"The Homecoming, Part I"

A review by Jenni:

What I love about this episode:
First of all, I gotta hand it to Monica.  Whatever my other gripes about her, she's a pretty good sport.  By and large I think Andrew has it harder but he's never had to dress as either a prostitute or exotic dancer so...  Yay for Monica cause I think I'd have pitched a fit over that.  That being said, Andrew's also a pretty good sport about being mistaken for a john.

Tess is great in this.  She's so warm from the start when she enters the jail and declares "I love you, God loves you."  And she's completely nonjudgmental which is awesome.

This is just a lil thing but I get a kick out of Julia reading "Tempo" magazine which is a blatant fill-in for Time with the red border on the cover.

Andrew demonstrates a good example of the angels' "creative truth" when he identifies himself as Julia's career counselor to Chuck.  I know that they're supposed to tell the truth but I like that the writers left room for some leeway.

This episode sets up a few of the angel rules.  My favorite rule-related moment is when Tess reminds Monica that the angels can't force people to make the right choices.  Without that respect for free will, TBAA would so not work for me.

I like that this episode, both parts, is about the lasting effects of Vietnam.  Among other things, of course.  It really highlights the necessity of caring for our veterans.

I would love to know what Tess said to Jimmy the Pimp.  I think it's hysterical that she tells him to "Fear not" and then revs the caddy engine and drives off.  Like that's not scary!  And while I normally am bothered by obvious and unexplainable usage of "angel magic," it's good to see the guy get laughed at for losing his toupee.

I just really enjoy the overall optimism of this episode.  This is never an episode I think of as a favorite but when I watch it I end up really pulling for these characters and getting pretty engrossed.  I took far fewer notes on this episode than usual and I think that's why.

What I didn't love about this episode:
Why does Tess ask Monica to confess something?  It's just plain embarrassing that these other women are bearing their souls and Monica admits to drinking 6 espressos and carrying guilt about that.  I know it's supposed to be a light moment but it just strikes a wrong note for me.

Lingering questions:
What did Andrew and Chuck do or talk about for the at least 12 or so hours Andrew was assumedly stuck at the bar?  I hope they had food...

Who is Aunt Georgia?!?!  I always, always hoped TBAA would come back to that photo of Erasmus' and explain.  Why does she look so much like Tess?  Is she Tess?  If she's not Tess then why does her photo get that angelic "ding!" noise? 

Parts that made me feel swoony:
I think Andrew's pretty darn cute when a prostitute thinks he's a john and his response is to mutter "Great..."  Poor Andrew.

Andrew is an absolutely delightful parole officer!  I love how sarcastic he is at his first meeting with Julia and his eye brows could do a show all by themselves they're so active in that scene!  If I ever commit a major crime... I want a parole officer like Andrew.  ;-)

He says "progrum"!  It's so cute!!!  I wish I said "progrum."  It's so much cuter than "program."  Sigh... 

While I do not otherwise envy Julia's life, it would be nice to be her when Andrew leans over and tells her "I'm very proud of you."  Love him.

I love the way Andrew says "Whoa" to Chuck while at the bar.  That whole scene just pops with lil, adorable Andrew moments.  Like...

The magic eye brow!!!  Andrew has a "Bewitched" sorta moment when he simply raises his eye brow and Chuck's phone dies.  I'm a lil iffy on "angel magic" but since a dead phone line isn't very suspicious, this works for me.  And it's just so darn cute.

Lemme just say that I would never leave Andrew in a bar as collateral.  Even if he offered.  That being said, he's way smoldering when he has that stare down with Chuck and moves in to be even more intimidating.  The steeliness is killed a lil when Andrew then orders orange juice but I'm cool with Andrew going from smoldering to adorable in a flash. 

Andrew looks boyishly cute in the backseat at the end of the episode.  To this day I still think of the middle, back seat in car as "Andrew's seat."  That's why, after shotgun, it's my favorite.

Random thoughts:
I actually think Monica's coffee biscuits might taste pretty good.  I mean there's coffee ice cream so why not?

Angels need/want sleep.  That's established when Tess first says that she wants to "hit the sack" but can't cause she needs to do some work.  Upon returning from her meeting with Jimmy the Pimp, Tess goes to bed.  Whether angels sleep when on earth was a question for me.  Here's the answer!  Although I'd still like to know how much sleep they need.  Normal human amount?

A Word from Travis:
This is my third favorite episode of Season 3. The storyline was good and I enjoyed the interactions with the prostitutes when they stayed at the house that Tess headed. Delta Burke was excellent in this role. Julia breaks my heart when admits to Monica that she sold her baby boy for $50. I’ve only seen the actress in a movie that aired on lifetime called “Dangerous Child.” I like the ending of this episode where Andrew asks Tess if Julia is going to be alright and Tess assert that there’s a long road ahead. A different (and mysterious) ending to an episode. I do agree that the writes should’ve shown more regarding Tess and Jimmy in regards to where she brought him.
I love this line:
Jimmy: Who sent you, the Godfather?
Tess: No God the Father!

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