Episode
Touched by an Angel: The Perfect Game
Overview
Ben McCloud, ace pitcher for the AAA Richmond Braves, is on his way to the Major Leagues. His biggest obstacle is his father, Norm. Norm is constantly critical of Ben's performance, including a two-hit shut-out. He wants so much for his son to make it to the Majors that he will except nothing short of perfection. He wants Ben to succeed where he failed though he is, in effect, pushing his son down the same path that ended his career. He is constantly embarrassing his son in front of the other players, and Ben is approaching a breaking point. Monica comes on board as the team's new trainer, allowing Ben to vent some of his frustrations, something he desperately needs. His father will not listen to him, and if he knew, would prevent him from visiting his grandfather, Candy, a great ballplayer in his own time. Norm's drive is all encompassing, he treats his son as little more than an avenue to success, and his own father as a pathetic liar. He is unable to accept his own father's
Details
- Series
- Touched by an Angel
- Season
- Season 8
- Episode
- Episode 2
- Air date
- 2001-10-06
- Runtime
- 48 min
Episode context
The Perfect Game is Episode 2 in Season 8 of Touched by an Angel. It aired on 2001-10-06. The runtime is 48 min.
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Episode 1: Holy of Holies
Andrew pays a visit to Catherine, an 88-year-old woman who lost her husband in WWII. She has since lost her youth as well as her faith in her children and grandchildren. All except for one that is, her grandson, Paul. She shows Andrew a copy of the Memoirs of Nehemiah, an ancient document pointing out the hiding place of the Ark of the Convenant. After this revelation, she secures his promise to take it to the post office and ship it to Paul, who is away at school. Meanwhile, Tess, Monica, and Gloria are floating around Paul's campus and eager to get started on their next assignment. Andrew arrives and tells them what he saw. Gloria masquerades as a student to infiltrate Paul's history class. Here, she meets Thomas, a history professor with a zeal for Arklore. Later on Paul stops by Thomas' office with the Memoirs of Nehemiah. He thinks it might ""be something important"", because his grandfather traveled extensively in the Middle East during the war. Thomas assures him that i
Episode 3: The Birthday Present
When a cancer patient is taken by Andrew, Gloria's curiosity about death is piqued. Monica suggests she take a ""ride-along"" with Andrew. Meanwhile Robbie McGregor locks his sister Sarah in a bomb shelter to protect her from their abusive father. He then returns the key to his father's hey-chain. Later on, mailman Chuck Parker comes upon the McGregor house. Robbie answers Chuck's ""easy"" baseball trivia question, then asks about a special package he is expecting. Chuck hasn't seen it, but assures Robbie that he'll keep an eye out. Robbie father, Gary, hollers for him to ""Get in here!"". Robby does, and Chuck gets back in his truck, only to discover the package. Chuck hurries up to the door, but before he can knock, he hears an argument. At the sound of a slap, and Robbie's ""Ow!"", Chuck rings the doorbell. When Gary answers, Chuck presents the package and insists that Robbie sign for it himself. Gary refuses, so Chuck leaves. Gary demands to know what's in the package, Robbie
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Episode 4: Manhunt
The Angels go to a Happy Hour at the Monte Carlo, a bar run by one of Tess's former assignments. It is here that Monica learns that Zoe, a girl she saw earlier in the park, is her assignment. Zoe is lonely, heartbroken, and trying to come to terms with the end of a relationship with a great guy, Jeff. Her friends, Patty, Penny, and Maggie, try to cheer her up and help her ""Get over him."" The next day at work, Monica is hired to take over for Patty, who quit her job to get married. As the day progresses, Gloria arrives to fix all of the office computers, and Billy, an RDS delivery guy shows up with some packages. During his time in the office, his attention is solely focused on Zoe. Monica immediately notices the attraction, though Zoe is oblivious. Billy leaves and the girls go about their day eagerly awaiting Happy Hour. The clock strikes six, and they all hurry off to the Ladies room to get dolled up. Billy arrives with some apple strudel for Zoe. When he is unable to find
Episode 5: Chutzpah
After Monica leaves Gloria alone at a Portland bus stop, Gloria learns about the Jewish people...from 3 skinheads. A short time after that, Gloria meets Sam Silverstein. Sam is a sofer, a Jewish man who hand-makes the Torah, the holy scripture. Sam is amazed that Gloria does not know the truth about the holocaust and encourages her to learn about it. Monica gets a job at the Portland Daily News as an editorial writer, where she works with Sam's daughter, Rachel ""Silver."" Rachel is the paper's editorial cartoonist but her job is in jeopardy because it isn't edgy enough. Monica also notices Rachel's extensive ""personal collection"" of cartoons depiciting her father and the Jewish faith in unflattering light. When Rachel invites Monica over to the family dinner to be her ""human shield"" Monica quickly learns how deep the wounds are between Sam and Rachel. The next day, Rachel puts one of the ""personal jabs"" in the paper and immediately her panel, ""Chutzpah!"" is the hit of Portland.
