Airdate: 12/10/1986

Directed By: Dan Gordon

It’s both a peculiar and problematic episode. Especially for the way it deals with the characters.

There isn’t really an assignment at all—and that absence is part of the problem. Essentially, this is yet another Mark episode, where much of what happens only stems from the characters’ actions (like Heaven On Earth in season two). But it’s extremely random as well.

Complete show available here.

Assignment: Jonathan is “assigned” to prevent Mark from being swindled by a woman.

The problem is not the woman trying to swindle Mark, but rather Mark who totally falls for it. That’s what it is, really.

Before getting into that, though, it’s important to clarify what this episode is about: Mark falling in love. And this is not the first time the series has explored that storyline: it was part of the assignment of the season one Help Wanted: Angel, when he married Stella shortly before her death. It might be useful to go through that episode before this. And then just forget all about it: in this episode, it will be like he falls in love for the first time, as though Stella had never existed in the first place.

As for this episode now: Jonathan and Mark randomly visit Jake, an ex-convict whom Mark arrested years earlier. This visit has no connection to any assignment—because, in truth, there is no assignment at all. And it’s not even that Jake had some problems and decided to call Mark for some reason, like it has happened so far when Mark was randomly called by an old friend (whether from the police force, as in Love And Marriage, or from his Oakland childhood, as Man To Man); it would be rather hard to explain that (why would an ex convict decide to contact the the cop who had arrested him if there were any problems, instead of someone else like a friend). But this time, it’s not even that: it just starts with Mark going to meet him. No reason for Mark to suddenly decide to visit this random ex convict right now. What he waited so long for, had Jake contacted him or what: it’s all left unexplained, and it’s really very random.

Anyway, Jake, now released, runs a boys’ club to keep kids off the streets. But the place is quite run-down, as Mark notices when he sees it.

As though Jake didn’t know that already.

Maybe the “assignment” is helping Jake establish something or earn enough money to expand the club (even though it would be weird that Mark had to randomly visit Jake to find out about the assignment, instead of Jonathan telling him that). It would be nothing Jonathan and Mark can’t handle (like To Bind The Wounds, for example).

But it isn’t: on a whim, Mark decides to take all the kids out for fast food.

Even more randomly, he happens to purchase the restaurant’s five-billionth burgers, and there’s a reward for it.

Everything happens at breakneck speed and feels wildly random, but the most outlandish part of all is what comes next: Mark is surrounded by journalists and realtors ready to sell him something.

She’s dead, you know.

And immediately decides to give all the money to Jake so he can buy a larger gym for the club.

That would be plain foolish.

Now, over the course of the series, Mark has met countless people and encountered numerous causes in desperate need of help. There are many charities and individuals who could benefit from that money. Even if he didn’t know who most deserved it, he could have donated part of it and kept the rest for future assignments—perhaps to help someone who will need it later on.

ut he’d rather give it all to a single organization run by someone he hasn’t been in contact with for years.

And nobody raises an eyebrow.

Yet, if that weren’t enough, it’s not even close to the most ridiculous features of this episode.

After winning the money, Mark is approached by an “investment consultant” who claims he wants to help him manage the windfall.

So, Mark decides to call him, and meets Nina, another “client” of this consultant. And she immediately hits on Mark.

Of course, their real goal is to swindle him.

The worst part is that Mark falls for it, and genuinely falls in love with her. And he acts the same way he did for Stella in season one.

This entire thing is wrong.

But nobody is worried about it. Neither Jonathan ever tells his friend about her, nor does anything for much of the episode.

Actually, the episode doesn’t even have any assignment: Jonathan spends most of the time hanging around the boys’ club instead of helping Mark deal with the situation. What’s especially odd is that Jonathan somehow knows Nina is just trying to seduce Mark— as he confronts her at some point when he asks her what she’s marrying Mark for, and then answers his own question—yet he never tells Mark about it.

If you knew that already, what did you ask her for?

