The Southbound Bus

Infobox Television episode | Title = The Southbound Bus
Series = Touched by an Angel
Season = 1
Episode = 1
Airdate = September 21, 1994 (CBS)
Production = 101
Writer = Martha Williamson
Director = Jerry J. Jameson
Next = Show Me The Way to Go Home

"The Southbound Bus" is the first episode of the CBS drama series "Touched by an Angel." In this episode, an angel named Monica (Roma Downey) is introduced to Tess (Della Reese) at a bus stop, saying that Monica has been promoted to a caseworking angel. That means that she'll be assigned to help certain people in everyday situations, and Tess will be supervising her as her 'boss.'

Plot

Tess (Della Reese) guides Monica (Roma Downey) on her first assignment as a case worker after being promoted from search and rescue. On the southbound bus, she befriends David Morrow, a young boy who tells her that his mother and sister died in a car accident. After helping David fend off some bullies, Monica escorts him home. There she meets his father, Nick, a police detective who is looking for a live-in nanny. Monica is hired for the position, but soon has a chance encounter with Adam (Charles Rocket), the Angel of Death, who informs her that although David's sister, Katie died of crib death, his mother is still alive.

Confronting the child with his lie, Monica learns that his guilt-wracked mother left home afterwards and hasn't returned. She promises to bring his mother home and sets out to find her in Hewitt, leaving David in Tess' care.

In a seedy café there, Monica befriends two waitresses, and mistakes one of them for David's mother. She arranges a meeting between Ruth Ann and Nick, which backfires when the police officer recognizes the waitress as a wanted fugitive. The angel appeals for Ruth Ann to stop running, but she refuses to turn herself in. Returning to the cafe', Monica discovers the other waitress, Christine, is actually David's mother and reveals herself in an effort to persuade the woman to return to her family. But Christine blames herself for Katie's death and refuses. In anguish, Monica prays for guidance and returns to David and Nick to deliver the bad news. The child is crushed, and Tess admonishes Monica for her mishandling of the assignment. While Nick is outside comforting his son, Christine drives up in her red Cadillac. Monica's revelation convinced her to return home, thus reuniting the family. In gratitude, Christine gives the angels her Cadillac, which Tess gladly accepts.

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