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Episode 219: “The Quality Of Mercy”

Episode 219: “The Quality Of Mercy”
Original Air Date: April 27, 1996
Written by: Andrew Smith
Directed by: Chuck Bowman
Produced by:

Martha Williamson
Jon Andersen
Robert J. Visciglia, Jr.

Guest Cast:
Joel Redding Ted Shackleford
Bebe Manero Marsha Warfield
Marshall Redding Harley Cross
Sally Redding Stephanie Faracy
 

Joel Redding is a former soap-opera star who is coming to terms with middle age and life after television.  He, his wife, Sally and son, Marshall have moved to a small town trying to regain a semblance of normal family life.  While helping with a college theatre’s fund raiser, Monica, Tess, and Andrew witness tension between Joel, the play’s director and Marshall, the play’s star.  Matters are further complicated when the aging actor initiates an affair with one of his teenage ingenues.

During one of Joel’s extracurricular trysts, Sally slips while hanging a picture and seriously injures herself.  Marshall finds his mother, calls for help, and gets her to the hospital.  After authorizing the doctor to perform a risky surgical procedure, the teen rails at Joel when he finally returns from his rendezvous.  Tess reveals herself to the guilt-ridden husband, admonishing him to be faithful to his wife and son.  Back at the theatre, Joel tries to apologize to his son and admits he didn’t quit the soap opera but was fired because of his age.  Marshall is still reluctant to forgive until Monica’s revelation that he must see his father as a man, rather than as a hero to be worshipped.  Sally’s surgery is successful, the production is a triumph, and the family is reunited.

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