Episode
Touched by an Angel: The Compass
Overview
In July of 1944, a month after D-Day, a small squad of American soldiers make their way through the deadly battlefields of Normandy, part of the attempt by the Allied forces to re-claim France. Led by Sergeant Walker, the men are weary, and anything but unified. Cynical Private Joe Farady takes bets in how many casualties there will be at the end of each day. Private Eddie Rourke, full of optimism, is constantly at odds with Joe. Privates Nick Dante and Homer Stucky comprise the rest of the squad. Monica, on a Search and Rescue mission, watches over the man unseen. Through a flashback, we learn that the feud between Eddie and Joe began several months earlier, in an Allied canteen. Joe is upset to find Eddie dancing with Stella, a USO hostess whom Joe considers his girl. Stella isn't interested in Joe and tries to let him down easy. Tess, a USO singer, tells Monica that she is assigned to Joe, that she must help him decide to become a hero. Back on the battlefield as the comba
Details
- Series
- Touched by an Angel
- Season
- Season 6
- Episode
- Episode 2
- Air date
- 1999-10-03
- Runtime
- 48 min
Episode context
The Compass is Episode 2 in Season 6 of Touched by an Angel. It aired on 1999-10-03. The runtime is 48 min.
Previous / Next
Episode 1: Such A Time As This
In the middle of the African desert, Andrew snaps photographs of Sudanese slaves in the hot sun. Back in the United States, young Thomas Cooper is upset that his mother, Senator Katherine Cooper, has to return to Washington D.C. Monica is horrified to see the pictures that Andrew took, and wonders why the angels aren't in the Sudan. Tess indicates that Thomas is the little child that will lead them there. In Washington, Dr. Joseph Akot, working with Andrew and Monica, approach Kate about the problem of slavery in the Sudan, but Kate, espousing the Sudanese government's position, denies its existence. They persuade her, however, to keep the pictures and reads Dr. Joe's letter, which says that slaves can be bought and sold for fifty American dollars. Thomas is moved by one of the pictures in particular, of a small Sudanese boy, who Thomas names Sam after his older brother who died before Thomas was born. Thomas pleads with his mother to rescue Sam, but tells him that the issue is
Episode 3: The Last Day of the Rest of Your Life
A support group for terminally ill people try to prepare themselves for their own death. Monica leads the group and helps each of them recognize what they want to do to fulfill their final wishes.
More episodes from this season
Episode 4: The Letter
As Monica and Tess drive through the crop fields of central California, Monica comments on their beauty. But when Tess asks her to take a closer look, Monica sees the hardworking families, including many young children, toiling over the crops in the hot sun. One such family is the Morante clan. Patriarch Roberto works tirelessly alongside his wife Elisa, his teenage son Tino, and younger children Claudia and Miguel. They migrate with the season, always traveling to the part of the country that is being harvested. One of their few joys is the letter they receive each week from their grandmother. Roberto is illiterate so he has Tino read the letter, though Tino would rather be listening to classical music on the car radio. As the Morantes settle in the latest migrant camp, they meet Monica, the church volunteer, Andrew, the camp supervisor, and Rafael, a fellow migrant worker. At church on Sunday, Tino discovers the piano and begins to play. Tess offers to be his music teacher.
Episode 5: Til Death Do Us Part
Molly Avey's preparations for her husband Jordan's 40th birthday surprise party are interrupted by a phone call from her doctor's office, they suspect she may have cancer, the disease that killed her mother and grandmother at the same young age. Andrew, working as the Avey's farmhand, believes that Molly is his assignment, but Tess cautions him that there may be some other surprises. Despite Andrew's pleas, Molly refuses to tell Jordan about the phone call and spoil the party. Instead of being happy at the surprise, Jordan seems depressed to find everyone gathered in celebration. He finds some joy in talking with his good friend Donna, and they reminisce about their high school romance. Molly and Jordan's young son Jimmy interrupts the party with the news that one of the cows has gone into labor. Jordan, Andrew, and Jimmy struggle to deliver the calf, and it is born premature. Jimmy plans to raise the calf and names it Hannibal, but Jordan tells him that some things are meant to
Episode 6: The Occupant
On Halloween night all the angels have their hands full, and this night is no different for Monica, Tess, and Andrew, who attend to a spiritual battle at Salt Lake City's Mercy Hospital. The ambulance brings Lonnie, a deranged and suicidal homeless man. Lonnie frequently visits the ER and Duncan, the head of the ER and Lonnie's best friend from childhood, has diagnosed him with Multiple Personality Disorder. Andrew arrives to comfort Lonnie, but suddenly lucid, Lonnie claims to be ""Gregory"" and recognizes Andrew as an angel! Andrew looks to Tess for some insight and she relates Lonnie's history. Many years ago, when Tess was Lonnie and Duncan's Sunday School Teacher, she taught them that faith in God is like a mustard seed, though little, it can grow to be very large. Despite an abusive home life, Lonnie struggled to have faith, and cherished the mustard seed that Tess gave him. One Halloween though, a prank gone awry resulted in Lonnie burning a house down. Monica then continu
Episode 7: Voice of an Angel
In New York City, Tess and Monica enjoy the vocal talents of some street performers, but when Monica tires to join in Tess points out that, clearly, singing is not one of her gifts. Monica reminds Tess that she has always prayed for a beautiful singing voice, and when she hears one echoing down the halls of Carnegie Hall, she believes God has finally answering her prayer. much to her disappointment, Monica finds the voice really belongs to a rude English orphan named Alice. Alice is in New York to perform in a vocal contest with her choir, and Monica's assignment. Tess tells Monica that she is to give Alice a ""singing lesson."" Monica reluctantly agrees to be Alice's chaperone for the day, and they start to explore the city. Alice, who remembers a song her father taught her, wants to see Herald Square, and Monica, trying to be friendly, takes her there. At Herald Square, Monica meets Andrew posing as a mime and relates a story. Centuries ago, in heaven, Monica was kicked out of
Episode 8: The Whole Truth And Nothing But...
