7th Heaven: Season 4 - Episode 19: Talk to Me

 

Eric (Stephen Collins) in his office at church. 

Eric is in his office at the church when a mysterious lady appears, but she doesn't know if she wants to talk to him. She asks him if he's there daily, and he says he can be at his office whenever somebody needs him. She thinks she might feel like talking tomorrow and leaves. Eric loos confused and helpless.

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

Annie reads to the boys and teaches them the letter B ("Big B - little b, what begins with B?"). Eric enters the nursery and asks Annie if the other kids are home from school. He tells her about the mysterious girl and says he has seen her but doesn't remember where. She might go to school with Mary and Lucy. 

The kids return from school. Mary says she doesn't want to do anything because she can't get into trouble if she doesn't do anything. 

Eric and Annie come into the kitchen. Eric asks Ruthie how her day was, and she tells him it was boring.

Eric: I never knew a day of school to be completely boring.

Ruthie: Maybe that's because you're so old you don't remember. 

Eric: Maybe.

The parents try to talk to the other kids about their day at school, but no one wants to talk about their day. (I believe this is the teenage years). 

Lucy tells her siblings that whoever did something needs to confess so they can get on with their weekend. They all deny doing anything. 

Matt is in the cafeteria, and Hank, his uncle by marriage (Ed Begley Jr). Matt tells Hank that he is now an orderly in the hospital and no longer working in the cafeteria. Hank asks him about New York, and Matt wants to know how he knows but suspects John told him. 

Matt waits to talk to Hank and sees his Aunt Julie (Deborah Raffin). She is upset that Hank wants to talk to Matt and not her. 

Eric is talking to Sargeant Michaels (Christopher Michael) about the young lady who came to his office earlier. Ruthie sees from her window and tells Simon their dad called the police. They go to their sisters' room but are stopped by their mother,  who questions why they are going there. They go up, and Annie sees Eric. She tells him she thought he was paranoid, but now she suspects something is up as well. 

The children are discussing what's happening, and Mary gets annoyed and declares herself to be Switzerland. 

Lucy: You might want to brush up on current events.

The kids all head outside to their parents, who are looking at the car. They want to know who is in trouble, but Eric tells them no one is. He tells them about the lady who came into the church. The children inform him that if he wants to talk to them, all he has to do is ask. 

Ruthie tells her father how bad Maryanne (a girl in Ruthie's class) smells.

Simon tells his parents about having a substitute and the guys acting like their desks were surfboards. Then the teacher stepped out and locked herself out. The class didn't let her in, but when the bell rang, they all left, and no one apologized to the teacher. 

Lucy and Mary are discussing what they will talk to their parents about. Lucy made a list. Mary says she can't tell anyone what she knows.

Hank comes over to Matt and John's apartment. He asks Matt if he told his aunt that Hank wanted to talk to him. Matt confirms and learns Hank was kicked out of the house. He wants to stay with Matt and John. (Aunt Julia is a little over dramatic...just sayin').

Annie asks Lucy if she knows Simon's friend Luke. Lucy says she's never seen Luke, and some people believe Simon is telling stories about himself and that Luke is a made-up person used to describe the stories in case no one thinks they are funny. (Like the story "Charles" by Shirley Jackson). Lucy suggests her mom have Simon invite Luke over so they can see if he's real or not. Annie asks her how Habitat for Humanity is going. Lucy tells her mom about the girls she's working with when Mary comes down. Mary and Lucy argue over a girl named Lisa Lunby. Mary gets upset and leaves. Annie defends Mary.

Lucy: I hope that you and Dad don't feel that I've been short-changed this year because Mary had bigger problems. The two of you have always managed to give all of us everything we've ever needed. (Lucy leaves the room)

Annie (yelling): I thought we were going to talk. 

Lucy (yelling back): That's all I wanted to tell you.

Lucy asks Mary if Lisa is the person she knows something about. Mary tells her to stop asking. (That's a yes). 

The girl from Eric's office is outside a store when a guy approaches her. She screams for him to "get away from me." Officer Michaels hears her scream and comes over to see if she's okay. e tries to help her, but she becomes defensive. She shows him her ID to prove she has a home. The name on the ID is Lisa Lunby. (Hey, look! It's the girl Mary knows something about). 

Officer Michaels calls Eric, and Mary listens until Eric tells her to hang up. Mary comes out to the hall and lets her parents know that Lucy doesn't know anything. She also says she knows but promised not to say anything, and maybe Lisa will return to talk to the reverend. 

John wakes up and asks Matt where Hank is. He tells Matt he needs to get rid of Hank, and Matt says he knows. Hank leaves to go teach. 

Simon says he invited Luke but isn't sure if he can come. His mother suspects Lucy is right about Luke being nonexistent. Annie asks Ruthie about her plans for the day. She says she wants to invite Maryanne over to informer her that "she stinks."

