Show Me The Way to Go Home

Infobox Television episode | Title = Show Me the Way to Go Home
Series = Touched by an Angel
Season = 1
Episode = 2
Airdate = September 28, 1994 (CBS)
Production = 102
Writer = Martha Williamson
Director = Tim Bond
Prev = The Southbound Bus
Next = Tough Love

"Show Me The Way to Go Home" is the second episode of the first season of the CBS drama series "Touched by an Angel". Monica is on to her second assignment: a baseball coach who is much too tough with his team. Monica then gets stressed when he ends up in the hospital with pancreatic cancer. Tess then sings to Monica "The Lord Moves in Mysterious Ways," a high rated moment for the show.

Plot

Monica is assigned to Earl Rowley (Kevin Dobson), a crusty baseball coach. Bitter because his Vietnam War injury prevented him from pursuing a major league career, he pushes his high school players hard, especially Peter Enloe (Ivan Sergei), the star player whose own father is dead. Earl is less than thrilled to have a female assistant coach but is told that Monica was the only substitute teacher who had strong credentials in both history and baseball. Tess, in the meantime, accepts a position working in a sports bar run by Peter's mother, Laura.

A few days before a crucial game, Earl appoints the young man team captain and tells him a college scout will be watching the game to see if Peter is worthy of a baseball scholarship. However, the coach also expects Peter to lead the team with his authoritarian leadership style. Prompted by Monica's history lesson that sometimes a person must stand up to a bully, the team captain takes a stance against Earl, which results in a fistfight and Peter's suspension from the team. While walking away, the coach collapses on the field and is rushed to the hospital.

At the hospital, Monica learns from Adam (Charles Rocket), the Angel of Death, that Earl is dying from pancreatic cancer. As he confides in Monica that the one time he let his guard down, a Vietnamese soldier shot him, he remembers that she was the one who had saved him during the heat of battle. He laments being spared since his life didn't turn out the way he had planned; she chides him for failing to take advantage of the numerous opportunities he had to positively influence the lives of his students. Monica gets angry that Earl wasn't happy with his second chance, and storms off. She then meets Tess and tells her what happened. Tess the sings to her "The Lord Moves in Mysterious Ways," meaning God has a plan and knows what he's doing.

Laura realizes that what her son really needs is Earl's approval. She visits the coach in the hospital, to the to talk to the boy and is followed by Monica. But while the angel states her case, Earl's life signs diminish and Adam appears to escort him to the hereafter. Monica prays for him to have a second chance--a request that is granted. During the big game, the team is three runs down with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Peter is on the verge of striking out when Earl appears and loans him the wooden bat his own father gave him. The teen hits a home run, winning the game and the scholarship. Afterwards, Adam arrives to take Earl, who requests that Monica hold his hand as they walk into the light.

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