"Fear Not!"
A review by Jenni:
Charles Rocket has a monopoly on my Autumn/Winter holiday TV
viewing. Every Halloween I *must* watch Hocus Pocus. No
Thanksgiving is complete unless I've watched "An Unexpected
Snow." And I'm pretty sure bad things will happen if a
Christmas
passes without a viewing of "Fear Not!" So here's my review
of
this totally amazing Christmas episode.
What I love about this
episode:
For an episode that regularly makes me cry, this starts out
pretty funny. First, I love Tess giving exact directions on
the
placement of people and animals in the Nativity scene. And
Edna
getting all put off by it. Actually, I just really like the
interaction between Edna and Tess. It's nice to see Tess get
some
back talk and not just have someone concede to her
bossiness.
Good times!
I love the depiction of the parish. They're all so
close-knit and
loving. It makes me remember being younger when my parish
also
felt close and caring. Now I don't really know many people.
Monica actually gets some of my sympathy for once. Her line
about
it being hard "knowing the what but not the why" and more than
humans
but less than God really gets to the heart of the angst that must
be
part of being an angel.
I'm really impressed by Randy Travis in this. His acting's
quite
solid, especially considering it not being his main
profession. I
tear up when he's sitting by Serena and says "Don't you die on
me!"
then starts praying.
Sometimes I'm wary of angels urging humans to do stuff but I do
like
Monica whispering to Wayne that "Silent Night" is Serena's
favorite
carol. Then he starts it up. It's gentle and not too
leading on Monica's part.
Whose heart doesn't go out to Joey when he's praying to God and
says
"If she [Serena] goes to Heaven, who's gonna love me?" It's
heartbreaking cause ya know Wayne loves his brother and tries his
best
but somehow never got around to telling him that. So
sad.
But it makes me really grateful Wayne does eventually assure Joey
he
loves him "just the way you are." Doesn't everyone wanna
hear
that? I just really enjoy seeing the dynamic between
brothers. I guess because it's something completely separate
from
me and, therefore, interesting.
I think it's cool that Monica assures Wayne that if he helps Joey
find
his faith, he'll find his own. I think that's true about a
lot of
things. Sorta a Prayer of St. Francis kinda thing.
Love this quote from Monica to Joey: "You've already been through
the
darkest place you can imagine. Now it's time to start
looking for
the stars." This was the first episode I watched since my
Grandpa's funeral and that line really comforted me and inspired
me. His birthday is the day after Christmas so I keep
thinking
this holiday will be kinda bleak and sad. But I think I'll
use
that to make a special effort to look for the light and the stars
of
the season.
My goosebumps start right
when Randy Travis sings "O
Little Town of
Bethlehem" while Joey follows the star. I figure I get a
solid 6
minutes of goosebumps outta this episode. Cause they start
up
again when Joey enters the church with the words "Fear Not!"
And
then there's the revelation scene of revelation scenes. I've
had
one or two people tell me they think it's showy but I love
it.
It's just wonderful and Christmas should be a lil showy,
IMO. I
always love seeing the choir. They're automatic goosebumps,
apparently, cause I also get them during their scene in "Redeeming
Love."
What I didn't love about
this
episode:
While I
understand what she's trying to say, I find it a lil naive when
Monica
says "Everybody loves Christmas!" to Wayne. No.
First, not everyone celebrates it let alone loves it.
Second,
some people might believe in it but still have a hard time with
it.
Not a gripe about the episode but, instead, the storybook version
of
this. Whose bright idea was it to replace Adam with
Andrew??? I love Andrew but chances are most kids who got
that
book had been shown this episode. I bet they caught the
weird
switcheroo. Way to mess with kids' minds!
Lingering questions:
Was that angel in the stained glass window supposed to be a
particular
angel? I get confused when Tess says they got the nose all
wrong. Whose nose?
Do seraphim and cherubim actually exist in TBAA-verse or do the
angels
just kid around about them? Cause here we have the Seraphim
Organ
Service and Monica describing Mr. Beans as a cherub aka baby
angel. But as far as I know you never hear serious
discussion of
either group.
According to Martha Williamson, Mr. Beans appears in later
episodes. Hidden in the background and such. Anyone
ever
confirm this with a sighting?
Parts that made me feel
swoony:
I may be interpreting this wrong but I have a lil "Aww,
Adam!
Hugs!" moment when Adam tells Monica and Tess that he's glad
they're
there. Monica seems to think he means for Serena's benefit,
so
she'll have a couple familiar faces with her. However, I
always
thought he was at least partly implying that children's deaths
were
difficult for him and so *he* wanted Monica and Tess there for
support. I mean that really can't be easy.
He's very sweet when he consoles Serena and assures her she's not
alone
but has angels with her. I just love his gravelly sorta
voice
there. It is a pretty calming, trustworthy voice.
Adam looks wonderful holding Serena at the end. Truly a
Brother
Whattawaste moment.
Random thoughts:
The human choir really improved considerably during the course of
this
episode, I thought. They don't sound professional at the
pageant
but way better than they had. Kudos to them!
Weird to think that after this episode we didn't see Adam again
til
Season 4.
This episode ends like I wish the show would have: with the angels
walking away together into the starlight. Lovely.
A Word from Travis:
I’ve seen “Fear Not” (episode 9) on a few occasions but after
seeing it again recently, I realize what a gem the episode is.
Paul Wittenburg (Joey) is phenomenal in the role and so is the
then young actress who played Serena. I like the “community
aspect” of the episode, with the guest characters all working
tirelessly to ensure the pageant is brought to life and to ensure
it is carried out to perfection. My only gripe is that the part 2
episode, “The feather”, aired as episode 11 of season 2, rather
than being episode 10 of season 1.
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