Annie: No, you're not. 

Ruthie: Somebody has to tell her.

Annie: Well, it's not going to be you. (I'll bet $500 that Annie will be wrong). 

Ruthie suggests Maryanne come over to play, and the subject of her bad smell may come up. (Yes, it will come up like this, "Hey Maryanne, did you know you stink?")

Eric tells them he's going down to the church. 

Simon (to Ruthie): Parents are so obvious when they're hiding something. 

Julie calls Matt and asks where Hank is. She is concerned that whatever Hank says is bad and wants Matt's help. She wants Matt to find out what the terrible news Hank has is, and Matt reluctantly agrees.

Matt leaves, and the phone rings again. John answers and tells Julie that Matt has already left. He says he wants to talk to her about the problem with her and Hank.

Annie asks Simon straight up if Luke is real or if he is Luke. Simon says he isn't Luke. The doorbell rings and  Annie and Ruthie answer it. It's Maryanne  Allyson Call). She says her grandmother will get her at night, and she can stay for dinner. She hands Annie a bag with some meat in it. Annie smells something. (or someone technically).

Simon confronts Mary and Lucy. Mary says she never said anything about Luke because she "is Switzerland." Annie comes into their room (amazing how they always appear at the right time), and Lucy asks her why she said anything to Simon. Annie apologizes. Mary asks about the smell, and Annie tells her Maryanne is there. 

Julie and Hank are in the cafeteria talking. The whole problem was that he was afraid to tell Julie he was Jewish since her brother, Eric, is a protestant minister. He also should have informed his parents, who are coming got town next week, that Julie is not Jewish. 

Maryanne and Ruthie come down to the kitchen. They explain to Annie the smell is mothballs and other things. Maryanne lives with her grandmother. 

Maryanne: My mom and dad are no good. (Awww. Poor kid, they never say why they aren't good, but going on Lisa's story and how they all tend to inter elate, I wonder if it's something similar).

However, Maryanne is happy she can live with her grandmother and doesn't mind the smell. She also lives across from a meat store. Simon comes in and introduces the mysterious Luke (Joey Zimmerman). Annie laughs at everything. 

Lisa (Mandy Freund) comes in to see Rev. Camden. She questions if Mary or Lucy have told him anything. 

She tells Reverend Camden that she was raped by her mother's boyfriend. Eric ensures her that it's not her fault what happened. She says she has talked to a therapist and the police, but she wants to talk to her mother about it, but her mother never wants to talk. She also wants to tell her brothers what happened. She says she wants to find the man.

Lisa: And I want to tell him that he ruined my life.

Rev Camden: Yeah, I don't think you should give him that kind of power. The way to do that is to talk about it. Talking about him takes away his power. 

Simon and Luke are playing basketball outside. Luke explains that his brother is Deaf, so he started being funny, doing physical comedy, to make his brother laugh. Simon tells him ab ut Matt's ex-girlfriend Heather and says he'd like to learn sign language. 

Mary tells Lucy they are going out for pizza. Mary thanks her sister for always being there for her. 

Matt comes over to the house. He tells his mom about Luke's "surf's up" bit. He informs her that Hank is Jewish, but she already knows that. Ruthie comes down and introduces Maryanne to Matt. 

Maryanne (to Matt): You're very cute. (Awww, I remember when I was little thinking my brother's friends were cute, and I remember my best friend thinking one of my brothers was).

Matt. Thank you.

She tells Matt she is sorry about New York because they have great meat there. Annie asks her why she's interested in meat, and Maryanne explains grandma is dating a butcher. 

Eric is meeting with Lisa and Mrs. Lu by (Terri Hanauer). Mrs. Lunby must understand why Lisa always wants to continue discussing it. 

Mrs. Lunby: But it's over. Do you really want to keep thinking about it?

Rev  Camden: It's not over. And there's not time limit on thinking about it. Lisa: I need you to be able to talk about this. I need to hear I didn't do anything wrong. 

Lisa explains everyone has told her she didn't do anything wrong, but she needs to hear it from her mother. Her mother tells her she didn't and blames herself for what happened to Lisa. Reverend Camden assures her it's not her fault because when she found out what happened, she told the police. Lisa tells her mother she wants her brothers to know what happened. they are older than her (seventeen and nineteen). Eric suggests that Lisa and Mrs. Lumby go to therapy together to help talk about it. Mrs. Lunby agrees, and she and Lisa hug as Mrs. Lunby tells Lisa it's not her fault.

Eric (to them both): It's not your fault. 

Lisa (as she leaves with her mom whispers to Eric): Thank you.

The closing credits come up. 

(This was a good episode. I think this show does a great job dealing with those "special episode" topics that were seen back in the 80s and 90s, only in this show, there are a lot of these episodes, not an occasional one. But it's also a drama series, not a comedy, so that's to be expected).