Touched by an Angel (1994–2003): Season 5, Episode 11 - An Angel on the Roof - full transcript

Well, lookie there,
a waxing crescent.

Aw, dang it, Charley.

Got the jimjams, pal?

Gotta padlock the
padlock these days.

Mexicans.

Well, I'm decking
my halls, all right.

May as well go out with a bang.

It's like a box of snakes.

"Fear not, for behold,

I bring you tidings
of great joy."

I am an angel sent by God
to tell you, Charley Knot,



that this Christmas, you
are to receive a miracle.

♪ When you walk down the road ♪

♪ Heavy burden, heavy load ♪

♪ I will rise ♪

♪ And I will walk with you ♪

♪ I'll walk with you ♪

♪ Till the sun
don't even shine ♪

♪ Walk with you ♪

♪ Every time, I tell
you I'll walk with you ♪

♪ Walk with you ♪

♪ Believe me, I'll
walk with you. ♪

You can't be lit up.

I haven't plugged you in yet.

I'm plugged in deeper
than you know, Charley.



There's an advantage to a...

to a steady diet of tequila.

First, nothing surprises me.

And second... Oh,
I forget the second.

And that's good, forgetting.

Forgetting is good.

Oh! Oblivion!

That's the second advantage.

Never discount oblivion
while you're on this earth.

You're a loquacious
man, Charley Knot.

It's because I don't
have anybody to talk to.

Sorry.

Hey, you know my name.

Yes, I'm an angel.

I know many things.

Oh.

Can I wake up now?

You don't think I'm real?

Well... Eh, why not.

I see purple
spiders on my couch.

A seven-headed serpent
wrapped around my arm.

Why not an angel on my roof?

Those beasts were
illusions, Charley.

But a message from God
at Christmas is very real.

Christmas.

A bad time.

I get blue devils at Christmas.

This year, you've
been sent an angel.

You're my assignment.

And my job is to stand up
here and shed light for you

and perhaps for others, too.

Okay.

Hey, what-what-what's that
first thing you said again?

"Fear not, behold..."

No, not that part.

That's the boilerplate.

I want that
personalized greeting.

You're going to receive
a miracle this Christmas.

Well, I wouldn't turn that down.

What sort of miracle
is this gonna be?

I can't tell you.

You have to discover
that for yourself.

That's your job.

Oh.

And your job is to stand
up there and shed light?

Okay.

A miracle.

I'm gonna get a miracle.

What, all by myself?

No one is alone, Charley.

Order up!

Ma'am, "go juice,"
please, to go?

Another Christmas Eve.

What is it, seven?

Seven years we've been
getting together here.

27 for me.

You guys just kept
me waiting a long time.

Crescent moon tonight.

Can't believe it.

Won't get to see Mattie
open his presents again.

Gotta make a living.

Oh, now, there's nothing wrong

with a little extra work.

Especially when it
means double time.

Yes, sir, you can take a day off

but you can't put
it back on again.

Yeah, there's gotta
be some better way.

Ah, our kids get
used to it, Jasper.

That's what happened to mine.

We all got used to it, I guess.

Till there wasn't
a "we" anymore.

"Alone, alone, on
a wide, wide sea."

That's us, boys.

Captains of our ships
sailing out across America.

Well, what do you
say, good buddies?

Time we hit the road.

What are you hauling, Bart?

Uh, sheep,
livestock... Going east.

That's funny.

I got wool blankets. Going west.

We got 'em coming and going.

I'm heading south with hubcaps.

Go figure.

Semi full of hubcaps
for the smelter.

Sheep, wool and hubcaps.

Got to be more
to life than that.

We're all missing something.

You sure are!

Coffee.

♪ Deck the halls
with boughs of... ♪

Where's Janice?

She took the day off.

And no, she can't
put it back on again.

- ♪ Fa-la-la-la-la ♪
- Thanks.

I'm gonna need this tonight.

You gonna need something
more than that tonight.

What? We'll listen to anyone.

You got answers for us?

Well, what you're missing
is down there in Narvaze

at that Desert Star Motel.

That dump?!

- You're kidding.
- I'm not kidding.

I don't kid, I just point.

Desert Star Motel?!

Ooh-hoo, I wouldn't
stay in that dive

if my life depended on it.