It’s unclear whether Jonathan used the Stuff to know that, if his superior informed him, or if he could just tell because it was so evident, and yet he can’t convince his friend.

Instead, no one reminds Mark of Stella, despite there being multiple opportunities to do so.

• Background

The episode is supposedly set in Los Angeles like usual, even though the “Southside” boys club is actually a fictional place.

The “assignment” or whatever spans around one week and it is set on December 1986, as revealed by the check at the party.

Curiously, that check reveals the date is specifically December 12, which was actually a Friday — the same day the episode states Mark is supposed to receive the money. Considering this episode aired on Wednesday, two day before that, it means it is actually set in the future. This makes it one of the very few episodes known to be set in the future compared to when it aired (similarly to Another Kind Of War, Another Kind Of Peace earlier this season). The holiday specials are also possibly set in the future, but those are exceptions, as they air during the holidays they depict, whereas this episode does not. Also, it was also produced in September, three months before its airing: they really tried to be accurate.

• Characters

That’s where the episode gets problematic, for both Jonathan and especially Mark: most glaringly, in this episode, Mark falls in love. It’s the second time he does in the series, so it might be important to go over his first love again. It was in a very peculiar assignment.

In the episode Help Wanted: Angel, in season one, as part of that assignment, Mark was cast in a film called The Wizard of Venice, directed by Jonathan and produced by the mysterious Petros—later revealed to be Saint Peter (no kidding, that was a weird episode). The movie depicted a divided community trying to come together, and during production Mark met Stella, a fellow actress who played his on-screen lover.

So, they spent time together, confessing secrets and sharing fears and life experiences.

Eventually, their relationship grew into real love, and they intended to get married too.

Tragically, Stella discovered she had a blood disease and only months to live.

After fear, rejection, and one deeply emotional turmoil, Mark accepted her love, and they married by the beach at the end of the episode.

The marriage lasted seven weeks.

In an impactful epilogue, Jonathan revealed that Stella had died in less than two months, and that Mark scattered her ashes into the ocean, gazing at the sea and somberly pronouncing “”till we meet again.” Then Jonathan and Mark resumed the journey that led them to where the series is now.

It was a deeply poignant moment.

It matters because this episode completely forgets it. The characters behave as though it never happened: when Nina pretends to be in love with Mark, he treats her as though she were the most loving woman he has ever met in his life, without ever mentioning Stella, nor Jonathan will ever remind him of her, when he sees Mark rushing too much. Actually, in this episode they seem to completely forget about her, and Mark describes Nina the same way he did with Stella.

But there’s simply no way to believe that this new relationship carries the same emotional weight.

Maybe he’s just in for blondie girls.

Although she’s just using him with the purpose of get her hands on his money.

However, Mark completely falls for it. And completely forgets about Stella, treating Nina as the woman of his dream instead.

As though she were the only woman he has ever loved. Ever.

But there are plenty of similarities in these two love stories: in both cases Mark falls in love within a matter of days—suggesting he may have a deeper issue with rushing into love. And, in both cases, he plans to get married very soon.

Before the series, Mark had never been married (as he confessed in the episode Help Wanted: Angel, because he “never had the time”). Then, he fell in love with Stella, and they married by the end of the episode, even though she was already ill and died in the epilogue. And now he’s doing the same thing.

At least, at some point in that episode, Jonathan tried to be reasonable and take Mark away.

Instead, in this episode,he does nothing. Although maybe that’s why he was so worried when Mark fell for Stella, despite their relationship being a real one: he feared his friend had some emotional problems latching so fast onto people.

But the circumstances are completely different. With Stella, they spent real time together and genuinely opened up to one another; Mark even admitted in that episode that he had never opened up to anyone before. Here, by contrast, Mark and Nina’s relationship consists mostly of shopping spree and fancy sea food dinners (which Mark at some point even admits he doesn’t like at all).