Episode 6: Famous Last Words
Monica and Gloria breeze into Carlisle, Arizona in search of a cup of coffee, and the Famous LAst Words of a death row inmate. Posing as an author, Monica steps into the Oasis diner, where she meets Shirlee, a waitress with a nice smile and a strange fascination with the families that come to see their relatives die by lethal injection. Meanwhile, across the street, convicted killer Daniel Lee Corbitt is trying to stay tough on the eve of his own execution. He brags about the fame that will come with his death, and about the ""book writer"" who's coming to see him. What Daniel didn't count on was the arrival of Andrew, his own personal Angel of Death, who has come to see him th rough the final 36 hours of his life. When Monica arrives in the prison with her assistant, Gloria, Daniel is only too eager to ignore Andrew and continue upon his request for immortality through a tell-all biography. He happily relates his history and the events that led up to him returning home, after year
Episode 7: Most Likely To Succeed
Dennis Loggins is a young multi-billionaire. He's become a success, he's gotten in shape, he's spent years improving himself, and he's done it all for the love of a good woman. Or so he tells himself. The fact is that Dennis has engineered this facade of confidence and importance solely as a means for revenge. In high school Dennis was a nerd with a crush on the head cheerleader, Melissa. Due to her kindness and attention, Dennis's crush transformed into unrequited love. To make matters worse, he was constantly tormented and humiliated by Ricky, Melissa's boyfriend. On one memorable occasion, Ricky tricked Dennis into admitting his love for Melissa over a live microphone at the football game. Dennis never got over the humiliation, despite Melissa's assurance that he needn't worry. Now years later, Dennis is a success, and is eager to return Ricky's slights ten-fold. He hires Gloria on as an assistant specifically to find out what football team Ricky is playing for, and to hel
Episode 8: Heaven's Portal
A rebellious teen convinces Gloria to go to a rave with him where they both end up getting high.
Episode 9: When Sunny Gets Blue
A young man tries to help his mentally ill father, in rebellion against his mother's apparent indifference.
Episode 10: Angels Anonymous
Andrew, acting as a marriage counselor, sends Yvette and Peter there when they have trouble talking anything but work. Monica catches the eye of Michael, a lonely paramedic, and leads him on a wild goose chase ending at Bubba's. Tess sends Leigh and her ""I'm the Boss"" husband Jimmy to the dive in order to squeeze lunch into their thoroughly planned outing. And Karen, a lawyer who has lost her sense of purpose, is stranded in the Polynesian nightmare when a bad client, a flat tire, and returning angel Rafael combine to alter her day. As they become aware of each other and gravitate toward a single table, they catch up on the years gone by, and make the startling discover that their former teacher Dave Price is bussing their table. Dave denies his identity at first, hating what he's become, and despising what he is about to do. He has agreed to help Bubba, the owner, burn the place down in exchange for a chunk of the insurance money. He figures if he can dodge his students and for
Episode 11: A Winter Carol
In a small New York town, just a short commute from NYC, a lone Volkswagen Beetle sits abandoned in the train station parking lot. It hasn't moved in months, not since its owner, Bill Harper, took the 6:15 train into the city on the morning of September 11th. No one knows why he went to New York that day, and no one knows what became of him. It just makes it that much more difficult for his friends and neighbors to accept that Bill Harper will NOT be home for Christmas. This year Mr. Harper will not be around to plan the Christmas Pageant, or to give drum lessons to Benny Lewis. Benny however, refuses to give up hope, everyday checking to see if Mr. Harper's car has moved, or if anyone has gotten word from him. But the Benny's fear for Mr. Harper is nothing compared to the fear that has consumed his mother, Victoria, since that awful day. She, as mayor, refuses to have the Volkswagen towed despite the persistence of Charlie, the town sheriff. She is reluctant to let someone els
Episode 12: The Last Chapter
Monica revisits the home of Elizabeth Jessup, a retired reporter who she once helped cope with alcoholism. Tess insists that Monica is there as the answer to someone's prayer. Monica hurries up the steps to offer Elizabeth whatever help she needs, only to discover that her help is not only unwanted, but resented. Elizabeth wants nothing to do with the angel that once helped her out. Monica shows up at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, where Elizabeth is celebrating seven years of sobriety. In the midst of her speech, she begins to slur her words, insisting that she hasn't been drinking, it's just a headache. After the meeting, Monica meets up with her and her daughter, Sydney and granddaughter, Beth. Monica expresses her concern and Elizabeth says that she's developed a tendency for transient cognitive episodes of undetermined origin. Sydney explains that the doctors suspect a brain tumor. Later on, Monica reads Elizabeth's memoirs, and asks why there is no mention of the fire
Episode 13: Ship-In-A-Bottle
Tevis Lockwood is starting a new life with his daughters, Ashley and Jasmine. Leaving behind the sun and heat of Los Angeles, they move to the cold rainy Seattle suburbs so Tevis can take control of a large shipping company. His daughters are not overly enthused about the move, particulary Jasmine who fears that the cold and rain will bring illness with it. As they set about unpacking and arranging the new house, Jasmine in increasingly worried about the weather and the effects it might have on she and Ashley. Monica arrives as part of the transition team for the shipping company and with Gloria's help, looks after the girls while Tevis gets situated at work. Tevis arrives at the office pleased with his new station in life and eager to make an impression on the world. When he finds the reception desk empty, Tess shows up with a resume and answers the phone for him. Impressed by her initiative, Tevis hires her on the spot, not a moment before Joaquin, the real receptionist arrive