Christy: The Episode Guide

[Mark D. Rabinowitz]

Major spoilers follow...



Abandon all hope, ye who press the SPACE bar...


Christy: The Episode Guide
By Mark Rabinowitz

THE FIRST SEASON
1. Pilot (aired April 3, 1994)
"The great Smokies...
"Nothing in my life had prepared me for the wonder of those mountains. Smoke
blue and serene, folded one behind the other. I counted eleven ranges rising up
toward the vault of the sky.
"I didn't realize it then, but from the very first moment I saw them, the
mountains were a source of peace and strength to me, always there to quiet my
mind and satisfy my heart."
Our heroine, Christy Huddleston, has left her city home in Asheville, North
Carolina and taken a train to El Pano, Tennessee. In the rain, she must walk
seven miles to her destination, the backwoods mission school in Cutter Gap.
The very first place she stops is the blacksmith's shop, where she meets Ben
Pentland, the mail carrier. He guides her on the treacherous trek through the
mountains and woods, and tells her, among other things, about the feuding
between the Taylors and the Allens.
Shortly after meeting the Spencers on the way to the mission, we find out that
Bob Allen has been injured by a falling tree. Dr. Neil MacNeill, the only doctor
for 50 miles around, comes and drills a hole in Bob's head to "let the bad
blood out."
When she reaches the mission, she is exhausted and her legs are sore. The Rev.
David Grantland is there to pick her up and carry her in (a present-day local
resident points out that in real life, they would have had to marry the next day
precisely because of this gesture!).
The next day is Christy's first day of teaching. Among the children she meets,
the pilot focuses on Mountie O'Teale, one of the younger girls in the school,
who doesn't talk and is ridiculed by other kids because of this.
The early going is rough, with hardly any texts, notebooks, or paper to speak
of. Christy's students are so poor, some didn't even wear shoes. In crossing the
mountains, Christy has crossed a threshold to another time.
Teaching 12 grades and six classes, with the sexes separated, under such
conditions is challenging enough. Christy is almost overwhelmed, but Miss Alice
reassures her that one cannot find the "inner light" without opening up to the
grief and pain surrounding it. She also asks Christy if she is here to serve and
work, or if she just ran from home. But Lundy Taylor is a challenge himself.
Being the first and only Taylor to attend school with the Allen children, he
causes trouble of all kinds.
David and Christy discover jugs of moonshine (illegal liquor) under the
mission (where the pigs live because it's cool; hence they have gotten drunk).
This is why Lundy hit Little Burl earlier on; he was keeping him away from the
moonshine which he smuggled. His father, Bird's-Eye, distilled it; he is a
notorius moonshiner with much contempt for the mission. David hates moonshine,
as it leads to quarrels and killings; Dr. McNeil defends it as a principal means
of income in Cutter Gap. When Christy argues for donations in place of illegal
income, Dr. McNeil retorts that the people are too proud to take donations. (The
donations/pride thing is repeated in episode #5, "Judgment Day".)
At night, two people (most likely Lundy and Bird's-Eye) set fire to the
mission. Christy, while attempting to salvage what she can from the fire, gets
knocked unconscious by falling debris. The fire doesn't spread too far as David
and the Spencers put it out, but the front of the classroom and Christy's desk
are sorry sights.
The next morning, Christy decides to leave, thinking that she has done more
harm than good in Cutter Gap. Then she goes to the mission one last time, and
her will to do something to make Mountie happy, leads her to take some buttons
off her coat and sew them onto Mountie's coat. Mountie sees this, comes to her,
and says, "Bu... buttons!" Christy discovers that she has made a difference
after all--a happy Mountie can talk. Little Burl asks Christie if she's leaving,
and Christy tells him that she will stay. Miss Alice looks on as the students
fill up the classroom, and says:
"Christy Huddleston: I think thee will do."

