Episode
Touched by an Angel: Birthmarks
Overview
Michael Russell is dying of cancer, a fact that his father finds hard to accept. A potter by trade, Whit is skeptical of technology and persuaded his son to leave city life for the family farm once his illness was diagnosed. Unbeknownst to Whit, Michael and Penny have undergone gamete fertilization, a process enabling Jolene to be the surrogate mother for their baby. Believing the pregnancy to be natural, Whit vows to have no part in raising his grandchild. Subsequent to one of his tirades, Jolene disappears. As Michael's health deteriorates, the situation looks increasingly grim, especially when Andrew arrives. Using a clever metaphor, Monica gently convinces Whit to accept the non-traditional pregnancy. Michael dies just as his son is born, and as his bereaved family visits the grave, Tess arrives with Jolene and the baby in tow. She gives the infant to his mother, who laments that Michael never got a chance to hold his son. Tess comforts Penny by pointing that he has a bir
Details
- Series
- Touched by an Angel
- Season
- Season 2
- Episode
- Episode 23
- Air date
- 1996-05-11
- Runtime
- 48 min
Episode context
Birthmarks is Episode 23 in Season 2 of Touched by an Angel. It aired on 1996-05-11. The runtime is 48 min.
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Episode 22: Flesh and Blood
Monica befriends Kate Prescott, whose son is accused of a brutal murder. Angered by Thomas's acquittal, Leonard Page, the victim's father, tries to force the Prescott's to leave town. Tess advises the man to let God avenge his daughter's death, but he refuses to listen, even when Kate herself begs him to stop the vendetta. When she discovers some of the victim's belongings in Thomas's room, however, she doubts his innocence and issues a statement to the press. He responds by leaving town. But once the police apprehend the real murderer, Kate despairs because of her betrayal. Revealing herself, Monica tells the distraught mother her mistake was trusting evidence rather than faith. Tess meanwhile return's to the Page's house, urging him to let the healing process begin. Afterwards, Monica wonders what will become of Kate's son. Tess reveal that Mrs. Angeli, the kindly bus driver who gave Kate moral support during the trial is herself and 'advance angel"" who will watch over Thoma
Episode 24: Statute of Limitations
The angels are assigned to The Morgan Bell Show, a tabloid talk show, with Monica having the plum job of assisting Claudia Bell, the program's embittered producer and Morgan's sister. A dark secret from the Bell's past forged their unhealthy symbiotic relationship, the glamorous Morgan is on-air talent while the obese Claudia calls the shots from the seclusion. Morgan's attempt to focus on uplifting topics backfires when an ""all-American"" mother is confronted by an illegitimate daughter raised in foster homes. The woman has a heart attack, and Morgan is irate that Claudia engineered the situation. Working together, the angels uncover their past, but inform the sisters that God can forgive any sin, no matter how long ago it was committed. Morgan and Claudia publicly confess their misdeeds, asking their victims and the television audience for forgiveness.
More episodes from this season
Episode 21: The Quality of Mercy
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 and Marshall. Matters are further complicated when the aging actor initiates an affair with one 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 his father 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 and admits he didn't quit the show, but was fired because of his age. Marshall is still reluctant to forgive until Moni
Episode 20: Portrait of Mrs. Campbell
The women in Naval officer, Neil Campbell's life do not get along. His mother Marian and his pregnant wife April seem to be competing fir his love. After he goes out to sea, Monica enters their life as an artist commissioned to paint a ""portrait of Mrs. Campbell"". We learn that Marian is desperately in need of a bone marrow transplant and Neil cannot return home from sea. As the situation worsens, April volunteers to donate marrow despite her pregnancy. At this point we come to know the secret that Marian has been hiding for entire life, that she has a mentally challenged son, Tommy, who has been raised in facilities all of his life. Although Marian has always loved and cared for her son, she was encouraged by her parents to give him up as punishment for the sinful behavior that conceived him. As Marian's health worsens, Tommy emerges as the only viable bone marrow donor and, with the help of Andrew, the operation is arranged and is successful. April gives birth to a healthy b
Episode 19: Dear God
While working at the post office, Monica meets Max, who is responsible for handling ""dead"" letters addressed to Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and God. A Holocaust survivor, Max answers children's letters to God by telling them there is no God and not to place their faith in a fantasy. One little girl, Tanya Brenner, continues sending letters to God, even though Max only answered the first one and ignored the rest. Andrew, who has met the child, and Monica entice Tess ask God if they can read the letters. After receiving permission, they learn that Tanya's father is very ill and that his girlfriend, Sandy has been abusing the girl. Monica is outraged and wants to help out, but Tess reminds her that Max, not Tanya is her assignment. Taking matters into her own hands, Monica arranges Max to see a drunken Sandy hit the girl. Following this encounter, Max follows her homw, where her dying father beseeches the postal worker to find Tanya a new home. Shaken, Max runs away. When he d
Episode 18: Lost and Found
Monica and Tess are assigned to Detective Frank Champness at the Centre for Missing Children. Champness is very good at his job, but is haunted by his failures, the children who have died or have simply never been found. Andrew, is also taking his shift at the centre. Andrew is intrigued by computers, and shows Monica how computer simulated age progression works. Monica discovers that Kathleen, is Frank's new girlfriend, and is pushing him to the breaking point. She distracts him from his cases and undermines all the good he has done for missinig children, pushing him close to quitting his job. In a dueling revelation scene, Monica defeats Kathleen and brings Frank back back from the influence of evil. Then, with the help of Andrew's age progression expertise, Monica helps him solve a 15 year old missing child case.
