Season 2 Overview

Airdate: 02/12/1986

Directed By: Michael Landon

If the title seems worrisome, it’s a false alarm—this isn’t the final assignment, nor is it the last episode of the season. Actually, the series was interrupted before it could properly conclude, so there technically will never be a “final” assignment at all, for that matter. Still, this particular episode is quite important for the characters’ background, as it adds new details about Jonathan’s mission. Also, this was the actual Christmas Special for season two, even though it aired some two months later.

Complete show available here.

Assignment: Jonathan and Mark are assigned to help an old probationary angel carry out his various assignments to conclude his lengthy probation.

It’s an episode with multiple assignments: basically, the subject is Harold, a fellow probationary angel who can’t conclude his probation. And he’s not a new probationary angel who has to get the hang of the job: actually, he’s quite an old timer who has been on probation more than anybody else.

But they’re angels.

What he probably means is that angels can make mistakes too (at least he should have learnt that during One Winged Angels in the first season).

Now, it’s unclear what Harold has actually been doing alone for the past hundred years. You’d assume he’d have some sort of heavenly assignments to carry out like Jonathan, but in this episode, he mostly just wanders around giving things to people at random. For instance, at the beginning (before Jonathan finds him), Harold is giving booze to drunk bums.

So, it’s almost like Harold is on probation even because his superior won’t give him any assignment.

Now, the episode doesn’t have a single assignment. Rather, there are multiple, unrelated ones, which Jonathan and Mark deal with separately to show Harold how to do the job: in particular, one is about helping an elderly lady find her missing dog (which is mostly dealt with by Mark), the second is about helping an immigrant woman raise enough money to bring her children to the U.S. (mostly by Jonathan and Harold), and the third one about assisting a minister who is struggling with his faith (which is Harold’s “last” assignment).

Anyway, several notable elements emerge here: first, it’s yet another assignment where either Jonathan and Mark personally know the subject they’re supposed to help—Jonathan knows Harold, the probationary angel.

That makes two episodes in a row where Jonathan is familiar with the subject of the assignment. It’s quite a shift, considering that for over a season and a half, this never happened (Mark occasionally did, like his cousin Diane or his many colleagues, but Jonathan never did). It really does seem like the direction of the series changed in the second season (they have revealed what was Jonathan’s background as a man, they often make the angel revelation, now there’s another angel too in the episode).

Also, this was the second time in the series that Jonathan and Mark have encountered one of Jonathan’s angelic colleagues: the first time was in Help Wanted: Angel (when they met St. Peter) but, on that occasion, that angel had to help them—and in a way, they were his assignment. Now the roles are reversed, and Jonathan and Mark are the ones helping another angel.

Curiously, it won’t be the last time they meet another angel (nor that such angel needs help with something). It seems like they have become so good that they can now teach other angels some lessons. Yet Jonathan is still on probation.

Also, this episode is set during the Christmas Holiday of 1985, but it’s not really a Christmas Special, except that Harold’s probation has been dragging on for 200 years, roughly the same age as Santa. Maybe that means Harold has actually invented Santa Claus, and if the assignment is concluded successfully, there would be no Santa anymore.

• Background

The episode takes place over the course of two days, likely on Christmas. That’s apparent because, at the beginning, Harold dresses up as Santa Claus to bring gifts to bum.

Mark played him too on Season 1, so he knows there’s nothing wrong.

And also in the Pilot of a different series.

Anyway, considering the episode was also produced in late December, it is likely set around that time too, the 1985 Christmas Holiday. That is further indicated when, at some point, Mark is watching a football game on TV at the motel.

That’s not some fictional game: it’s the match disputed on December 23, 1985 between Los Angeles Rams against the then Los Angeles Raiders (now Las Vegas, for that matter). So, it confirms this episode takes place during Christmas.

Then, this episode reveals what Jonathan are Mark were up to for the holiday that year, considering that the second season is the only one of the series without any Christmas Special episode (a show set during the holiday and somehow related to it). Or maybe this was supposed to be the Christmas Special in the second season (and not The Good Doctor, which aired on that spot). At least this episode is more about Christmas than that drug one.

• Angels and Probation

The most important feature of the episode is Harold, who sheds a light on Jonathan’s probation too. Apparently, Harold has been on probation quite a long time, as revealed in the episode.

Now, that means that a probation shouldn’t last that long — and it might give some more indications as to how long it is, generally. So, it’s probable that probation is not the same for all angels, but rather each angel has a different one (as long as it takes to learn how to be an angel). That duration is unclear though: in the Pilot, during the confession of his identity, Jonathan mentioned that he was “new at this”, implying that he hasn’t been an angel that long (but, as confirmed in Keep Smiling, it’s almost 40 years).