There’s just no way to believe that this new relationship carries the same emotional weight. Unless Mark feels so terribly lonely and is desperate to get married to anyone who is remotely nice to him. That could be possible: after helping or seeing so many people getting married (his cousin, his sister, his random friend in season two, another random friend in season three), maybe he wants to be like them.

And there might be a clue to support this view: the moment Nina tells Jonathan that she plans to spend Mark’s money to buy a penthouse, Jonathan is upset and Mark explains himself.

What is that supposed to mean?

And Jonathan is confused too.

He’s like: you have me, and you had Stella then.

But he diverts the subject instead.

Always work.

Jonathan will turn is back on his friend to work another assignment (remember helping Mark isn’t the assignment, actually this episode has none). That is a revelation: his superior doesn’t want Jonathan to help his friend out.

But the important part is that Mark’s line suggests he’s unhappy in his life with Jonathan—and would justify his behavior here.

And what about Stella? And Jonathan?

Besides the problematic line that completely overlooks Stella, that might imply that Mark feels lonely, or maybe tired of his wandering around with Jonathan. That could explain how he could latch onto strangers so easily so fast (in Help Wanted: Angel, he fell in love in one day and even Jonathan told him that he was rushing it too much).

If that were the case, there would still be a problem: in the prologue of Love and Marriage, Mark wished he could stay with Jonathan forever. Of course, that prologue is itself problematic, since it was added during the fourth season and isn’t really “official”. But maybe Love And Marriage took place after this, and he has learned from this episode he will never get married again.

Even though having Mark suddenly fall in love again undermines both his character integrity and the emotional power of Help Wanted: Angel and its epilogue, especially the “‘Till we meet again” moment over the sea.

But there are other problematic aspects: in Help Wanted: Angel, Jonathan told Mark to be cautious about her, as soon as he found out that she was dying. Here, by contrast, he does nothing for the entire story, except disparagingly glancing at Nina and make scornful disapproval faces at Mark.

Eventually, just at the end of the episode, Jonathan finally confronts Mark about his relationship.

It’s unclear why Jonathan waited the end of the episode before doing something and warning Mark so suddenly, instead of telling him from the beginning that she was dangerous. The same way it’s unclear what he’s been doing for much of the episode.

And Mark accuses Jonathan of not being a supportive friend.

They are shouting at each other like kids arguing over who is loved the most by their parents.

That’s wrong on nearly every side you look at it: Mark knows Jonathan is an angel, so if Jonathan had simply warned him that Stella is a phony, Mark would have had no reason to doubt him, and the entire episode could have been avoided. Actually, in the episode Love And Marriage he kept on reading into Mark’s mind and anticipate what he was thinking and going to say (like at the beginning, he knew that they had “both wished for the same thing”).

But Mark doesn’t, and accuses Jonathan of making for a bad friend instead.

And that’s pretty much exactly what occurred in Hep Wanted: Angel, when Jonathan was wary of Mark’s relationship (although that time he didn’t disapprove it, but he just didn’t want to see his friend suffer from her impending death), and Mark accused him of the same.

So, Mark knows from that experience that Jonathan was right: that’s more of a reason to trust him about Nina. Yet, it’s better to recycle some lines from Help Wanted: Angel instead.

Now, exactly like in that episode, Mark doesn’t believe that Jonathan is telling the truth about Nina (probably because Jonathan abruptly confronted him when she asked him to marry her, when the episode is almost concluded, and not before). Instead, he believes that Jonathan has a plan to prevent him from resigning from his angel job. Because Jonathan couldn’t go on without an assistant, of course.

Mark should have known better.

As though Jonathan didn’t work alone for forty years before saving Mark in the Pilot.

It seems like all the characters are forgetting everything that has happened to them before this episode.

But, if that weren’t enough, what Mark is furiously telling now is exactly the same thing he accused Jonathan of in Help Wanted: Angel during the spat, when he believed that Jonathan was behind Stella’s disease to prevent him from staying with her and abandoning their journey.

The crew must have liked that episode so much (and felt so pissed by the ratings) that they decided to recycle it all here.