2. Lost and Found (April 7, 1994):
Christy discusses teaching hygeine and sex-education classes with Miss Alice.
With regard to the latter, she points out John Spencer and Bessie Coburn
smooching.
Another dilemma: Rob Allen is a fine creative writer, but father Bob wants him
to help out at the mill. Christy encourages Rob to enter a creative writing
contest.
Dr. MacNeill comes to the mission and tells the children the story of Bonnie
Prince Charlie, who led a Scottish rebellion against the English in 1745 in an
effort to win back the throne for the Stuarts. The children thrill to this tale
because they are decendants of Scots who emigrated to America and settled in the
East Tennessee highlands.
Bessie's father finds a love letter that Bessie was to send to Rob Allen, and
comes to the mission to accuse Christy of running "a courtin' school". John's
heart is broken, but Fairlight later tells him the importance of forgiveness
with a story about Jeb and some drunk dance hall slut.
Little Burl wants to talk to Rob, but Rob wants to be by himself and goes off
into the woods. Little Burl follows him, falls down a hill and is lost.
The next day is a Sunday, and David's sermon is on temptation: "Be tempted to
love each other" punctuates the sermon, further pissing off Mr. Coburn. This
gets interrupted by the bad news about Little Burl.
While searching for Little Burl, Rob has a vision of Bonnie Prince Charles
playing a bagpipe. After the vision disappears, he finds him. He needs to have
surgery due to injuries suffered from the fall, and needs Christy to help.
Christy refuses to help Dr. MacNeill at first (she had gone light-headed during
Bob Allen's operation), but he assures her that she can help.
John sees Mr. Coburn to sew things up: He convinces him that closing the
school over their matter isn't right, and that he "stole kisses" from Bessie.
When Rob brings Burl back to school, Christy is teaching a hygiene class. Rob
also decides to enter the creative writing contest with a story called "The Hero
of the Allen Clan," which is about Little Burl.

3. Both Your Houses (April 14, 1994):
Christy counsels Opal, whose baby died. Opal thought the baby was
"liver-growed" and, according to a superstition, tried to cure it by getting the
baby's hand and heel to touch; she died from a broken back. Christy argues to
Dr. MacNeill that he could have prevented this needless death, and Dr. MacNeill
says that if he had refuted the nonsense superstitions, the town would have
rejected him.
Opal's husband Tom is hiding out in the woods; Bird's-Eye is after him. (Tom
moonshined for Bird's-Eye to help make the McHones' living.) Bird's-Eye and 3
men come to the mission where Tom is hiding, and Miss Alice confronts them.
Sermonizing about God and salvation, she tells them that they will "burn in
Hell-fire for all enternity" if they mess with her, and the subsequent strike of
lightning frightens them away.
Ruby Mae has a superstition of her own: The only good times to bathe are New
Year's Day and Easter Sunday; baths are dangerous on all other days. Christy
tries to get her to drop this bunk, comparing it to Opal's "liver-growed" bit.
Opal overhears this and becomes so upset she won't eat or talk, and thinks God
will punish her for what happened.
Christy uses "Romeo and Juliet" to teach the futility of fighting.
Bird's-Eye, still hunting for Tom, runs into Lundy. He still treats him like
trash, and Lundy hasn't been to school since he trashed the classroom.
Bird's-Eye comes to see Opal (who earlier suggested that she could get him to
change his ways without rekindling their long-dead romance), but is stopped by
David and arrested by the marshall. We find out then that Uncle Bogg is judge
and Justice of the Peace, and likely will sentence Bird's-Eye to hang.
Christy tells Opal that nobody blames her for her daughter's death, so she
should stop blaming herself for it. Only then does Opal recover from her deep
depression. They go with David and Dr. MacNeill to stop the hanging, and Opal
testifies that the crime that Bird's-Eye was accused of wS committed by a bigger
man with a different jacket. Just as with Christy's production of "Romeo and
Juliet," Opal did this to teach the children not to hate.
Meanwhile, Ruby Mae's malodorousness comes to a head when Creed Allen and Zach
Holt play a prank on her with a skunk! Miss Ida finally gets her to bathe right
then, as Ruby Mae prays and screams like crazy. She's all clean and
nice-smelling in time for her portrayal of Juliet in the school play.
This episode ends with Christy's note that small victories like Opal's and
Ruby Mae's make all the heartache of her new life in Cutter Gap worthwhile, and
bring her greater joy than she had ever known.

