Touched by an Angel

Episode 912: “And A Nightingale Sang”

Episode 912: “And A Nightingale Sang”
Original Air Date: February 8, 2003
Written by: Burt Pearl & Ken LaZebnik
Directed by: Jennifer Wharton
Produced by:

Martha Williamson
Jon Andersen
R.J. Visciglia, Jr.

Guest Cast:
George William Daniels
Loretta Bonnie Bartlett
Tricia Wendie Jo Sperber
Marty Louis Mandylor
Riley Cress Williams
Amanda Tembi Locke
Charlotte Kate Fuglei
Ben Lennie Lofton

 

Snow falls, blanketing the streets and alleyways with a thick layer of impassible white. The throughways clog up and the hills ice over, and on what’s supposed to be one of the busy nights in the restaurant business, the Ritz Restaurante is virtually empty. With an overstocked kitchen of swordfish fillets and prime rib, Marty and Tricia, co-owners of the charming bistro, are having a less than stellar Valentine’s Day. They’ve been married for ten years, and have put off starting a family until they were financially secure. At least they’ve never had to worry about filling the tables on February 14th, not until this year anyway.

The place is not completely empty though, Andrew is here, as are Monica and Gloria. Andrew sits at a table by himself, enjoying the atmosphere, while his angelic cohorts have been hired on to help with the “busiest” night of the year. In truth, there is little for them to do.

But the angels aren’t the only souls to brave the weather. Riley is here with his girlfriend, Amanda. They’ve been together for two years and this evening will represent a big change for their relationship. Riley wants to propose, and she wants to break up with him, and neither one has the least idea about the other’s plans. Charlotte is here too. She is waiting to meet a blind date, a man she met on the internet. She embarrasses herself by mistaking Andrew for him, but resolves herself to sit and wait for her tardy date. Eventually he shows up with Tess, who’s car he towed. When they finally sit down together, he and Charlotte are very awkward, unable to be free with themselves in person as they were online.

Tess joins the angels at Andrew’s table and tells them that they are here to watch one of these couples fall in love. But which one?

The final couple of the evening arrives in the forms of George and Loretta a smarmy couple celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary. They are planning on a cruise for their 50th. Unfortunately, according to Andrew, they won’t both be there for the happy occasion. This is just one troubling aspect of the evening.

Marty and Tricia are fighting about money and their chance to have children. Amanda refuses to stop using her cell phone, and when Riley proposes, she flees to the restroom. Ben is unsure of himself, and finds his attempt at charm brushed aside when he suggests that Charlotte brush her hair back from her face. She has been using it to hide a ragged scar that runs along the side of her visage. But things turn around, George and Loretta, informed by Andrew of their fate, privately plead with him to take them rather than their spouse. Ben surprises Charlotte by revealing that it was he who pulled her car from the ravine after the accident that gave her her scar. Monica convinces Amanda to talk to Riley, and when he saves a choking Marty’s life, she is once again smitten with him. And Marty’s brush with death, makes he and Tricia forget their petty squabbles and finally fall in love after ten years.

 

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