7th Heaven: Season 3 - Episode 19: The Voice

 

Eric (Stephen Collins) talks with someone at church. 

Eric is talking to Rudy Steineger (Jack Carter) in his office at the church. Rudy is the custodian at Simon's middle school. He asks Eric if God ever speaks audibly to him. Eric tells him "no," and Rudy says God speaks out loud to him.

The opening credits come up, and the theme song plays. 

Annie is working in fast motion (thanks to the incredible technology that allows cameras to speed things up) to get the twins their formula made and to them before they start crying. 

The babies are crying when she gets the bottles to them. Matt comes into his parents' room and tells Annie he's going to the library to study; however, Matt told  Shana he was studying at home, so she might call while he's gone. Matt asks his mother if she needs any help, and she says she needs to be faster at getting the bottles to the twins.

The phone rings. It's Patricia Hamilton (Olivia Brown). Annie tells her she needs to do something because she's losing it. Patricia tells her she will work on it.

Mary and Lucy are in their room discussing working for only one night at a country club. Mary wants to wait to ask her parents, but Lucy wants to do it right away. 

Eric knocks on Simon's bedroom door. Simon tells him he saw Rudy, and Rudy told him he went to see Eric. Simon tells his dad that Rudy said God told him to see Eric. 

Eric goes downstairs into the kitchen where Ruthie and Annie are. Ruthie is bouncing a tiny ball. Eric tells her about playing stickball as a child, then he bounces the little ball. (I wonder if Ruthie has any idea what stickball is). 

Annie: Does everyone have to come in here to bounce that ball?

Eric (to Ruthie): Maybe the backyard would be better.

Ruthie (to her father): A lot less grouchy.

Eric suggests Annie might need a night out on the town with just him. She tells him, "no," but she'll get back to him with what she does need. 

Ruthie is bouncing the ball outside. She bounces it high, and a monkey in a tree grabs the ball. 

Matt is at the library studying. Someone points Shana (Maureen Flannigan) out to him because she is with another guy. She hugs the guy and leaves.

Matt (to the other person): We see other people.

Lucy wants to ask her parents, and Annie overhears and asks what she wants to ask. Mary says they just want to watch T.V. The phone rings, and Annie hands Mary the baby she is holding before answering it. It is Patricia again. She tells Annie there's a Women's International Church Council meeting. Annie says she can use that again, but Paricia says she can, and the other girls are free Friday night.

Eric comes into the kitchen, and Annie tells him it's the "W.I.C.C."

Annie (on the phone to Patricia): Look, I'd feel guilty just leaving everyone here.

Eric: No, no, no, You should go.

Patricia: I heard him. You're going. We'll see you at seven, okay?

Annie: Okay. Thanks, Patricia. Goodnight.

She hangs up the phone, and Eric asks her what the W.I.C.C. is and what they do.

Annie: Our purpose changes year to year. We'll decide at the meeting. (And because Eric is a good husband, he just goes with it, for now). 

The phone rings again, and Eric answers. It's Simon's vice-principal. Eric says he will be there at nine am tomorrow and hangs up. He tells Annie who was on the line, and Annie asks if it's about Simon, and Eric says it has to do with Rudy whose in trouble. 

Ruthie shows Simon where the monkey was, but the monkey is no longer there.

Annie asks the older girls to watch the twins so she can go to a meeting with the other ladies. Mary says they'd love to babysit, and Lucy is angry since Mary has not done anything to take care of the babies, so Lucy will probably get stuck doing all the work. (Um, weren't Ruthie and Simon also babies at some point, Lucy)?

Eric (to Annie): I think you scared them.

Annie (to Eric): Oh, they'll be all right. But they want something, and they want it bad enough to babysit. 

Matt sees Simon in the hall and tells him if Shana calls to tell her he left for class. Simon suspects something is wrong since Matt doesn't just call Shana himself to tell her. 

Ruthie is outside talking to the monkey. She tries to trade her ball (which is really Simon's) for a banana. But the monkey keeps the ball and banana.

Eric is at Simon's school, taking to Vice-Principal Blackstone (Carey Eidel). Blackstone tells Eric that Rudy agreed to retire, and they planned to hire a new custodian. However, he blames Eric for the fact that now Rudy doesn't want to retire.

Eric: First of all, whatever Rudy and I discussed is strictly confidential. But I can assure you that one thing we did not discuss was his retirement.

Blackstone: Well, maybe you should.

Blackstone informs Eric that if Rudy doesn't retire, he will be fired because he "is hearing voices." (Can you be fired for that? Is it covered by the A.D.A.)? And if he is fired, he loses his pension. 