4. A Closer Walk (April 21, 1994):
The school is still under repair after the Taylors' rampage in the pilot.
David, who seems to double as a construction man, is pissed off at Ault Allen
for not contributing his share to the work effort. Miss Alice, as usual, urges
forgiveness in spite of Ault's laziness.
Miss Alice invites Christy into her "circle," a close-knit group of older
women gossiping and discussing Cutter Gap matters. Christy brings up the notion
of the women selling their handicrafts for money, to supplement the insufficient
income of the town. The rest of the circle is lukewarm at best to this idea.
Christy feels she needs to repay Fairlight for her friendship in the face of
despair (she was the first to bring her children back to the school after
Bird's-Eye's threats). Fairlight admits that she would like to learn how to
read. Christy thus teaches her how to read, and Fairlight gives her a quilt as
repayment.
David's horse, Prince, is defiled. It's got some cotton candy-like stuff all
over it, and part of its tail was cut off. David suspects that Ault Allen did
it.
Ault invites the townsfolk to a "working" (a holiday that crosses hard work
with play--with Miller Lite, you can combine anything), to clear some of Bob's
land. Once again, David works and Ault does nothing. Bob then tells the tale of
"Dry Guy," a preacher whom the mountain people hated, which does what it was
meant for: piss off David big time. Ault then shoots at David, asking that he
mind his own business.
Aunt Polly, the oldest woman in Cutter Gap at 92 (and a member of Miss Alice's
circle), seeks David's guidance in the face of death. She mentions that she lost
her husband in a hunting accident. David tries to explain it, but what he says
doesn't really help Aunt Polly. He considers resigning after this. But the next
time Aunt Polly asks his help, he admits that while he cannot describe Heaven,
he knows that she will be there. Noting that her husband sang to her, David
sings "Oh! You Beautiful Doll" to cheer her up.
The following Sunday, Ruby Mae and Sam Houston drag David to the schoolhouse,
and there, he admits that preachers are not all-knowing, and that they also have
to learn. After the sermon, the congregation sings "A Closer Walk," the hymn for
which this episode is named. Ault stops just outside the mission during the
singing, and David looks back at him--I can't tell if that was a look of
forgiveness that David gave.
Meanwhile, Aunt Polly (who apparently lives close enough to the mission to
hear them sing) sings along with them in her deathbed, and passes after the last
bars. Outside the window, we see her spirit reunite with her husband.

