Touched by an Angel, Season 2

Monica:
[showing Tess an artichoke] I bought it in a market down there in the street and the little man said that it has a heart inside that is so fragile and so delicious, it's worth all the trouble to get to it.

Tess:
What have I told you about taking human form and then starting on the food?

Callie:
Let me guess. You've had some sort of angel experience.

Monica:
Well, I am an angel experience.

Henry:
Monica. Just when things start getting predictable, voila.

Monica:
Voila? That's all you learned after a century in France?

Henry:
Well, that and a glass of red wine a day keeps the Angel of Death away. For a while.

Lisa:
You want to blame me, you want me to blame you, you want to blame him, you don't care who you blame just so long as you don't have to blame yourself! Well, I've forgiven him! And I've forgiven you and me and God and basketball and snow and everybody else that I blamed. And it's slow but I'm starting to get my life back. And I'm going to, with or without you.

Joe:
You can honestly look me in the eye and tell me that you've forgiven that monster?

Lisa:
If I don't, I'll die too.

Monica:
Andy wrote something on the back of his donor card. "Take what you need and carry on. I know I plan to." They say he was a wonderful person. Do you ever wonder why some people must die so that others can live? Or why enemies live and innocent die?

Joe:
All the time.

Monica:
Perhaps it's because we're not supposed to know.

Joe:
Never a good reason for death.

Monica:
You don't know that until you die. All I'm saying is how can you judge something fairly when you don't even know what the rules are? You can't play God, Joe, because you aren't God.

Cueball:
I'm just trying to figure out which flower you remind me of.

Tess:
Snapdragon.

Monica:
I just want to shake him, make him see what he's doing to himself.

Tess:
It's not gonna happen 'til he hits bottom.

Monica:
Why do I have to wait?

Tess:
Hitting bottom's the only thing to bring him to his knees.

Monica:
Shouldn't we be out looking for trouble?

Zack:
Don't worry. It'll find us.

Monica:
He'll be fine once he goes through withdrawal, won't he?

Tess:
Well, it's not always that easy. Getting rid of the pills doesn't get rid of the problem.

Zack:
I was in a hospital bed for a month. I was at home recuperating for five. And at first, I used the pills just to kill the physical pain. But as it got closer to me getting back to my job, I used them to kill the fear, d'you understand? Because the only thing I thought about was that bullet coming at me and the only thing that makes it disappear are the pills.

Monica:
But now there's hardly anything left but the pills. Or anyone. You've pushed away everyone you love to protect a secret that you hate.

Monica:
This bullet ripped through your body and your body survived. But your spirit is still bleeding. And that's because you weren't wearing your armor. There's only one thing in this world that's truly bulletproof and that's faith. Not faith in a gun that shoots or a radio that works or even faith in your own cop's instinct but the faith that you wrap yourself in every day of your life. The faith that no matter what happens, you won't lose God's love and all the bullets in the world can't pierce it and all the pills in the world can't replace it.

Zack:
I'm really scared. I'm scared to live like this. I can't do that.

Monica:
But God loves you, Zack. And with God on your side, what is there to fear? Nothing.

Tess:
The simplest things are the hardest to say.

Monica:
Like "I'm sorry". Like "I didn't mean to hurt you". Like "I love you". Like "We're gonna get through this somehow".

Tess:
Like "Don't hog the bread"!

Kathleen:
[reading a boy's palm] You're standing in front of something very big, very scary. But you're Daniel the brave, very courageous. And you destroy it.

Daniel:
What is it?

Kathleen:
Something that moves in the night. In the shadows.

Daniel:
Oh, that! My dad fixed that years ago. He put a night light by my bed. I don't even need it anymore. It's for babies. [whispers] Maybe you should practice a little more.

Monica:
So I guess it's true.

Kathleen:
Truth, I'm finding, is relative.

Monica:
Or you just make it that way.

Kathleen:
Why don't you stop by sometime, Booth #1? We can have tea, catch up. Angel to angel.

Monica:
You're not an angel anymore. You know what you are.

Monica:
I don't know when it started, maybe generations ago. But you've been caught on this family cycle of escape and hate. One father's anger fueling the rebellion of his son only to cause the next son to rebel and on it goes and it has to stop! It has to stop tonight because the next son to be angry with his father will be Daniel. You owe your son an apology.

Ty:
Yes, ma'am. I know. I've been trying.

Monica:
And I have a message for you. God loves you, Matt. You can never change what Ty has done but you can change tonight. You can change what you do to hold on to this pain.