Episode 17: Out of the Darkness
What happens if you go into a coma, wake up five years later and discover you've lost everything that mattered to you? When we open Steve is celebrating the opening of he and his partner Matthew's architectural firm. Then his son falls off the roof, but is miraculously unhurt. Monica caught him, and unseen to the family, she also examines an angel key chain. This causes Steve to take his second car, a dumpy little model, and he's thrown out in an accident. When Steve wakes up, five years have passed, and we learn that his wife Bonnie has fallen in love with Matthew. Thinking her was a permanent vegetable, she's divorced Steve. His house looks completely different, he notices a dog lives there now. Steve reacts in rage, he breaks up Bonnie and Matthew's nuptials. Monica meanwhile feels so badly about causing all this trouble that she steps away from her assignment. Al is dispatched to talk sense into her. What is revealed is that Steve had carried on a legacy of abuse, there
Episode 16: Jacob's Ladder
As Monica studies a sleeping man in a run-down apartment, Tess appears and informs her she's in the wrong place, 801 Cedar Street Jacksonville, Florida rather than Jacksonville, Illinois. After using her angelic powers to tidy the apartment, Monica stoops to pick up a bag under the bed when the police burst in. The bag she's holding is full of cocaine, and the police arrest her. During interrogation, her claim that she's an angel makes her a candidate for a mental hospiptal. At her arraignment, Monica alone can see Sam, the angel from special services. He tells her the simple mistake of going to the wrong address has set events in motion that have to play out, but no matter what happens God will never laeve you of forsake her. Monica is assigned a court-appointed attorney, Jake Stone, a Vietnam veteran and hardened cynic. He tries to convince her to plead guilty but mentally ill. She refuses, however, and insists on a competency hearing. In the meantime, Monica is remanded to
Episode 15: The Indigo Angel
Club Indigo, once St. Louis' premier blues and jazz club, has fallen hard times. It's owner, Sam, is getting on and his grandson Zach arrives to convince his grandfather to sell the club and move into a nursing home. Sam resists. He's always told Zach that ""The Countess"" told him ""do nothing, til you hear from me"" and he's sticking to those words. Zach assumesthat Sam has embriodered the past greatness of the club, and that he's made up stories of all the jazz greats who played there and were friends. Especially that story about ""The Countess"", the mysterious singer who arrived in the sixties and put the club back on the map. Whether these stories are true or not, it's apparent that Sam should really be in a nursing home, he's losing his memory as well as his well-being. But Sam has always had an open-mike night on Mondays, and despite his grandson's protests, proceeds to hire Monica to M.C. the event. Zach tricks his grandfather into signing a power of attorney agreement so th
Episode 14: Rock 'n' Roll Dad
Rock 'n' Roll star Jon Mateos has it all, a loving wife Evie, a devoted teenagae daughter Samantha, and a son Dylan. He relies on Evie for support and she responds by trying to be everywhere and do everything for him. Jon's comfortable world is turned upside down when Evie, rushing from her daughter's concert to a TV appearence by Jon, is killed in a car accident. Faced with actually having to raise his children, and deal with their emotional trauma, Jon rereats into work and then rapidly descends into and drug use. Monica who is Jon's driver, watches as his attempts to record a new song, 'Nowhere', disappear down the bottle and up his nose. Tess is the kid's nanny, Samantha slips around her to go out with friends to a concert. But en route they stop at a motel to party. Samantha didn't plan on this and runs out. She pages her dad, but he's too stoned to pick up his pager. Eventually Sam hitches a ride with a trucker. When the driver points out they're at the spot where Evi
Episode 13: 'Til We Meet Again
The Carpenter family gathers as their father, Joe prepares to die at home. Although grown, the siblings demonstrating the roles they become accustomed to. Kate, the eldest, takes charge like their mother, Elizabeth but is not quite as overbearing. Chris, the middle child, stuns his sisters with the news that he is estranged from his wife. And Kim, the youngest, is the creative one who never seemed to fit in with the rest of the family. Monica and Tess, as the home-care nurse and interior decorator, get caught in the crossfire as Chris and Kim resist Kate's domineering behaviour. The angel's mission is to help expose a family secret before Joe dies. Andrew informs Monica and Tess that time is rappidly approaching. Amidst a heated argument, Kate exposes the secret, Kim is not Joe's biological father. Upon returning from a brief trip, Elizabeth convenes a family meeting to discuss the matter. Years ago, she had a torrid affair with her husband's business partner. Joe forgave hi
Episode 12: The One That Got Away
En route to a wedding in a picturesque mountain meadow, Monica meets an uninvited guest, Andrew, an Angel of Death whom Tess is well acquainted with. The angel's new assignment focuses on former law school classmates traveling via train to the nuptials. Mark Monfort and Susan Duplain rekindle their passion, having ended their relationship just before graduation. However, their friend, Lisa Magdaleno is still reeling from the suicide of her fiance, Doug who was expelled from law school for cheating. Mark had been unaware of his best friend's death and more importantly of his own involvement. Jealous that Doug received a clerkship she wanted, Susan tricked Mark into helping her change Doug's exam to make it look like he plagiarized it. With Andrew's assistance, Monica shows Mark that Susan's quest for power and prestige is out of control. After an intense confrontation with her, he turns to Lisa for comfort and support.