The only difference is that Mark refused to invite Jonathan to the wedding in Help Wanted: Angel, while in this episode Jonathan is the one who refuses to be there.

It really seems like this episode is just a copy of that.

But there are further troubles, now related to Mark’s backstory. At the beginning, it’s revealed that he arrested Jake, later testified on his behalf to secure parole, and that Jake opened the Club three years earlier.

However, the Pilot establishes that Mark’s career as a cop ended five years earlier, in 1979, and that he lived with his sister afterward until 1984, when Jonathan saved him. And this episode takes place in 1986, December. So, either Jake was released at some point in the 1970s (while Mark was still working as a cop), and the club wasn’t opened immediately after his release, or—more unlikely—Mark testified for Jake despite being no longer a cop. And while struggling with alcoholism; with no one helping him.

Yet another issue in an already problematic episode.

However, there’s one important revelation about Mark, at least: when they are at a motel the day before Mark is due to get his money, Jonathan informs him about something.

And the day of his birthday is the day he’ll get the money, which is revealed to be December 12, the following day. This, combined with the episode Going Home, Going Home in season one, which took place in 1945 (when Mark was nine), determines that Mark was born on December 12, 1936, a detail that will be confirmed in the fifth season too. So, when the series began, Mark was 47 (and turned 48 at the same time as the season one Christmas Special), then he turned 49 in season two probably during Change Of Life or The Last Assignment (both episodes are set in December 1985, even though they are not Christmas Special) and, in this episode, he’s turning 50, even though they don’t say that.

Moreover, it means that the character of Mark in the series is two years younger than French, and roughly the same age as Landon instead. It was already known by Going Home, Going Home that Mark was born in 1936, but now it’s more specific. That’s curious: he was born the same month as French, just two years later.

Anyway, there’s another detail about Mark’s background in the episode: after winning everything, he’s called by a bunch of old friends and strangers pretending to be old pals trying to borrow his money (and Mark only falls for Nina, but that’s not the point). One of those swindlers pretends to be an old colleague from the Air Force, apparently.

Mark doesn’t like that.

It has already been revealed that Mark doesn’t like flying, and he would never be in the Air Force; although in the fifth season it will be revealed that he was in the Navy for three years before he became a cop.

As for Jonathan instead, this episode is so weird: it’s unclear when precisely he realizes that Nina is a fraud. For much of the episode, he spends time hanging around the boys’ club and leaving his friend with her, and only at the conclusion when Mark is about to get married he suddenly decides to tell him that she’s a liar.

It remains unclear how precisely he knew it, and what he was waiting for.

But, eventually, it’s all for the best: Mark realizes that Jonathan was right, and asks for an assignment.

He’s back being enslaved by his job.

And he’ll never fall in love again for the rest of the series.

Or, almost: he’ll actually be seduced by a couple of women, but it won’t ever be like this episode anymore.

• Production and Setting

As for the setting, it takes place in California, as usual.

It’s the same neighborhood as usual.

The episode was produced starting from October 20 for one week. But there is an important point to point out: this episode was directed by Dan Gordon, the series’ writer. It is the fifth episode of the series not directed by either Landon or French, and the third one directed by Gordon. And, for some reason, it’s the only one of the three he directed that he didn’t write: this time, it’s up to David Thoreau, who already worked on the script of Children’s Children in season two, and who will return for more episodes. Maybe he hadn’t watched the first season, and didn’t know about the assignment of Mark falling in love. Or maybe he actually watched Help Wanted: Angel and thought it was the best episode ever, so he clumsily tried to replicate it.

Sort of.

Anyway, this will be the last episode Gordon would direct, although he would continue on as a writer. It’s unclear why he chose to stop directing while remaining with the series, but at least he would still collaborate on it. Also, this episode is the last one directed by anyone other than Landon: from this point forward—not just for the rest of the season, but for the entire series—every remaining episode would be directed by Landon alone. And the series has almost fifty episodes still to go. Quite an undertaking.