Monica, Tess, and Andrew sit on a Chicago park bench reading the Chicago Daily Guardian, a tabloidesque newspaper with the motto: ""If It's The Truth, It's News."" The angels cringe at the sensational headlines and Tess notes that there is more to the truth than just the ""facts"" these articles portray. According to Tess, Liz Bradley, the editor of the Guardian, is suffering from a contagious disease, cynicism. She is Monica's assignment. When Monica arrives at the Guardian to interview for a reporter job, she meets eager young Ray, who works as a gofer while awaiting his big break as a reporter. Liz is impressed with Monica and hires her, assigning her to a story about possible shady dealings between Mayor Hunley and some Taiwanese officials. Liz teams Monica with the Guardians' star reporter Lauren, who is also Liz's younger sister whom Liz raised. Lauren feels that Liz is to obsessed with her work, and as a result, the sisters fight frequently. Soon after Lauren and Monica
Episode 9: Then Sings My Soul
In Andrew gives a tour of Taffy Town to a group of young schoolchildren. Taffy Town seems like a wonderful place, as evidenced in the warm video that plays for visitors hosted by the founder, Uncle Dudley. He is known to children as the man who makes all the taffy in the world. Tess reveals that when Uncle Dudley died five years ago, the spirit behind Taffy Town died with him. Monica meets Bo, son of Uncle Dudley and the current owner of Taffy Town. Bo has never been able to live up to his father's genial image, and has come to hate being saddled with the responsibility of Taffy Town. To make matters worse, Taffy Town is losing money, and Bo hires Monica as an efficiency expert to figure out why. Monica starts to interview the employees of Taffy Town, and finds the veteran staff to be hard working, yet a little lacking in spirit. Clarence, a blind man, works as the taste tester. Susie, following in her family's footsteps, works the big taffy machine while nursing a quiet love
Episode 10: The Christmas Gift
Robert and Brianna return to their impoverished hometown of East St. Louis for the Thanksgiving holiday. This tradition annoys Brianna, who worked hard to leave this city behind, and wishes that Robert's widowed mother LaBelle would come to their safe and wealthy neighborhood instead. Monica and Tess watch unseen as Robert welcomes in the season with a beautiful carol played on his treasured trumpet. When a local homeless man named Gabe is drawn to the music, LaBelle welcomes him in for dinner, much to Brianna's chagrin. LaBelle tells Brianna that she is happy in East St. Louis, where she knows her neighbors and volunteers at the soup kitchen. After the holiday, Robert and Brianna work hard to afford their home by selling water filters. Though money is very tight, Robert buys LaBelle a cell phone for safety reasons. She calls him late one night to tell him that a vandal has broken a window in her home, so Robert promptly leaves for East St. Louis. Hours later, Andrew, a policem
Episode 11: Millennium
At a New Year's Eve party in the final minutes of 1999, the angels meet Angela, their new assignment. Tess tells Monica that Angela is reluctant to enter the new millennium because she does not want to give up the past. Tess also informs her that Angela has forgotten about an important appointment that she has made many years ago. in the crowded chaos of the party, Andrew, working as a waiter, accidentally spills some champagne on Angela's dress. Angela graciously retreats to the ladies room where she meets Monica, the attendant, who is able to clean her dress. Monica recites a poem to Angela, ""Oh! To be alive in such an age!"" and this triggers a childhood memory about Angela's father. When she leaves the ladies' room, the commitment-weary Angela becomes nervous when she oversees her escort, Nick, showing Andrew an engagement ring. Later, on the terrace, Angela tells Andrew about her father, Carl, whom she idolized. He was full of spirit and had a love of great poetry. Angela
Episode 12: With God As My Witness
In Tess and Monica are on hand to witness their next assignment, Jim Sullivan, get fired from his job as a construction foreman. Trying to warn the project managers of potential safety hazards, Jim instead incurs their wrath. Tess reminds Monica that humans value themselves for what they do, rather than for who they are. In light of this, the angels must keep Jim from making any desperate decisions. Unable to find more construction work, Jim takes a low-paying job as a limousine driver and worries that he will be unable to financially support his wife and two daughters. As the bills pile up, Jim does make a desperate decision. Tailing his co-worker's advice, Jim decides to drive a questionable by generously-tipping client around for the evening. Monica, the limo dispatcher, warns against it, but the promise of quick cash is too tempting to refuse. Stuart Deane, Jim's passenger, is secretive about his business and appointments. Jim learns too much when Deane leaves their last
Episode 13: A House Divided
Andrew, on assignment as a sixth-grade teacher, resides over a parent-teacher night at the school. A simple game the parents plat turns into a scene when a divorced couple, Martin and Janet, argue over who better knows their son, John is humiliated in front of his classmates, but quietly hides his grief as Tess and Monica watch, unseen. As Andrew builds a relationship with John, he begins to understand the tug-of-war that is John's life. John lives with his mother and her new husband Phil, and spends the weekends with his father. When Martin and Janet do have to deal with each other, their communication is riddled with subversion and insults. One weekend while John and Martin eat pizza at a local restaurant, they run into Andrew and Monica, who describes herself as an ""advocate"", someone who helps people. When Janet arrives at the restaurant to deliver John's homework another fight erupts, and John decides that he would like to enlist Monica's services to help him divorce his par