5. Judgment Day (April 28, 1994): Christy's father got Asheville T&T to donate a
phone line from Cutter Gap to El Pano Station, and her letters to members of the
Asheville church yield great donations of clothing, books, and household goods.
Needless to say, Mr. Pentland is ticked off.
While helping Jeb and David install a telephone pole, it slips and falls on
Miss Alice. (I missed a few minutes after this.)
When the clothing and other stuff arrives, so does the mission director, Dr.
Jacob Ferrand (Richard Kiley). He objects to the donations, and thinks that
Christy has failed to attend to the mission's spiritual needs, favoring material
ones far too much. Christy takes these objections personally, and feels
intimidated by him.
The children don't take the donations in spite of their need--they are too
proud, just as Dr. MacNeill said in the pilot. (He cited their Calvinist
heritage.) When Christy voices her insecurity to the Doc, he mentions that
sometimes, his patients had to pay him with items other than money, leading
Christy to make a "barter store" out of the surplus of donations. The store
opens, but nobody is interested at first.
David cuts his arm working on the phone line by himself, and says he's "doing
the work of 3 men". Dr. Ferrand hears this, and asserts that the mission is
about faith, not material improvements.
Christy feels defeated now, and seeks guidance from Miss Alice, who is
convalescing. Insisting that Christy not place her on a pedestal, she tells
about the child she had out of wedlock--and more importantly, out of blind faith
for a man, forsaking rational thought. She mentions that the daughter died.
Mr. Pentland comes by now with a piano--the upright kind (in the book, it was
a *concert grand*). He's pissed off big time now, and so is Dr. Ferrand. Christy
tries to defend herself with a Bible quote about music, to no avail.
On top of this, Alice has got tetanus--lockjaw has set in. David can't ride,
so Christy has to go get Dr. MacNeill's Magical Mystery Tetanus Anti-Serum.
Jacob won't let her out of lack of trust, but she insists that she go. She takes
on her fear of the dark, riding Theo the mule in a thunderstorm. She finds his
lab, locked so no one would see it and think he was another Frankenstein.
Dr. MacNeill arrives at the mission, and because he doens't have the
anti-serum, Dr. Ferrand thinks that Christy has not accomplished her mission.
Dr. MacNeill defends her, and retorts that Dr. Ferrand makes people afraid not
to believe. Christy, all wet and cold, comes back with the anti-serum, which
cures Miss Alice.
The phone line is finished, and true to David's earlier promise, Jeb Spencer
is the first to try it out. It works--the mission can now call El Pano Station.
Also, the barter store is a success--Little Burl even got his sorely-needed
shoes. Christy and Jacob bury the hatchet, and find out that they both find
comfort in the mountains. Jacob apologizes to her and compliments her on her
work.
Back at the mission, Miss Ida is playing the piano. Jacob discusses rekindling
a relationship with Miss Alice, but she declines. They settle on a slow dance to
end this episode.

