Touched by an Angel

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Episode 315: “Clipped Wings”

Episode 315: “Clipped Wings”
Original Air Date: February 16, 1997
Written by: R.J. Colleary
Directed by: Robert J. Visciglia, Jr.
Produced by:

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

Guest Cast:
Kathleen  Jasmine Guy 
Ruth  Cloris Leachman
Angel of Angels  James Earl Jones 
Receptionist  Abe Vigoda 
Jodi   Maureen McCormick

On the way to a performance evaluation, Monica encounters her rival, Kathleen. The dark angel tricks her former friend into entering the wrong office suite. There Monica encounters Jodi, a troubled woman comforted by the angel’s accounts of past assignments. Meanwhile, Tess and Andrew fret while waiting for their colleague. The High Court judge, Ruth, is a distinguished but no- nonsense angel who was once Tess’ supervisor. Troubled by Monica’s tardiness and “irregularities”in her work, Ruth suspends the caseworker and revokes her angel privileges.

While the judge reviews Monica’s mistakes, Andrew recalls an assignment when she mistakenly went to Jacksonville, Florida, rather than Jacksonville, Illinois. Tess dispatches him to search the building. The Angel of Death finds her, but she wants to give Jodi a revelation before starting her evaluation. Mid-revelation, the caseworker is shocked to learn Jodi is actually Kathleen, whose evaluation was based on ruining Monica’s. Tess and Andrew comfort their friend, who arrives in the correct office too late. The supervisor decides to appeal to the Angel of Angels on the grounds of Kathleen’s treachery. Ruth is stunned by the dark angel’s involvement, and Tess forces the judge to confront her own perceived failure: she was Kathleen’s supervisor when she defected to the Other Side.

That pivotal event spurred Ruth to replace her heart with rules and regulations. Seeing Tess’ logic, she sanctions the appeal. Monica meanwhile prays, while a spiteful Kathleen observes. But the dark angel is mortified when the prayer is for God to forgive her misdeeds. The Angel of Angels summons Monica, initially advising her on posture and the benefits of decaffeinated coffee. He then praises her kind heart but cautions her to never let it obstruct the truth. Because of the evidence of her heart, she passes the evaluation, and the Angel of Angels deems her worthy of expanded duties. Reconciled, Tess prompts Ruth to consider returning to casework. And Monica, learning that Kathleen’s superiors have rejected her, suggests that the dark angel appeal to God’s mercy. Touched, she follows that recommendation and repents.

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