In the third season, there’s an episode in which he’s about to conclude his probation, so it’s likely that either 40 years was enough for him, or that’s most angels complete it around that time. Certainly, Harold’s 200 years is too much.

One peculiar aspect is that, in the third season, there’s an episode in which an angel is stripped from his probationary condition for blowing an assignment. That implies that angels do not get the chance to remain on probation as long as they learn how to do the job (whether it’s 40 years like Jonathan or 200 hundreds like Harold), but they can also lose their chance to go to Heaven (maybe after deliberately blowing an assignment, as in that case). So, considering that Harold keeps blowing his assignment, or at least recklessly uses his powers, it’s hard to believe he has kept on working as angel that long and has never been stripped from his condition.

Actually, at some point there’s a scene that seems to imply that: after completing the assignment with the immigrant woman, Jonathan looks at the sky and talks out loud to his superior about Harold’s progress with him.

Now, besides people passing by him and thinking he might be some lunatic (the way he made a fool of Mark in both To Touch The Moon and The Banker And he Bum for a similar reason), that implies that angels can’t do whatever they want to while they are on probation, and if they go astray in any way (not only by misusing the Stuff, the way it happened to Jonathan in The Secret), then they might blow their chances to be angels.

The problem is that Harold has been messing up for almost 200 years, and it’s unlikely he always got away with it. But maybe he’s an exception. Or maybe by the time Landon wrote this episode, he still hadn’t considered the possibility that not all probationary angels can actually become angel, and some might be stripped from their condition any moment of their probation.

There’s also another revelation to point out: the episode’s conclusion is unusual.

It seems Harold has completed his probation, but then Mark listens to the lottery and it turns out Harold won it. This seems to imply that even after finishing their probation, angels may remain on Earth, although it’s unclear what Harold is up to (unless winning the lottery is part of his new assignment). Either way, this confirms that angels who are conclude their probation do not retire to Heaven; rather, they have to keep working on different assignments (an idea that as implied in Help Wanted: Angel), such as overseeing how probationary angels are doing (as Saint Peter in that episode) or deciding when they are ready to conclude their probation.

Or playing Santa. Maybe Harold actually invented the legend.

• Characters

During the episode, there are two occasions in which Jonathan seemingly forgot his own principles. The first is when Mark is watching a football game on TV, and asks Harold to use the Stuff to help his team.

And Jonathan scolds him for that.

Except that’s exactly what Jonathan did some episode ago, when he used the Stuff to help struggling baseball team win the most important match. Apparently, Jonathan can use the Stuff as he wants to, but Mark can’t never ask for it.

Then, at conclusion of the episode, there’s something curious about both Jonathan and Mark: as they are driving to the next assignment, Mark wants to hear if anyone won the lottery, and Jonathan scolds him for that.

Except that’s exactly what happened in the Pilot, where Jonathan had to gamble on a horse race to win the money to pay for the elderly house. But it has already been mentioned how Jonathan doesn’t follow his own preaching, like when he used to say he loved animals (here), and then he ate snails on Keep Smiling.

Also, there are two curious details about Mark too: when he hears that someone actually won the lottery, he makes a cheerful exclamation.

That seems a foreshadowing of what happens in a third season episode, where Mark is going to win it. Maybe they liked this idea so much from this episode they made another about it.

Anyway, the second detail is about sport: apparently, besides baseball, he also likes football — as he watches the game L.A. Rams against L.A. Raiders, saying he likes the Raiders because they used to play in Oakland too. It’s the second time in the series Mark talks about football (the first was in The Good Doctor), although now he also reveals that he’s in for the L.A. Raiders for nationalistic reasons.

Mark, not anymore.

They actually used to play in Oakland from the 1960s until 1981, but then moved to Los Angeles (when they played this game). Now they are in Las Vegas though.

Curiously, even the Oakland Athletics (the team represented by his cap) did the same (now it’s just “Athletics”).

And Oakland has none.

They’ve all betrayed you.

• The Stuff

As for the “Stuff,” this episode introduces some important implications about how it works. Up to this point, it’s been unclear exactly what the “Stuff” is or how it functions—or it wouldn’t be called like that in the first place. So, one general rule is what Jonathan tells Mark when he’s asked why he can’t use the Stuff to help the minister, and he replies that the Stuff must be used only under his superior’s will.