Well, darling, your
life does depend on it.

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

Oh, and, uh, lay off the eggnog.

Hey, baby, how you doing?

- Jorge, I feel...
- You feel sick?

No, no, something's
telling me that

we shouldn't be here.

We need the money,
Marisol, please.

Come on.

Oh, you're here!

Oh, all day, Zachary's been

talking about the
pony ride for his party.

It's so hard when a kid's
birthday is December 24th.

They just get
lost in the shuffle.

Oh, you're pony's
nice, isn't he?

Oh, yes, and you
have a safety strap.

- Sí, very nice, very gentle.
- Great. Yes.

- Ay, ay...
- Que tiene?

Qué paso, baby?

Is your wife sick?

Just a minute, okay?

Your pony's healthy, isn't he?

Con permiso, Jorge,
Marisol, buenas noches.

Mi nombre es Rafael.

Te traigo un mensaje para ti.

I'm here for you grandmother.

Uh, can all this wait?

The party's about to begin.

No, I'm sorry, this is urgent.

There's something that
you need to do for her.

Believe me, I'm a friend.

A friend from Tonalá.

We have to go, Jorge.

It's a sign.

A sign from God.

Okay.

Sorry, Mrs. Curtis.

- What?
- I'll give you the deposit.

I'm so sorry.

Oh, no, but, but...

Hey, I can ride with you, man.

You're probably gonna
need a hand, right?

- Okay, hop on in.
- Okay.

But I-I put a ring in.

I promised pony rides!

How can he have a happy
birthday without pony rides?!

Oh!

DISPATCHER Unit 134, Unit 134...

"Not a creature stirring..."

Not yet, anyway.

They will be.

Every Christmas some
mojado thinks he's gonna

catch Immigration
asleep at the wheel.

Sorry that you have to
work on Christmas Eve, Carl.

Right back at you.

Thanks for filling in.

Yeah, that Ed's got
some nerve, huh?

What's he thinking, anyway?

Deserting the INS to spend
Christmas with his kids?

Sounds like my kind of guy.

Sure is missing a
beautiful night, though.

You're kidding.

A little sliver of a moon

always means trouble.

Dark night.

Some garbanzo's

gonna try to sneak
over that fence.

Get lucky.

You don't like Mexicans?

Yeah, I like 'em enough.

Long as they stay on
their side of the fence.

A miracle!

Why should an old rattler
like me get a miracle?

I don't know.

They just gave me this
assignment and said,

"Tell Charley Knot
there's a miracle coming."

A miracle, to me?

For me? Around me?

I'm sorry, I don't know.

Yeah... in the end,
there ain't an answer.

It's quite a display
you have here.

Yeah, my last blaze of glory.

When a dying star explodes
on itself, it makes a supernova.

Brightest thing in the sky.

Well, that's my idea.

I'm gonna go out big.

This is my last bleak
Christmas in this sinkhole.

My last view of that border.

Mexico... the great
cancer to our south.

Wait, is that the miracle?

God's going to show me
one Mexican pickup truck

that doesn't need a jump?

God doesn't draw
borders in his love, Charley.

Everyone is equal in his eyes.

Well, God's a fool.

Like me.

An old fool.

Working my way down to the worm.

Wasting my time
chatting with a phantom

when I should be
getting ready to die.

The moon is waxing
and I am waning.

See, I'm gonna leave
all these lights on,

and then I'm going to
drive out to Guadalupe Peak

with my telescope.

And once I see one new
thing in the sky... bam!

I'll be ready to
leave this old carcass

to rot under the stars.

They're one of God's
greatest creations.

Yeah.

Like you could be, Charley.

Yeah, that would take a miracle.

I love the stars.

The nebulae, the Milky
Way on a clear night.

Oh, all my life I wanted
to find something out there

that nobody else had ever seen.

I spent years saving up
to get my own telescope.

It's a dopsonian mount.

It's only got an
eight-inch mirror but...

it does the job.

I can see the rings of Saturn,

the moons of Jupiter.

Oh, the sky is so
vast... mysterious.

It takes your breath away.

That's God you're describing.

God?

Is He out there somewhere?

Orion?

Ursa Major? Ursa Minor?

God is everywhere.

