"The Feather"



A review by Jenni:

What I love about this episode:
First, it was good to see Joey and Wayne again.  And I like that various of the supporting players (like Edna) were back, too.  Given this was supposed to take place only a day after "Fear Not!" that was vital.  It woulda been weird for me if we'd tuned in and found Wayne suddenly played by Lyle Lovett.

I like Tess' remark that con artists make themselves, God doesn't make them that way.  Cause I don't believe God makes bad people.  People can make themselves bad, though.

This is probly inappropriate but I get a kick outta all the crazy conjectures the church members come up with about what the miracle meant.  It's even more touchingly amusing when Monica finally just tells them it was a Christmas gift.  Not the End Times.  Not a big ol' healing.  Just a display of love from God.

This episode gives me another sympathetic moment with Monica.  I do feel bad for her when Charles is railing about her alleged terrifying, angry appearance to him.  It's probly not a nice feeling to have a wacko make stories up about you.  Actually, I know it's not a nice feeling.

I like Pastor Mike.  He really loves his church.  I feel bad when he blames himself for their getting all caught up in Charles' lies.  Plus I just like that at least one person managed to not get suckered.  I also like that he voices his disbelief in the concept of healing based on the depth of one's faith.  Cause there are an awful lot of very sick, very faithful people out there so there ain't no way faith alone can heal a person.

My favorite line in this episode: "Man of the cloth my butt!"  From Edna about Charles.  Awesome!

I got a little anxious about how they were gonna deal with the feather.  Cause as a Catholic, I do have some attachment to the idea of relics.  I would agree with the angels (and assumedly TPTB at the show) that one should never worship them.  However, I do see a point in them.  To me they're kinda like security blankets.  Or a scarf your mom made.  Or, I dunno, a flannel shirt that belonged to the guy you're in love with.  They're things that make someone you care about seem closer.  So the feather was Joey's relic.  I woulda been pretty ticked if Monica turned it into a dove or otherwise made it go away.  But she simply gave it back to Joey.  Then he decided to give it to Charles.  Then Charles decided he didn't need it.  Only then did it turn into a dove.  Groovy. 

What I didn't love about this episode:
This just isn't very Christmasy.  I can't remember when I first saw this but I think I woulda been pretty disappointed if I tuned in on  December 16, 1995 (the original airdate according to the DVD set) geared up for a Christmas episode and got this.  It's an okay episode but I think it suffers from being compared to "Fear Not!" 

This episode is just kinda hard for me to get.  Maybe it's cause I'm Catholic and we just don't really do the faith healers and revivals thing.  It just makes me wanna watch the film "Leap of Faith" which I think is a much better, more touching take on the subject.

Lingering questions:
Okay, I'm still trying to figure out Charles' cut hand trick.  I was completely mystified about it all until he said the blood was disappearing ink.  But I still don't get where it came from.  Did he press a button and it came outta the knife?  Cause you'd think if he just dipped it prior to his sermon it woulda dried by the time he used it. 

Parts that made me feel swoony:
No AODs...  Sob!!!  Monica just barely alludes to Adam when Joey asks if Tess took Serena to Heaven and Monica says Tess helped. 

Oh, I spose this is a good place to state that the flannel shirt remark above was my allusion to Andrew.  So LJA and Co. have Andrew relics now.  Yay.  ;-)

Random thoughts:
It is slightly odd for me that this episode goes out of chronological order.  As I watched TBAA, I just assumed that the angels' cases were presented in order.  So, for example, the angels helped the Wittenbergs before they helped the DuBoises, assumedly with only a few weeks between the assignments.  But here we saw around 10 episodes set in modern day and then suddenly get launched back in time a year.  Weirdness.

Am I the only one who thinks Wayne and that nurse shoulda went out on a date?

TBAA did a really good job of keeping the show spiritual but not religious, I think.  So much so that when Charles uses the phrase "As Jesus said to Peter," I find it jarring.

The feather T-shirts remind me of "Jesus Christ Superstar."  The part where Jesus is just preaching and then all of a sudden there's people hawking shirts with his image on em.  Anything to make a buck!

Do NOT have a baby in a hospital on TBAA.  Ever.  Hospital security is terrible on this show!  I can think of at least three episodes wherein someone steals a baby from a hospital: "Cassie's Choice," this, and "Redeeming Love."  Yikes.

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