Now, it’s quite unclear if what Jonathan means is that he can’t use the Stuff at all if the superior wouldn’t let him to, or whether he could potentially use it, but then he would have to pay the consequences for it. In the first season, it seemed like the first one (especially here), but in the second season, it turned out it was the second one (from The Secret, when he used it improperly). This episode further confirms that it’s more likely angels can use The Stuff without their superior’s will; that’s apparent on multiple instances. For example, at beginning of the episode, Harold uses the Stuff to turn a fire hydrant into a wine cellar.

Jonathan immediately scolds him, telling him to stop, which implies that Harold misused it: Harold’s behavior, and Jonathan’s reaction, confirm that angels can use the Stuff wrongly. Otherwise, if their superior had to approve every spell of the Stuff beforehand and prevent every misuse of it, then either Harold wouldn’t have been allowed to turn that fire hydrant, or turning that hydrant wasn’t a mistake, and Jonathan is wrong about it.

I know it: the Superior doesn’t mind, or Harold couldn’t be able to do that in the first place.

That could be possible, because as Jonathan told Mark multiple times in the first season, their superior wants them to learn from their mistake. So, maybe they are allowed to use the Stuff even when they shouldn’t, in order to learn from it. Of course, if that were the case, it is reasonable to assume they can use The Stuff independently, but within reason. I mean, if angels powers were unlimited, then Jonathan might lose temper and decide wipe out the whole world in a second with the Stuff. Instead, it’s likely that angels can use it as they want to for simple action (like when Jonathan pulls a trick on Mark, as in To Touch The Moon, or Harold making wine here) without any consequence, whereas for more significant interventions (such as entering someone’s mind like in the Christmas Special), they need prior approval — or they are prevented from it.

However, for some particular actions, they can decide whether to deploy the Stuff or not, but if they do, they might lose his chance to go to Heaven (as in The Secret, when Jonathan used the otherworldly strength when he shouldn’t have against some thugs). That means that there are certain powers Jonathan always has (like the power to fix a car, or the otherworldly strength) and can use at his will (but if he misuses them, he won’t go to Heaven anymore), and there are some other powers that are only accessible through his superior’s permission. That would also be confirmed by some future episodes where Jonathan glances up at the sky before using the Stuff for something important (like when Mark borrows it), as if to imply he’s either receiving guidance from above or silently asking for permission to proceed with it.

In this light, Harold’s casual use of the Stuff could be justified if what he’s doing is not considered that bad (just like Jonathan is allowed to use the Stuff against Mark from time to time). The only problem with this idea is that, in an episode earlier this season, Mark wanted to listen to the radio, and got angry because Jonathan wouldn’t use his power to help him.

It is possible that Jonathan refrained from using the Stuff on that occasion because he would have broken a rule (as in The Secret), but it is rather unlikely that fixing a radio is that bad.

Now, a second way to justify it would be that angels’ probationary condition evolves over time: when they are starting out, they may need permission for every use of the power, but gradually, they’re given more autonomy. Of course, Harold has earned more leeway after being on probation for over 200 years. So, maybe, by the time Jonathan met Mark in the Pilot, he still had to ask for his superior’s permission before doing anything with the Stuff (justifying that sentence by Mark from this episode, as well as the events in another episode), while later he earned the chance to use the Stuff even against his superior’s will, but he can be hold accountable for any misuse of the power (justifying the events of The Secret, as well as Harold’s actions here). Or maybe Landon hadn’t fully figured out how he wanted the Stuff to work in the first season, and made up here.

Either way, there are yet two random details about the Stuff to point out: the first one is when, upon discovering what Harold has done with the Stuff on the hydrant, Jonathan harshly orders him to stop it — yet he doesn’t use the Stuff to undo it himself.

This might suggest that angels can’t interfere with each other’s use of the Stuff; only the one who used it can reverse it. Actually, that was already explained in the Halloween Special, when Mark asked Jonathan to use the Stuff and save his soul, but Jonathan replied that he couldn’t use his powers against the Devil, the same way the workers in Hell can’t win against the angels with their powers.

The second detail is in the way Harold uses the Stuff: unlike Jonathan (who always keeps a stern face), it seems that Harold slightly alters his expression every time he uses the Stuff.

That’s weird because Jonathan never winks nor makes anything like that (on rare occasion he just shows Landon’s grin, but nothing more than that), while Harold always uses his power combined with a facial expression. Maybe it’s because Harold is 200 years old, and that’s how it used to be for angels back then, while Jonathan is an evolved form.

• Production and Setting

The setting is around San Pedro, a south Los Angeles neighborhood. For instance, the church where Jonathan and Harold help the minister whose son is ran over at the conclusion of the episode is the Lighthouse Bible one.

It’s still in that neighborhood.

As for the production, it started on December 10 (immediately after Change Of Life) and lasted one week.