It is unclear whether Gordon decided to retire or Landon wanted to be even more involved as director than he already was by then: in one article by the Tampa Tribune dated December 1986 (around the same time as this episode aired), it’s reported that French (who was supposed to direct one episode every three for each season, like he roughly did for the first and second season) had decided to give up directing Highway (even though he’d remain involved as actor), because he couldn’t keep up with the production pace. That made That’s Our Dad the last episode he directed for this series (and also the last complete show as director in his career, as he died before the end of this series and could not direct anything else; more details about it at the “Production and Setting” entry of that episode.) Then, the article reports that Landon was preparing to direct the entire series.

It’s weird though: considering that Landon and French weren’t the only directors of the series, it’s unclear why Gordon similarly decided to quit directing around the same time as French, leaving Landon directing alone. He likely didn’t mind though: as revealed multiple times by Kent McCray (his friend and producer of this series), what Landon enjoyed the most doing on set was directing, followed by writing, and putting acting as the the thing he liked the least, and that he’d rather quit doing. But he couldn’t: McCray admitted that Landon was perfectly aware that, if he wanted to be allowed to work the way he has always been (without interference from the network, and choosing his own crew), he had to remain active as actor too.

Maybe Gordon realized he liked writing more than directing (the first episode he directed for Highway was also the first show of his career), while Landon enjoyed directing more than acting, so it was just for the best.

Glossary:

A’s (Oakland Athletics): for much of the episode, Mark doesn’t wear his baseball A’s cap, especially when he’s with Nina.

The curious part is that, previously, the only times Mark got off his cap for much of the episode was for Heaven On Earth, when he left it somewhere, and in Help Wanted: Angel, when he fell in love with Stella and left it at Jonathan’s apartment for the entire episode.

It seems like that cap is part of his character, and if an episode is transforming for him, for some reason he takes it off. Or maybe the women he falls in love with don’t like it.

Angel Revelation: it’s actually unclear this time. In the episode, Jonathan never tells anybody who he is, but it seems that Mark at some point told Nina about them.

Are you highway criminals?

The way he put makes them look like two criminals.

But later, Nina clarifies Jonathan that.

That means she knows. It seems at some point Mark told her more precisely what they do.

But Nina probably didn’t believe it.

She realized how enslaving Jonathan can be. The only character in the series to admit that.

Either way, it’s the only episode in the series where Mark is the one to reveal Jonathan’s identity to somebody, and not Jonathan directly doing it. Although they only “play angels”, so maybe he didn’t exactly told her who Jonathan is. But it’s curious: Mark knows Jonathan’s identity (from the Pilot), so he could go around tell everybody. Maybe Jonathan should use the Stuff on Mark to make him forget their life together, before Jonathan can ascend to Heaven (if that will ever happen, of course).

Bag: when Mark moves into his new apartment, Jonathan brings him the bag, like a real friend.

That finally clarifies whose bag is that.

Car: One of the many odd things Mark does in this episode is sell his car—the iconic vehicle he had owned long before the pilot—and casually replace it with a new one.

After all the miles he put on that car, it feels almost like a betrayal. But Mark seems ready to betray everyone in this episode, including Stella and Jonathan.

Eventually, he makes up for it and buys back his old car at the conclusion of the episode.

But he doesn’t make up for Stella, ever.

Friendly Jonathan: in the episode, Jonathan doesn’t play many jokes on Mark. Likely he realized that he’s been enslaved for too long.

Maybe this episode was about Mark trying to live his own life without Jonathan anymore.

Highway Actors: the episode has one old Highway actress as the mother of one of the kids at the boys club.

She appeared just in a single scene, and she’s played by Jessica Drake, who already played a greater part in A Song For Jason in season two, as the titular character’s mother.

She kept on acting for a few years, and then moved primarily to dialect coaching instead (although she occasionally plays characters too).

Horselaugh: at the conclusion of the episode, when Jonathan and Mark take the original car to move to the next assignment.