Matt is in the hallway outside Shana's apartment, pretending to straighten a picture. A man leaves Shana's apartment, and Matt goes to her door after the man is gone. He goes to knock on the door but changes his mind.

Lucy and Mary are leaving the school, and Lucy is still complaining about getting stuck doing the work with the twins. They see Corey (Alicia Leigh Willis), who confirms they are coming to work at the country club. 

Simon is on the bleachers outside the school talking to Rudy. Eric is near the bleachers eavesdropping. 

Lucy informs Mary she will not ask their parents until Mary is ready, but she is also not going to help Mary with the twins because Mary needs to realize how hard it is. Mary doesn't think caring for a couple of babies would be hard. (Ah, so that's it, it's not that she doesn't know how to take care of a baby... it's taking care of two babies at once; that's the issue). 

Mary goes to Matt's room, and Matt snaps at her. (Poor Mary, she had no idea Matt was feeling some type of way). Matt tells his sister about Shana and the other guy. Mary tells her brother not to assume anything is happening but to find out for sure before getting upset. She then asks for advice on the twins.

Matt: First of all, let me just say thanks for your advice just now. But secondly, if this is about one of your wacky plans, forget it. (Haha, it looks like Mary is known for these plans by everyone). 

Eric comes outside and sees Ruthie by the tree. He starts talking to the monkey (that isn't there). Then he goes inside. Ruthie rubs her eyes and looks up at the tree; now, the monkey is there. 

Ruthie (to the monkey): It was better off with Hoowie. (R.I.P., Hoowie). 

Eric is snacking on an English muffin (at least that's what it looks like). Annie comes into the kitchen, and Eric explains he didn't get a chance to eat lunch. Annie asks her husband if he will be around tonight. He tells her he might need to go out for an hour or two, but the girls can handle Sam and David. He says the school is holding a meeting about Rudy, and he wants to go. Simon overhears this discussion as he comes down and asks Eric to take him, and Eric agrees. 

Annie is picking out what to wear, and Eric is trying to figure out where she is going and what she is doing. (Curiosity killed the cat, Reverend). 

Simon is telling Mary how to take care of Sam and David. Annie knocks on the door. She tells Mary everything she needs to know about taking care of the twins tonight. Eric yells for Simon, and he leaves the room. Annie gives Mary a note about where she will be, which is five minutes away. She tells Mary not to tell Eric anything.

Annie sees Ruthie in the hall. Ruthie has peanuts and bananas for the monkey, which apparently was in her room now. She asks her mother if she wants to meet the monkey, but the monkey isn't there when Ruthie opens the bedroom door. Annie talks to the monkey that isn't there and then asks Ruthie if she's okay with her mother going out for the night. 

Ruthie: Well, I'd rather you do that than sit around here pretending to talk to a monkey all night. He's not there. He was here, but he's not here now. 

Annie leaves, and Ruthie closes the bedroom door and walks over to the window with the bananas. The monkey climbs in and sits at the chair across from Ruthie at her little table, and they eat the bananas.

Matt is at the library, and Tucker (Scott Ferguson) sees him and comes over and hugs him. Matt is confused, and Tucker tells him they were "best buddies" in fifth grade before his family moved. He tells Matt he saw him in his apartment building earlier that day. A guy named Stu (Bryan Macrina) walks by but avoids getting hugged by Tucker. 

Annie and the other women are at the pool hall for their W.I.C.C. meeting. They start by "dumping the guilt." This was followed by the "dumping of the anger." The waiter (Blumes Tracy) comes over and tells them that karaoke starts at ten pm. 

Simon and Eric are at the school in the gym for the meeting about Rudy. However, Rudy isn't there, so Eric speaks on his behalf. Rudy comes in late and says he can't retire. He explains he hears a voice every so often. 

The vice-principal tells him that hearing voices is crazy, and they just want to vote on the issue. Eric interrupts and says they should not rush in making the decision because he (Eric) speaks to God every day, as do many others. He says people should expect an answer, even if they don't get one. 

Eric: And I know, maybe it's just that you don't doubt my sanity when I say I talk to God because I'm in the God business. But God is in the people business. And Rudy here is a fine person. 

The people are discussing, and Rudy whispers to Eric that he hears the voice again and wants everyone to think about it a few more days. Eric asks the board to just take a few days to think about it, and the vice principal reluctantly agrees that they will wait. 

Blackstone: Then Monday, we'll decide.

