Despite a murder and kidnapping that puts Jill (Farrah Fawcett) in harm's way, this turns out to be a rather endearing episode. Endearing because we see Jill at her best, befriending the mentally handicapped son of her captor...providing some much-needed care and understanding that his father and brother fail to give him.
John Dennis Johnston does a fine job playing the handicapped son, channeling Lennie from John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men.' I think what makes his performance so effective is that he plays the character with a softness and tenderness, wisely refraining from any sort of cartoonish or grotesque portrayal of a grown man with an obvious disability.
There's a nice moment when he reminisces about his dead mother and the fact she used to make chocolate cakes for him. Jill shows compassion and decides she will bake a cake for him when the chance arises, which foreshadows the episode's poignant final scene. In other crime dramas, the female victims are usually in a hurry to get away from their captors...and while Jill certainly seeks her freedom (and we have the other angels trying to track her down), she uses this time to get to know these people and what makes them tick.
Farrah ends her run as this iconic angel character on a strong note.
John Dennis Johnston does a fine job playing the handicapped son, channeling Lennie from John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men.' I think what makes his performance so effective is that he plays the character with a softness and tenderness, wisely refraining from any sort of cartoonish or grotesque portrayal of a grown man with an obvious disability.
There's a nice moment when he reminisces about his dead mother and the fact she used to make chocolate cakes for him. Jill shows compassion and decides she will bake a cake for him when the chance arises, which foreshadows the episode's poignant final scene. In other crime dramas, the female victims are usually in a hurry to get away from their captors...and while Jill certainly seeks her freedom (and we have the other angels trying to track her down), she uses this time to get to know these people and what makes them tick.
Farrah ends her run as this iconic angel character on a strong note.