And they drive off, as though this episode never happened.

Reckless Spending: the entire episodes revolves around Mark wanting to give all his money away, to a single club — and even admits he wouldn’t know what to do with it.

Now, over the course of the series, Mark has met countless people and encountered numerous causes in desperate need of help. There are many charities and individuals who could benefit from that money. Even if he didn’t know who most deserved it, he could have donated part of it and kept the rest for future assignments—perhaps to help someone who will need it later on.

He could even have discussed it with his sister. Just one episode ago, she was preparing to get married while struggling to find treatment for her stepdaughter—now Mark’s niece—who suffers from a rare disease. And Mark went all the way to Washington to speak with a senator about orphan drugs.

Using some of the money to help his family would have made perfect sense.

Or at Camp Good Times, where he once said he had the best week of his life.

He could use the money to support the camp or help expanding it.

Or the young mothers’ The Pemberton House, which nearly closed because people withdrew their support due to false allegations addressing the head of the place. Even if that place eventually survived, there might be a future assignment where something similar might happen.

There are simply so many things Mark could have done with the money. Instead, he gives it all away to a single, random club run by someone he has just met he has no real ongoing relationship with, and who he has met ten minutes ago. It’s so impulsive and irresponsible. Much worse than Eddy in the Christmas Special and Willy the bum as the banker.

Recycle: the episode has a bunch of recycles too. So, the first is the beginning, when the Jonathan and Mark are driving to visit Jake; with a double recycles.

The first Highway scene is taken directly from the beginning of Help Wanted Angel, exactly.

Someone apparently thought it was a good idea to recycle a scene from that episode in particular. And put it in another episode where Mark is falling love again.

That was also recycled at the beginning of Heaven On Earth, for that matter.

Instead, The second highway shot comes from the beginning of Catch a Falling Star in season one.

And it had already been used again in Cindy too.

When an episode opens with two recycled shots—both of which had already been reused before—it suggests something peculiar is going on.

And there’s even a third recycle: at some point, they show the motel Jonathan is sleeping in. That’s the same place used in Change Of Life (in season two) and Love And Marriage (in season three). Maybe Jonathan and Mark decided to settle there.

The problem is not that it’s the same motel, but the same truck and street and length.

Sunday Suits: within the episode, Mark and Jonathan wear their Sunday suits, the classic black one he wore in most episodes, which he puts on to go to the restaurant where he meets Nina.

And the second one as well.

But Nina doesn’t like that either, and wants to change it: so, she even dares to tell Mark he should buy more appropriate clothes for someone as wealthy as he is, else people won’t take him serious.

What’s wrong with the other Sunday Suit.

So, new Car, new Suits, and new wife: that Nina is by far the most dangerous antagonist of the series, way worse than the Devil’s assistant in season two.

That Shannon Tweed’s grin is worse than Anthony Zerbe in Little House.

Anyway, probably Mark realized that, so he decides to dress up like a bum. With a brown coat.

Security: apparently, Nina’s penthouse has problems with security if Jonathan can walk in like that.

The “Stuff” Powers: it’s unclear whether Jonathan used the Stuff to know that Nina doesn’t really love Mark, or whether his superior told him.

The only moment in which it’s clear he used the Stuff is to get into Nina’s apartment and accuses her of exploiting Mark.

So mysterious.

Ratings: 28 million audience. 29th weekly TV programs, 6th TV genre show.

The episode aired in December, two weeks before Christmas, and improved by one ratings point compared to its predecessor. That’s positive, considering the significant ratings drop the series suffered after Love and Marriage, and that it remained stuck at 15 ratings points for the past three episodes, until now. However, it didn’t reach the highs of earlier episodes in the season and lagged well behind season two.

Curiously, it did score better than Help Wanted: Angel. two years earlier, for that matter (it was the least watched episode of the series until this season began). The audience is so unpredictable sometimes. If the purpose of the producers or whoever approved this episode was to copy from that because they thought it was too valid and deserved better, they accomplished that.