Annie is doing karaoke to the song "Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend." Everyone applauds her. A man comes over and asks the time, and Annie tells him it's eleven. Then the girls start discussing their needs to get home but change their minds and decide to stay longer because they deserve it. But then they all run to the payphone.

Annie calls the house, and Mary answers. Annie checks in on how everyone is doing and tells her she'll be home soon. 

Lucy enters the room and can't believe the babies are still asleep.

Eric and Simon return home. Simon tells his dad he was great, and Eric says he feels optimistic. Simon goes upstairs, and the doorbell rings. Eric answers it, and it's Curtis (Amit Mehta). He tells Eric he's trying to find his chimp. 

Eric: You have a chimp?

Curtis: Yeah, and he's missing. The people across the street said they think they saw him go in one of your upstairs windows. Have you seen him?

Eric: Oh boy, I haven't seen him myself, but I think I know where he is. (Bet you feel dumb now, Eric). 

He invites Curtis inside, and they go up to Ruthie's room. Ruthie is lying in her bed on the bottom bunk. Eric asks Ruthie about the chimp, explaining he belongs to Curtis. Ruthie points to the top bunk, and the monkey (whose name is Eisenhower) comes out from the blankets and has on some of Ruthie's pajamas. (He looked so cute, too)! Curtis thanks them and says he will get the pajamas back to them. 

Curtis and Eisenhower leave. Ruthie asks her dad if he now believes her. Eric says he does but thinks they need to keep her window closed for a wh le. He kisses her goodnight before turning out the lights in her room and leaving.

Matt goes over to Shana's apartment. He tells her he had to apologize to her because of his assumptions when he saw Shana with Tuc er. She reminds him that they are not exclusive, so it would be okay if she went out with Tuc er. Matt asks her if she is seeing him, and she shrugs. 

Matt: Well, who do you feel more for, you or him? (You're a wee bit insecure, Matt). 

Shana:  ou. Yeah, I definitely like you better.

Matt tells her he wants to be exclusive. She then says that Tucker might just be a neighbor to whom she loaned no es. Matt says she was trying to get him to say they should be exclusive.

Shana: Yeah. Wanna change your mind?

Matt: No, I don't wanna change my mind. 

They kiss and then hug.

Lucy and Mary are in their room feeding the twins. Annie tells them they can work at the country club tomorrow. Mary thinks Lucy gave in and told; Annie explains she ran into Corey's mom while she was out. 

Annie goes to her room, and Simon is sitting on the bed with his father. They are both reading. Simon tells her mother that his father was amazing at the meeting. The phone rings, and Eric answers. He gets off the phone and tells them there was an accident at the school concerning Rudy. Simon wants to go, but Eric tells him he can't go this time. 

Simon: Dad, please, you've got to let me see this through.

Eric agrees, and they leave after Eric kisses Annie.

The bleachers collapsed, and Rudy looks disoriented. Eric and Simon arrive. The vice-principal said they found Rudy shellacking the bleachers at eleven o'clock at night because God told him to do it. The security guard (Felipe Alejandro) says he saw it happen, and it was a miracle nobody got h rt. Blackstone says he holds Eric responsible. 

Eric goes to the police car, where Rudy is sitting in the back. He asks the police officer (Timothy Starks) for permission to speak with Rudy. The officer tells him the school is pressing charges for vandalism but allows Eric to talk to him first before taking him to the station.

Rudy: Gee, I didn't know the whole thing was gonna collapse on me. I swear I didn't know it. All the rain this winter must have rusted out the supports. I'm awful sorry, Reverend. I'm sorry you have to see me like this, you know?

The vice-principal comes over to them.

Officer: I'm telling you if this had happened eight hours from now when those bleachers had been filled with students, There's no telling how many could have been injured. Someone could have been killed. 

Simon: Did you hear that,  Dad? If this would have happened eight hours from now?

Eric: If this had happened tomorrow morning...

Blackstone: Yes, I hadn't thought about that. Well, thank God this happened now.

Eric: What did you say?

Blackstone: I said 'Thank..."

Eric: 'Thank God' is right. 

Rudy says his work is done, and now he wants to retire and go fishing. He gets out of the police car. 

Eric: Come on, we'll take you home. 

Simon Rudy and Eric leave, and the closing credits come up. 

(I enjoyed this episode. I have no idea if Rudy was having psychotic issues or really hearing the voice of God; I believe it's possible. However, I like that it showed just because a person has a mental illness doesn't mean they can't do their job. It was also nice to see Annie get a break. She was about to hit her breaking point, as seen by the kitchen scene with the bouncing ball). 

(Including this link from the A.D.A. for anyone interested - https://adata.org/factsheet/health )