6. Journeys of the Heart (May 5, 1994):
(This seems to have been the combination of two episodes, due to scheduling
problems.)
Miss Ida has gone to take care of her mother, and Fairlight offers to help out
in her place, although Jeb is also gone. She says John and Zady can take care of
the young'uns. She ultimately faints from overworking and undereating.
Dr. MacNeill has received a letter from St. Timothy's Hospital in Baltimore,
which is interested in his research. Problem is, they want him *in* Baltimore,
and he likes the opportunity to find a cure for glaucoma, "a curse on (his)
people". Christy is hurt by the thought of him leaving Cutter Gap.
Becky O'Teale has been absent for four days, and Christy wonders if Mrs.
O'Teale is having her do chores.
Meanwhile, Jeb is pissed off that Fairlight worked for charity, and packs up
his kids who had boarded at the mission. David and Fairlight give their
explanations, but they don't rub off on Jeb. Fairlight stays at the mission.
Zady does, too, and Miss Alice tells her she can't do anything about Fairlight
and Jeb.
Christy finds Becky in the pig shelter, and she has glaucoma. She thinks she
got it as God's punishment for peeking in her books on the sabbath. They go to
Dr. MacNeill's cabin. He says that while he has a treatment, it has never been
tested and that Becky should not be a guinea pig. Christy urges him to test it.
A big storm has hit, and David is concerned that Christy could be hurt. Also,
Miss Alice was unable to make a scheduled trip to Sand Mountain Mission due to a
mudslide triggered by the storm.
Jeb comes back to the mission during the storm, and they agree that they love
each other too much to be apart. They work out their domestic problems.
Back at the Doc's cabin, he tells Backy a fable about thunder and lightning
that is similar to the tale of his lost wife. He later tells Christy about
Margaret, and has a flashback to the time when he found her scarf at the
riverbank.
David and Miss Alice find Christy at Dr. MacNeill's, and David is hurt. He and
Christy avoid talking to each other, and says he is glad the Doc is leaving.
Miss Alice dislikes the Christy-Doc relationship, calling it an opportunity to
do things over as if Margaret never existed.
Dr. MacNeill decides to try his treatment on Becky. Her condition improves
after this, but she needs sunglasses to see as she has spent some time with
bandages over her eyes, and needs several more months' treatment. The Doc
decides to stay in Cutter Gap, and asks St. Timothy's to subsidize his research
there.
David and Christy make up. Miss Alice wants forgiveness for ever seeing
Margaret in Christy, as nothing was wrong with Christy living while Margaret is
dead. They forgive and make up, too.
The winter is approaching, and Christy happens upon a mountain cabin while
exploring her big backyard. A blind woman, Hattie (Judy Collins) lives there,
and Dr. MacNeill finds that she, too, has glaucoma.
Theodore Harland (John Schneider), a historian, arrives at the mission, and
says he is interested in preserving Cutter Gap culture, notably its stories and
music.
That night, Miss Alice sees a woman. Thinking it's Christy, she goes outside,
but it's Margaret, who was thought to be dead! "It is a miracle... Thy light has
come back into my life," thinks Miss Alice.
Margaret admits it must have hurt her mother to fake her death and run away.
She also did not want anyone looking for her. It turns out that Theodore is her
beau and he took her up to Cutter Gap.
Dr. MacNeill finds out about Margaret, and is angry over the faked death.
Christy looks for him, but he has locked himself in his lab.
Hattie sings "Hear the Wind Blow," the epigraph from the novel by Catherine
Marshall. We can see Theodore copying down the words as she sings.
Miss Alice tells about Margaret: Miss Alice spoiled her, and when she learned
the truth about the circumstances of her birth, she thought of herself as a
bastard child. She rejected everything her mother stood for, especially God. She
loved Dr. MacNeill because he, too, was the rebellious type. He brought her to
Cutter Gap, and Miss Alice followed them. This is why Miss Alice is here at the
mission, and she sees that Christy has finally stopped idolizing her.
The Henderson-MacNeill marriage had a flaw, but Miss Alice ignored it,
figuring, she found her purpose in Cutter Gap, so Margaret should find hers. But
she left.
Margaret announces she will leave--she has failed to mend fences with her
husband. (She said she didn't see him enough when they were married, but Dr.
MacNeill said that she should have known this because he was a doctor.) Miss
Alice says that there must be a greater reason why Margaret came back, and
Margaret objects to her mother's spiritual line of reasoning. During a heated
discussion, Margaret coughs up some blood--it turns out she has tuberculosis.
The two agree on going back to Asheville together, where Margaret can have her
TB treated. Miss Alice also gives her back the locket she found on the
riverbank.
Dr. MacNeill and Christy discuss Margaret, and Christy says their marriage
shouldn't be dead, that all Margaret needs is forgiveness, rather than be wished
away.
Christy discovers that Theodore is going to sell Hattie's music under his own
name. John Spencer, who copied down the music (not the words, but the notes), is
pissed, as Theodore fooled him into helping him. Also, David keeps Theodore from
taking the stolen songbook when he leaves.
Dr. MacNeill sees Margaret in the woods. They get along now, talking about
what went wrong in their marriage.
In the end, Hattie is singing "Amazing Grace" during a singing at the mission.
The stolen songs burn in a fire. Dr. MacNeill finds a note with Margaret's
wedding ring on it in his cabin. She is leaving, and Miss Alice sees her as she
looks back at the mission. Grief-stricken, she runs after her, and Christy and
the Doc sense the grief, too. Christy comforts Miss Alice as this episode ends.

THE SECOND SEASON should begin by or before Spring, 1995. Another possibility,
admittedly a stronger one, is that this is just a miniseries and not a real
series, and that this is all we'll get. I hope we see 1913.
(whoops, meant to edit this. Given that the pilot airs Aug. 17, Lost and
Found would be Aug. 25, Both Your Houses Sept. 1, A Closer Walk Sept. 8,
Judgement Day Sept. 15, and Journeys of the Heart Sept. 22. That, I hope,
should mean that the TRIUMPHANT SECOND SEASON PREMIERE of our beloved
"Christy" shall be September 29. Dammit, Dave Letterman should have her on
LATE SHOW that night. Are you listening out there? :) )
--
Mark Rabinowitz *** The Internet's #1 Kellie Martin Fan
All replies forwarded to mdr...@freenet.fsu.edu