If God's giving me a miracle,

why'd he wait till I'm
such an old critter?

Why'd he wait
till it's too late?

It's never too late, Charley.

Yeah, true. True.

While there's
death, there's hope.

Joker here's falling asleep.

Read the mail for a while;
that'll help you stay awake.

Night Train Lane here
looking for Captain Mel.

Yeah, I'm here, Bart.

Out here in the dust.

It whipped up on
me out of nowhere.

Yeah, me, too.

We got ourselves a
situation here, Mel.

Country Boy here.

I'm reading you,
Night Train and Mel.

Same here... dust
storm like I never seen.

You fellas all right out there?

This is Tess... the
one with the go juice.

Well, I'm heading
for shelter, Tess,

if there's any out there.

Copy that.

Hey, I see a light
down the road.

I'm gonna pull in there.

You do that, and
all of you turn around

from where you're going
and you'll see a light

on the horizon.

Steer to it.

Keep your eyes on
it, and follow that star.

Hear you loud and clear, Tess.

It's a pretty bad storm, Carl.

Yep. Can't drive
anywhere in this.

Better just to gut it out.

You watch... some clown's
gonna try to use this for cover.

We're gonna grab somebody
trying to hop that fence

before the night is out.

Well, that-that, that could be.

I still pity anyone
trying to get through this.

Please, tell me what
can I do for my family.

You can help
somebody this Christmas.

It's very, very important,
and you won't regret it.

Oh, no, no, no, no.

Oh, no, not now,
not now, not now.

- Please!
- Dios mio.

- Dios mio.
- Look, He didn't desert us.

Look, He left a
light on for you.

Ay, Dios!

- Ay, me duele mucho!
- Mi amor!

Don't worry.

Todo va ha estar bien, okay?

Hey, look out!

Oh, for the love of God!

Oh, no!

So, this is it?

Destruction, chaos?

God's miracle has arrived?!

No, it's yet to come.

It's just a little further.

Okay, hurry.

Right up there.

Te sientes bien, Marisol?

Sí. Sí, Jorge.

That storm didn't last long.

That's because we're
in the eye of the storm.

God is sure putting this
old man through his paces.

But His best
miracles destroy us.

The flood... that was good.

He just forgot
to finish the job.

A few human beings short

of getting rid of the
whole stinkin' race.

I guess God just doesn't
know how to close, huh?

Is that His problem?

Hey... the primary
mirror isn't cracked.

Amazing.

God Almighty!

Hey, that's not
my miracle, is it?

No, that was
the tarp it fell on.

Would you like a snort?

What do you think, Charley?

I think I'm asking
an exquisite delusion

if she would like
to have a drink.

Yeah, the diagonal
mirrors are out of line.

I'm gonna have to re-glue that.

I'll get my tools.

Charley, it's Christmas night.

Aren't you going to do
something to celebrate?

What? Celebrate?

Well, sure, I was
feeling festive.

But my 'scope's busted,
God's wrath is pelting the Earth,

mankind toils on
worse than hyenas...

Fighting, killing, polluting.

Mexicans dumping
raw sewage in the river.

They're overrunning our borders.

I'm yelling at an angel!

I tell you...

Charley Knot, you
must prepare yourself

for what's about to arrive.

What's arriving is my going.

I'm gonna fix my scope

so I can spot something
new before I kick off.

Charley, you don't
need lenses and boxes.

You need hope.

Yeah, maybe.

Hope is for the hopeless.

Life has lost its fizz.

I find my life not
worth the living of it.

Hello? Anybody here?

Hey, you the owner?

Sorry, we're full up.

Full?

I don't see any
cars around here.

Well, they're not here
yet, but we're booked.

Booked?

Or just no room for Mexicans?

Just... no vacancy.

No "vacancio."

Keep it simple.

Yeah, you're
keeping it very simple.

I know exactly
what you're doing.

And so do I.

You don't understand.

These fellas stroll
into this country...

They take our
money, our services.

They don't pay any taxes.

And then they go home.

I've had it with them.

Charley, your hatred will poison
you before that alcohol will.

Listen, you get three
Mexican kids in here,

then you got a gang partying.

Next it's gunshots...
Then somebody's dead.

Well, I ain't picking corpses
out of that ice machine again.

Shame on you, Charley Knot.