Matt:
Forgive and forget.

Monica:
Forgiveness won't change him but it will change you. And I think that's what He wants for you.

Matt:
It's gonna take some time.

Monica:
Maybe you don't have much time. We don't always know when it's too late until it's too late.

Monica:
There are so many people in the world who have never seen what you and I have seen, but they believe anyway. But you ... You have seen Him and still you walked away. I don't understand. Don't you miss us?

Kathleen:
What if I did? I've made my choice. Besides, I'm having too much fun.

Monica:
I'll never forget who you were. Who I loved. But I can't say I'm sorry to see you go.

Kathleen:
You turned out to be a hell of an angel, Monica. Next time, I won't underestimate you.

Monica:
Why do they do it, Tess? They invent clocks and then they become slaves to them. They make up little jobs and then they become prisoners to them. They build all sorts of roads going nowhere and they spend all their time going up and down and back and forth and sometimes I could just shake them! In a nice way, of course.

Tess:
Well, the problem with most driven people is they make the mistake of thinking they're doing the driving. That's how accidents happen.

Monica:
Is anything ever really an accident, Tess?

Tess:
What difference does it make? You're gonna have to handle it when it happens.

Debra:
Welcome to Q-News. We've got more questions than answers but, hey, we try.

Cameraman:
Shouldn't that be "Like my mother always says..."?

Debra:
"As" is grammatically correct.

Cameraman:
Nobody says that.

Debra:
My mother does.

Leo:
Welcome to God's Country.

Monica:
Well, I suppose it started out that way.

Leo:
Don't get me wrong. Anybody who wants a career should go for it. But when it's over, I'd rather end up with a gold watch and a hand to hold instead of just a gold watch.

Tess:
How about you, honey? Blood banks can always use extra.

Monica:
I don't know that I can give blood.

Tess:
Oh, I bet you can. I bet your blood is purer than the driven snow.

Debra:
[Mother]'d say things like "You won't get the blue ribbon for running half the race" or "You're a waste of space if you're not in first place." But somehow she really had a way of inspiring me to be my best.

Monica:
Your best or hers?

Monica:
You may not realize it but the night you tried to take your own life, you actually succeeded.

Debra:
I didn't die.

Monica:
No, but the best part of you did. The part of you that's human, that's Debra. And all that remained was the part that couldn't let anything less than perfect survive....You have the right to be less than perfect.

Debra:
I can't do it right all the time!

Monica:
I know that. God knows that. How can He blame you for being human when He made you human?

Debra:
God really loves me.

Monica:
Yes, and there's not a thing you can do about it.

Henry:
That was an unconditional compliment. Can't you just take it?

Monica:
[listening to music at a CD store] People listen to this voluntarily?

Tess:
Monica, one generation never understands the music of the following generation.

[Interviewing Monica on the air]

Sandy:
What I need is, oh, someone to arrange my personal appearances, file my fan mail, organize the book I'm writing, maybe a little light dusting. Just your general all-round slave. Are you up for that?

[On the air]

Sandy:
Well, Tess, you are a big woman, aren't you, my dear?

Tess:
Well, I have a big heart and it needs room.

Sandy:
Hey, it's got it and then some.

Tess:
Well, I guess yours doesn't. That's why you're such a bony little thing, huh?

Monica:
A field trip! How lovely! I've seen a lot of beautiful fields.

Sandy:
You're grounded for two weeks.

Claire:
What?

Sandy:
One week for fighting and one week for lying to me.

Claire:
That means I miss the prom. The only senior prom I'll ever go to, ever.

Sandy:
Okay. You're grounded except to go to the prom.

Claire:
Then how am I going to buy my dress?

Sandy:
Fine. You're grounded except to buy your dress and go to the prom.

Claire:
No one's even asked me to go yet.

Sandy:
What are we talking about?

Claire:
Mom!

Sandy:
Claire!

Monica:
Excuse me, but I think in order for Claire to be asked to the prom, she has to be somewhere where there are boys.

Claire:
Yeah. That's right.

Sandy:
Okay. You're grounded after the prom.

Tess:
How was your prom?

Sandy:
Oh, please! I didn't go. Proms are pretentious, they are expensive, they are overrated...

Tess:
Oh, nobody asked you, huh?

Claire:
I don't know what I'm doing here. It just hurt so bad I had to do something. I wanted to make her hurt as much as I did.

Monica:
And you succeeded. But do you feel any better now? [Claire shakes her head] Claire, bad things are always going to happen in this life and people will hurt you but you can't use that as an excuse to fail or hurt someone in return because you just hurt yourself. God loves you. And He loves your mother. And it hurts to see both of you in so much pain.

