In a previous episode of “Promised Land,” Joe Greene caused the death of a father and son in an automobile accident. In this two-part crossover episode with the cast of Promised Land, the angels arrive to help the surviving wife and son.
As the one year anniversary of Joe’s tragic car accident approaches, the Greene family is in Springville. After seeing Joe depart for Turkey where he is intent on working, Russell is eager to get back on the road while Claire has a sense that she has work still to do in Springville. As strange letters begin to arrive for Joe, Claire volunteers to teach reading on death row at the local prison and meets Darlene, a young woman convicted of killing a man while on a drug-crazed binge. As Claire and Dinah try to help Darlene come to terms with her daughter and mother before she is executed, the angels learn that the letters to Joe have been sent by Sandra Mills, who is abusing alcohol and neglecting her son, Matthew, in the aftermath of her husbands death at Joe’s hand.
Tess works as an efficiency consultant at Sandra’s office and tries to convince her to stop drinking and face her grief but Sandra is soon fired for drinking on the job. Meanwhile, Monica is Matthew’s teacher and tries to help Matthew as his mother’s drinking problem worsens. As the date of Darlene’s execution approaches, Claire and Dinah convince her of the need to reconcile with her daughter and mother. Much less able to deal with her own grief, Sandra ignores the pleas of Monica and continues to drink and Matthew is near fatally wounded in a gas explosion. Sandra then writes another threatening letter to Joe Greene. Part one concludes as Sandra kidnaps Nathaniel at gunpoint, threatening to kill him if her own son does not survive the explosion.