Curiously, the football game the characters are watching when Mark asks Harold to use the Stuff was disputed on December 23, so one week later. That implies the scene wasn’t in the original story, but it was improvised and added later (and that explains why it feels so random, and it’s totally unrelated to the rest of the episode). Probably someone from the production watched it and causally told Landon it was a miracle that the L.A. Raiders won, and somebody decided to weave it in the series.

This time Harold’s right.

They probably made in over the course of one day, but it’s unlikely that caused much delay: during a series of interviews for a special in honor of Landon after his death, Ed Asner (who plays Harold) talked about the production of the episode, revealing that Landon was a commanding director who knew how to make as show the quickest way and remain on schedule, without altering the quality. So, adding this part wasn’t much hard.

Curiously, in the same interview Asner also revealed that Landon as director was always decisive, knowing exactly how a scene should look like, but remained open to suggestion and discussion, and was ready to admit when he was wrong and make any eventual modification. For instance, the confessional scene at the church where Harold questions his faith was apparently envisioned in a different way, but Asner suggested modifying the acting of his character and Landon realized it was the best thing to do. This approach (that Landon had a clear vision but would also take advice) was reported again in an interview more than 20 years later with actress Bonnie Bartlett (who plays Grace, recurring character on Little House), when she mentioned that one day she thought he was envisioning a scene for the third season of Little House the wrong way, so she courageously told him that opinion — and he listened to her and set it again, following her instructions.

So, two actors reporting the same.

Anyway, after the conclusion of the bulk of this episode on December 17, production took a two week break for the Christmas Holiday (just like they did on season 1 after Going Home, Going Home) and resumed by early January of the new year.

Glossary

Blooper: there are three instances, although one is not in the actual episode. Rather, it’s from the production: in one of the very few behind the scenes currently available, there’s a different version of the dialogue in which the immigrant woman thanks Jonathan for helping her and then asks his identity.

“I’m a Jewish Actor”

At least, that’s what Landon improvised back then.

That gives an idea of how unserious Landon took this job. But shout out to the actress for effortlessly playing his game without being caught off guard.

Everyone can tell that.

Instead, the second blooper is at the beginning, when Harold is arguing with Jonathan and moving his hands around.

But then the hand is down.

during the third assignment: when the minister is first shown, he’s sitting alone in an empty church.

Suddenly, the church is not empty anymore, and not because Jonathan is actually sitting on his left: there’s a mysterious figure (or something like a coat) appearing on the left and vanishing right away.

There!

Somebody from the production got in the way for some second. They probably realized it, because that figure drew back immediately, but it was too late.

Bums: there’s plenty at the beginning, when Harold helps them.

Cute: one instance by Mark, when Harold asks his identity.

And Jonathan immediately clears that out.

Horselaugh: one instance, when Harold uses the Stuff to help the woman get her dog back.

For the first time, laughing alone.

That was definitely an improvisation.

Actors (Little House actor, Highway Lifetime): two of the actors playing the characters involved in the three assignments are familiar to Little House audience, and will become familiar to the Highway one too. So, the elderly lady who loses her dog is played by Georgia Schmidt, in her last role of her career.

But, before that, she appeared three times on Little House: twice in the first season (including the last episode) as the same character, and then a third time in the episode Home Again during the ninth season, playing a different character.

More than ten years later, she is back with Landon again. And she actually retired from acting immediately after this episode, marking the conclusion of her career (she is thus part of the Highway Lifetime actress).

Instead, the actor playing Reverend Blake, the minister struggling with his faith in the third assignment, is played by Henry Sanders, who is a Highway actor instead.

He’s going to come back in the fourth season of the series, playing a different character.

Punchline: the episode has plenty of punchlines, but there’s one to point out, as it will be useful later in the series. Upon losing his faith, Harold explains it’s because of what he has seen in the last few centuries, including something about war.

This line must have struck Dan Gordon (the series headwriter), because he will recycle it in a future episode of the third season.

The Job: by the last of the three assignments, Jonathan is a priest, third time in the series. Instead, Mark doesn’t have any.

Instead, Harold is a doctor.

Jonathan isn’t, though.

The Stuff Powers: in the episode, Jonathan only uses the Stuff when he becomes a priest. Instead, Harold uses it several times: when he turns the hydrant to wine, when he opens the dog’s cage, and then when he vanishes and appears as a doctor.

Ratings: 37 million, 8th weekly TV programs, 2nd TV genre show.

After two weeks of extremely successful episode, this probably benefited a little from them: it aired on February and lost less than a rating point from Keep Smiling, still placing very high that week. Likely many episodes are still enjoying the huge success of Change Of Life, which would endure at least until the next show. Then, the series will be back to the ratings of the first season.