Claire:
Both of us?

Monica:
Your mother has been hurting for a long time. And she's been trying so hard to provide for you and protect you that she's ... she's pushed her own pain aside. Yes, she has to learn to understand what you're feeling. But you have to try and understand what she needs as well.

Claire:
I never thought of her as being in pain before.

Monica:
The day comes in every daughter's life when she sees her mother not as a mother but as another woman with a heart that can be broken. This is that day for you.

Tess:
The night your husband left you for the younger, thinner, firmer, blonder, I think Debbie was her name? You stood in your room and you made a vow to God. You said: "I'm never gonna let anybody hurt me anymore. I'm going to be strong. I just won't feel anything and they're never gonna see me cry, I swear to God." You have to be careful what you swear to God because He hears you and I'm here to tell you that feeling something is exactly what you need to do.

Sandy:
I don't believe in God.

Tess:
Well, too bad because He believes in you.

[Monica tunes the radio to a rock station and Tess promptly switches it off]

Monica:
(sighs) Variety is the spice of life.

Tess:
Evil thrives when good men do nothing.

Monica:
Who said that?

Tess:
A music lover.

Monica:
So my assignment is just a little bit of paperwork, huh?

Tess:
Oh, it's an "Angel walk in, angel lend a helping hand, angel walk out." It's a "Who's that mysterious stranger?" thing. It's a piece of cake.

[As they look at a wall filled with racist graffiti on a house they're visiting]

Tess:
The world is full of people who don't want to get involved. That's how trash like this can happen.

[About opening an AIDS hospice in a prejudiced community]

Monica:
Aren't you afraid about all this?

Dr. Joanne:
Of course I am but I only have two choices. Quit or keep going, and I'm not gonna quit so that leaves keep going.

Sam:
Tess walked into a room controlled by evil. Evil so powerful it can make you fight against it on its own terms, disarm you with your own hate.

Monica:
I can't imagine hating anyone.

Sam:
Neither could Tess.

Jerry:
Please. Don't ask me. I don't want to get involved.

Monica:
And you think that will keep you safe? Whoever set that bomb is going to burn the house down. Just in case the wind changes, I hope the flames next door remember that you don't want to get involved.

Jerry:
Now wait a minute! I'm not a bad person. It's just that...

Monica:
Evil thrives when good men do nothing.

Sam:
If you can't find the love in you, let God love through you.

Sam:
First lesson. Don't wait for evil to come to you.

Sam:
(instructing Jerry on backing the angels up) Now, we're going down that road to face the devil himself. If it turns into a battle, we can save your life, but your soul is up to you.

Tess:
God did give you the gift of leadership. But this this creature perverted it. He took your pain and loneliness and he taught you to control instead of lead. He stole your gift and he stole your life. That's what Satan does.

Monica:
So, Tim, let me get this straight. He used your fear and your pain and your hate and talked you into killing somebody? So then where does he get his power from, huh? Ah! I guess he gets it from you.

Tess:
That darn free will.

Satan:
God screwed up. Free will is a curse.

Tess:
Free will is a gift. And love is a choice. And hate leaves you no choice but you've got a choice here, Tim. Monica and Sam and I just have the power to reveal him to you. But you can make him go away. He can't stay any longer than you let him. God loves you, Tim. And He wants you back.

Megan:
Remember when ma decided to cook for Thanksgiving and she put cayenne pepper on the turkey instead of paprika? And she told us to be thankful we still have mouths left?

[When Megan tells Sam she has AIDS]

Megan:
Sam, say something, please.

Sam:
I don't know what to say.

Megan:
It's okay. Nobody ever does.

Megan:
Sam, look, I appreciate everything you're trying to do but if you wanna do something for me, be my friend.

Sam:
I'm not trying to do anything. And I am your friend. But a friend can't be there for you the way a husband can. And I will love you and I will care for you...

Megan:
...'til death do we part.

Sam:
That's the vow I wanna make.

Tess:
War, famine, plagues have wiped out entire civilizations but love has never been wiped out.

Tess:
I could yell the words of God until the cows come home but you wouldn't hear. Not until you let go of your fear.

Clarice:
I want to save them.

Tess:
Precious, there's nothing you can do but love them.

Tess:
There's nothing more dangerous than loving. Unless it's not loving. He didn't say it was gonna be easy. But He says it's surely gonna be worthwhile.