Have you no heart?

I have a business,
that's what I got.

Your business
should be humanity.

Yeah, that's easy
for you to say.

You don't know these people.

You never lived on the border.

I've lived on a
border for eternity.

The border between

Heaven and Earth,
and I cross it every day.

And I know love does
not need a work permit.

There's a young woman
down here in a lot of pain.

If you have a shred of decency,
man, call a doctor at least.

Okay.

Go in my office right there.

I'll make the call.

Gracias.

- No!
- It's okay, let it go.

She's more important.

Come on.

You have a call
to make, Charley.

Yeah, the dang jimjams...

You're not gonna
leave me, are you?

I... I get squiffed,

and I get mean as a rattlesnake.

I wouldn't blame
anybody for leaving me.

It's-it's happened all my life.

I'm not leaving, Charley.

Thanks.

You're not bad
company for a delusion.

Oh.

Darn d.t.'s.

I'm not leaving.

I'm staying right here.

There's a miracle coming,
and I have a job to do.

I'm a lighthouse in the storm.

I'm a frigate that's
sinking on the rocks.

Your call.

Yeah.

Crisscross, careful
of those winds.

My rig is wobbling.

Night Train, you still there?

By my fingernails, Country Boy.

Still following that light.

Me, too.

I figure it's still a
couple miles away.

Yeah, it's hard to
tell with all the dust.

Hey, guys, it's Tess.

Anybody heard from Mel?

Nope.

He's been quiet.

I hope he's okay.

You hang in there, Jasper.

I'm a-hangin'.

Keep your eyes on that light

and everything
will work out fine.

That's right.

The Desert Star Motel.

And-And come as
quick as you can.

Okay, sir.

Yeah, okay.

Right.

Yeah, we'll get
right over there.

Yeah, roger that.

What's up?

Some motel manager over in
Narvaze just called the office.

Got a couple of illegal
aliens, and one of them is sick.

See, what they want to do is
they want to get a U.S. hospital

to treat them, then they'll
disappear and stiff the bill.

We don't know that.

Well, let's find out.

It's the Desert Star Motel.

Over that way,
direction of that light.

Did you call a doctor?

I put in a call.

Poor girl.

She looks like
she's in good hands.

¿Quién sabe?

Who knows?

Any sign of the miracle?

What do you think?

You mean you don't
see all, know all?

No.

Only God does.

So life's a mystery to you, too.

"This life's a hollow
bubble, don't you know?

"Just a painted piece of
trouble, don't you know?

"We came to Earth

"to cry, we grow
older and we sigh.

"Older still, then we die...

don't you know?"

Life is only a hollow bubble

until you fill it with faith.

Faith's fine, but doubt's
what gets you an education.

Faith will bring you to God.

He has something for you.

Faith again.

This is the best faith of all.

Sure.

And the worm at the bottom
of the bottle, that's God.

Curled up there
under all our troubles.

Just sitting there,
waiting for it all to end.

I put my faith,
hope in this spirit.

Spirits.

Angels.

Genies of the bottle.

Pour forth in black smoke
and grant me three wishes.

One, keep me in a fine stupor.

Two... tonight...

let me see something
in my telescope

that no one has
ever seen before.

Three...

let me die before I wake.

"The hopes and
fears of all these years

are met in Thee tonight."

As they have been for centuries.

I'm praying for Charley Knot

and waiting for Your miracle.

Yeah, Road Rocket,
there's a city kitty

climbing up your back door.

Thanks, good buddy.

DISPATCHER: Unit 254, Unit 254,

Agent Fuentes,
indicate your location.

We still got some big winds
and dust kicking up here

at mile marker 445.

MAN 3:10-4, Possum Vulture.

I'll keep eyes on it.

Hello, Mel?

It's Tess.

Mel?

Do you copy?

Mel?

Come in, Mel!

Doctor will be here soon, okay?

It will be okay.

Think of something happy.

Like, uh, Christmas,
when you were a kid

in Chapas.

How do you know?

Oh, uh, I know a lot of things.

Like, um, you and
Jorge knew each other

when you were very young,

and he barely talked to you.

That was only because
you were too pretty for me.

- Ay, no, hombre.
- Sí.

I know about your
last Christmas there.

