeve.

Also, notice that the shopkeeper was about to call the cops, then Jonathan hands in the money and he just hangs up. So now the cops are probably going to think it was a fake distress call, and they are going to take measure.

The Job: they are hired as handymen, again. It’s the third time in the series they have such job. And likely they were helped by Jonathan’s references.

Ratings: 39 million audience. 11th weekly programs, 3rd TV genre show.

This episode aired on January 1986, the first of the season to air on the new year. So, it was three weeks after The Good Doctor (which was not a Christmas special) and exactly one year after Plane Death (which was not much successful in ratings).

But, despite its many mysteries and the uneasy subject of bums, it achieved great success: it tied in ratings with the second part of The Monster from two episodes ago, making them both the most-watched episodes of the series at that point. Now, there’s only one more episode that would score even higher, and this episode currently remains both the second most-watched of the second season (tied with The Monster) and of the entire series. It certainly marks a huge improvement compared to the first season, and it was just one year ago.