Megan:
Let me just ask you one thing. Why? Why did He do this to me? Why did I do to deserve this?

Monica:
Nothing. Megan, you've done nothing. This is not a punishment. God hasn't done this to you. God didn't set this journey in motion. He's just as angry as you are that you have to walk this road. But He promises you this, Megan. He will walk this road with you and He will be there for you when you reach the end of it. God loves you. The love has always been there for you. All any of you needed was the courage to hold onto it.

Monica:
[Holding a toad] I think this is one of the ugliest things I've ever seen.

Tess:
Well, I suppose he is if that's all you're looking at.

Monica:
He?

Tess:
Yeah, that's Jerome. He's got a name and a heart and warts. I guess the warts are all you can see.

Monica:
This isn't one of those "Walk a mile in her shoes" things, is it?

Tess:
Try stilettos.

Tess:
I wish you hadn't brought that boy in here. He was not in the plan. No, sir!

Monica:
Maybe the plan should change.

Tess:
Well, who do you think you are, Ms. Wings? The last time I looked, I didn't see any bumper stickers that says "Smile, 'cause Monica loves you".

Monica:
How can anybody expect me to stand aside while Emily needs help and her mother won't give it to her? I think the reason I'm here is for Emily and not for Ginger.

Tess:
Dangerous waters, baby. Just because you don't like the horse is no excuse to start changing ponies midstream.

Monica:
[praying] The truth is I don't like Ginger. I hate what she's doing to her child. I don't understand it. I don't know how to get through to her. She makes me so angry that I'm afraid of what I'll say to her next so I end up not saying anything at all. I'm sorry. Really, I am sorry but I don't know what to say anymore without telling her the truth... [Realizes] And the truth shall set her free.

Monica:
(to Ginger, upset) I am sorry...but for you to twist your superstitions and your fables into a life sentence for that little child--then THAT MAKES ME VERY ANGRY!

Tess (scolding Al):
Well then, Mr. Light Fingers, you go over there and tell those kids they're not getting to Nashville. And you make sure that little girl understands real good that she's not getting her face fixed.

Tess:
God raised this balloon. And He's able to raise your standards... All you have to do is get in and hold on.

Monica:
There are great mysteries in this world that we don't understand, Ginger. Only God does. But this I do understand. That no mistake you have ever made is bigger than God's power to fix it.

Emily:
Mama, I'm gonna have an operation.

Tess:
Your problem is that you get too emotionally involved in your cases... Which is one of the things I love most about ya.

Monica:
You are so beautiful, Emily. But never forget you always were.

[Monica waits in line at the bank with a hundred dollar note]

Tess:
I hate to pry but what are you doing in here, Ms. Wings?

Monica:
I'm returning this.

Tess:
Benjy never wore his hair like that.

Monica:
Oh...I thought I'd put it on the lost and found.

Tess:
Angel, baby, you are so cute when you are naive.

Tess:
Watch yourself. People get so strange when it comes to money. I don't know why they put so much faith in that little piece of paper.

Monica:
It's because they can smell it, touch it and hold it in their hands.

Tess:
That's not faith. That's just smelling, touching, holding something.

Tess:
Don't worry about you can't do it or why you can't do it, baby. God can use you in there. Don't escape from it. Deal with it.

Andrew:
(on Tess' taste in music) She's been a little bit cranky ever since the death of swing.

Monica:
(About Max) That tattoo on his arm — was he in a concentration camp?

Tess:
Auschwitz. He was six.

Monica:
I volunteered to go there, but I never got assigned. I wish I had.

Tess:
No, you don't. (pats her shoulder)

Monica:
(tearful after hearing one of Tanya's letters) Is that why you're here? Is that why Tanya could see you, because she's going to die?

Andrew:
I don't know that. I do know it's gonna be complicated.

Monica:
Complicated? What could be more simple? There's someone out there hurting a child and I can save her!

Tess:
You know a lot of people think its the imperfections that make things beautiful.

Indigo Angel [2.15]:
Anybody ever sing the yellows or the greens? Monica, in response to Tess's explanation of the blues

Indigo Angel [2.15]:
Monica, in response to Tess's explanation of the blues

Indigo Angel [2.15]:
Now there are gonna be hard times — war, money problems, and something called disco. Tess, encouraging Sam

Indigo Angel [2.15]:
Tess, encouraging Sam

Jacob'S Ladder [2.16]:
You don't know what you're dealing with here. I could break you like THAT! Monica, on psychotropic drugs

Jacob'S Ladder [2.16]:
Monica, on psychotropic drugs