Uncle Octavio set
off the fireworks.

You ate your grandmother's
panes rellenos.

Mi abuelita.

Then the fighting came.

Gunshots every night.

That's when, uh...
Marisol's grandfather

and my father...

They were killed.

We knew we had to go.

Even though my mother, she...

Sh-She was to stay,
you know, but, um...

the rest of us traveled north.

Then we met a man who told us

he could get us
across the border.

For a price.

Yeah, a price.

We got him the money...
Everything we had.

And then we never see him again.

Respira.

We were stranded.

All of us.

My uncle, my... my aunt.

In Ciudad Juarez.

Ciudad Juarez,
yeah, I know it well.

We lived there for one
year, hand-to-mouth.

Finally, one night,
we made a run for it.

We had to.

We-we all would have starved.

Now, here, we make
enough with the pony rides

to send some back to
Octavio and Marisol's mother.

They need it.

And now...

Don't, Charley.

Don't.

How did you know
what I was thinking?

I told you, angels
know many things.

And one of them is that

taking your own
life is not the answer.

You can take your life, Charley,

but you can't get
rid of your soul.

My battered, worthless soul.

God can heal it.

Let it go.

Can't patch it.

Let it fall.

You can have my
soul, free of charge.

It's not worth a penny to me.

God doesn't buy souls,

and He doesn't take them
as presents in packages.

Souls turn to Him for his love.

I knew love once.

I felt the world melt
under my feet once.

And I didn't have
to be talked into it.

I knew it. It enveloped me.

It ate me up.

I was a wanderer.

Yeah, I was a young man once.

Worked a fishing boat... shrimp,
crabs, down the coast, Mexico.

I got off the boat at a
little place called Tonalá.

Looked around, it was Christmas.

A family was
walking to a posada.

A Christmas party.

Yeah.

Pilgrims.

Half the party was pilgrims.

Joseph and Mary, you know?

A young woman at
the head was the angel.

She held a candle...
leading them on.

She looked up at
me and... those eyes.

Sweet... sweet eyes.

I followed her.

She laughed and...
They all laughed.

I talked myself into the home.

I couldn't speak Spanish,
but that didn't matter.

I-I could sing, I could drink,

I could look in those eyes.

And suddenly,
the... the world was...

new again.

Estrella.

That was her name... Estrella.

"Star."

Yes.

She was my northern
star, my Polaris,

my guidepost in the
night that Christmas.

I didn't leave her side.

That Christmas, the doorways
were filled with flowers...

White lilies and Spanish moss,

and evergreen branches.

Estrella.

Why did she love me?

I don't know.

There was a miracle.

I did have a miracle in my life.

Estrella's kisses.

For nine days, then
for a month, a season,

I was loved.

She lifted her face
to me and... soft.

She cradled my head.

She wept soft tears on my lips

when she told me
that her family said no.

"No, you cannot
marry this American.

"No, he cannot see you again.

"No. Never.

Nunca. Never. No."

I never saw her again.

I'm sure she loved
you very much, Charley.

I know she did,

because after that Christmas...

That Christmas with Spanish
moss and white flowers

filling the streets of Tonalá...

Her father called me,

and told me she shot herself.

She killed herself for me.

And once I see one new star,

one estrella that nobody
else has ever seen,

I'll pull the trigger, too.

God help me, I will!

Don't give up, Charley.

I'm gonna do it...

Find my star and
leave this world.

It's time!

It's time!

You can't give up now, Charley.

They need your help.

The baby is coming.

Father, I thought
there would be four.

So, what's the word?

It's coming, Rafael.

Can you take care of
them just a bit longer?

You got it.

Hey, Feliz Navidad.

You know him?

Yes. He's another angel.

That Mexican fella?

You never know when you might
be entertaining an angel, Charley.

Oh, why did everything
have to go wrong?

God, I got... I got
jimjams to the very end.

If this is your last
moment on earth, Charley,

do something to
make the angels sing.

Go to her.

What would Estrella do?

Still can't figure
that light out.

Probably just some
kind of advertisement.

Fourth suspect in custody.

Yeah... it's advertising
something, all right.

Country, it's Tess.
Are you there?

Just barely. You heard from Mel?

I was hoping you had.

Yeah, me, too.

