Touched by an Angel

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Episode 718: “Visions Of Thy Father”

Episode 718: “Visions Of Thy Father”
Original Air Date: March 18, 2001
Written by: Mark Goffman
Directed by: Peter H. Hunt
Produced by:

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

Guest Cast:
Will Harris  Tom Irwin
Jason Harris Ryan Merriman
Renee Harris Christine Healy
Sherri Angela Lambert
Lisa Agnes Bruckner

Seventeen-year-old Jason Harris seems to have it all: a loving family, a beautiful girlfriend and aspirations of being a photojournalist.  Jason’s father (Will Harris) a prominent ophthalmologist, has been urging Jason to monitor an old eye injury which resulted in detached retinas.  Monica is assigned to help this family deal with a secret, and she winds up working alongside Jason in a local photo store.  When Monica learns of Jason’s talent for photography, she offers to introduce him to a photographer friend of hers (Andrew) at the Denver Daily Herald.

Jason meets with Andrew and suggests his father for one of their “day in the life” photo spreads.  Andrew takes Jason up on his suggestion and invites Jason to shoot it himself.  Jason spends the next day shadowing his father, but when he returns for one last photo he walks in on his father kissing his receptionist (Sherri) and captures the moment on film.  Jason returns home, now sharing the burden of this secret.  Will talks to Jason privately, blaming his lapse on a midlife crisis — a cancer scare a year ago.  Will assures Jason that it’s over between him and Sherri and that telling his mother would only hurt her.  When Jason refuses to hand over the film, Will grabs the camera from him and rips out the film, unaware that Jason already saved the roll with the incriminating photo.  His faith in his father shattered, Jason’s sense of betrayal ripples into other aspects of his life as he starts skipping school and distancing himself from his girlfriend.  Jason shows the incriminating photo to Monica, who tries to convince him that this is not his secret to keep.

True to his word, Will has terminated his affair and replaced Sherri with a new receptionist (Tess).  But Jason becomes overwhelmed by the burden of his father’s secret and tries to numb the pain in a bottle of Scotch.  Intoxicated, he crashes his father’s car, rendering himself temporarily blind.  As Jason is rushed to the hospital, Renee returns inside the house and discovers the incriminating photo.  With time of the essence, the attending physician informs the family that a corneal transplant will be necessary to restore Jason’s eyesight and that his father is the most qualified man for the job.  But Jason refuses to let his father perform the surgery.  Will is prepared to step out of the way without a fight, but Renee calls him on the carpet.  She tells Will she found the incriminating photo and knows all about his affair.  Renee tells Will to stop acting like a child and make peace with his son.  She then tries to convince Jason to let her deal with their marital issues in her own way, and to let Will perform the surgery.  Will returns to his office where Tess reveals herself as an angel and tells Will that God wants him to fight for his family and that he needs to apologize to Jason without making any excuses.

Monica then reveals herself as an angel to Jason, and miraculously, Jason (though still blind) is able to see Monica glowing.  She tells him it’s up to God (not Jason) to judge his father.  Will comes to see his son and apologize and Jason forgives him.  As father and son embrace, Renee enters with family photos of happier times, a reminder of all that’s worth fighting for in this family.

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