I've been trying

to reach Mel.
Nothing but dead air.

I'm getting
closer to that light.

It can't be much more
than a mile from me now.

You're almost
home, good buddies.

Hang on.

I see something.

Mel! Mel!

Okay.

Doctor?

- A doctor?
- It'll be okay.

Is the... Is the
doctor here-here?

So, where's the doctor?

Ay, Dios mio.

- Where's the doctor?
- Ay, Dios mio.

Ay, Dios mio.

Okay.

Okay...
- Okay.
- Ay, Dios mio.

Never mind. It's too late.

He's here, Marisol.

He's here.

Te voy ayudar.

Don't worry.

You're going to
have a beautiful baby.

Tell them, Rafael.

I have work to do here.

God is here.

He's in this room.

We're His messengers.

We're here to tell you that
He watches over every soul.

He pours his love
into every baby.

So, no, nada que temer, Jorge.

Even you, Charley Knot.

Even someone

who's carried hate in
his heart for so long.

You hated a family that kept
you from the woman you love,

but you turned that
hatred towards a whole

nation, towards the world.

You turned away from humanity,
and you looked up to the sky.

You spent years of
your life looking for a star

that no one else has seen,

but it wasn't there, Charley.

You said you wanted
to see something new.

It was right here.

This child.

Oh.

This beautiful baby.

This baby has never
been seen before.

A miracle.

Yes.

Every child is.

Marisol.

Felicidades.

It's a girl.

A niña?

Que maravilloso.

We'll name her for
your grandmother.

Estrella.

Someday, baby,

we're going to take
you back to Tonalá,

so you can meet
your mama's abuela.

Estrella.

Marisol's grandmother
is... Your Estrella.

My Estrella!

Her father lied?

She didn't...?

She lives.

She learned how to
love again, Charley,

which is something
you forgot how to do.

Every child deserves the
love you found with Estrella.

Every child deserves a star.

That must be a doctor.

No...

I-I didn't call a doctor.

You-You said you
called a doctor.

No, I c... I called Immigration.

Oh, no.

Que animal.

Oh, they're nearly here.

I'm so sorry.

God knows what
we're going to do now.

Yes, He does.

The light, the wind,
this young couple;

this whole night has
been in God's hands,

and He brings you good tidings.

Are you ready, Rafael?

Let's do it.

Jasper you ought to be there.

I'm here.

And look who the cat drug in.

Where'd you get that?

Hey!

Thought you were a goner, man.

Well, I swerved to
miss this darn thing,

and my truck went off the road.

So, me and little Ap,
we hoofed it to the light.

Weird how the wind died down.

That's because

all is calm and
all is bright, honey.

Well, I'll be.

Tess, how'd you get here?

There's a miracle going on here.

You all thought you were
missing something in life.

Well, merry Christmas.

Because here it is.

I'm an angel sent by God.

Now, we're a little
short of time here,

so you gotta just
trust me on this.

God has lead you to
fulfill a wonderful purpose.

He's even had you
hauling everything you need

to carry it out.

Now, get these trucks
open, get those animals out

and get me a great big
bunch of them blankets.

Come on, now, get to work.

All right, now, listen.

They always try
to get out the back.

So you go around the
rear and get your gun out.

I'll go in this way.

We'll find something in there.

You're going to
find something, Carl.

Charley.

Carl.

You really outdid
yourself this year.

These animals are a great touch.

And these statues.

Looks real, Charley.

Must have cost you a bundle.

Nah, it didn't cost too much.

So you got some illegals, huh?

Oh, you know, that turned out

to be a false alarm.

Maybe you better
go check out back.

I'm sorry to bring

you fellas all the way out here.

Well, you're sure you
don't have any problems?

No! No, there's no problem.

And merry Christmas, Carl.

You see anything back there?

No. No.

There's nothing out back.

You really outdid
yourself this year, Charley.

Yeah, well, this is
my last year here.

I'm going down to Mexico
and find an old friend.

Suit yourself.

Merry Christmas, Charley.

Thank you.

It's real nice
what you did here.

Merry Christmas.

Whew!

Charley... Feliz Navidad.

Merry Christmas to you, too.

Glory be to God in the highest.

And on Earth,

peace and goodwill
to men and women

and wee babies and angels.