Overall: 9.2
This one very occasionally has the feel of an "after-school special" (that's generally not good...:) ), but the core message is strong enough to overcome any conveniences in the plot or weaknesses in the acting.
Plot Synopsis:
When Gary reads in the paper that a violent ruckus will erupt at the Blue Island courthouse over a white supremacist march led by Darrel Foster, he and Chuck - over Chuck's objections - head over to Blue Island to stop the potential fight in its tracks. When they find the sedan that is supposed to have baseball bats in its trunk, Gary and Chuck pose as utility men and make off with the car. They then return to the courthouse just in time to see Blue Island resident Gus McDuffin very nearly get into a physical fight with Foster. Gary shouts that Foster wants to rile people up for publicity's sake, and Gus is quelled. As the incident dies down, Gary notices Foster's son, Lance, looking glum beside his father and his Spidey sense starts tingling. Chuck would rather that Gary just forget about Lance, but Gary isn't so sure he should.
Later in the day, Lance is sent into town to get some wood for his father's signs. At the hardware store, he meets an African-American boy named Stephon, and they strike up something of a friendship. As a matter of fact, they are shooting hoops together when Foster shows up and ruins it all. Stephon's father sees Foster and demands that he and Lance vacate his property post haste.
The following day, Gary reads in the paper that Foster will be assassinated on the Blue Island Bridge. Chuck believes that Gary should just ignore the headline, but Gary and Marissa both know it's not that simple. Gary believes that Gus might be the shooter, so he first heads over to talk to Gus's friend, Robert. Robert denies that Gus would be capable of gunning anyone down and steps out. Then Robert's wife reveals that Robert is Polish and that much of his extended family died in the concentration camps during World War II.
Gary next visits Foster at his camp and tries to convince the white supremacist to call off his march. Foster doesn't take to kindly to this; indeed, after Gary leaves, Foster sends two of his men and his son to McGinty's to teach Gary a lesson. As Lance looks on in horror, Foster's thugs tear apart the restaurant's kitchen and give Gary a beat down. Then Foster's men flee, leaving a paralyzed Lance behind.
Gary decides not to press charges, as he's more concerned about Lance. He sits Lance down at a table and asks him about his mother. Lance tells Gary that his mother and father are divorced - and that his mother never really believed the racist crap Foster spews. We can see that Gary wants to get in touch with Lance's mother, but before he can get a name, Lance disappears. Lance goes back to Blue Island, where he runs into an angry Stephon. Stephon declares that people like Lance would kill everyone who isn't their color if they had their way, and Lance denies this. Then Stephon's father shows up and tells Lance to get out of town - that he's not wanted. Back at his father's camp, Lance tries to convince Foster to call off the march and gets slapped for his trouble.
As the march begins, Gary spies a man with a rifle across the way and heads over to talk to him. The man turns out to be Robert, not Gus. Robert tells Gary that he might never have been born because of racist jerks like Foster, and Gary (correctly) replies that killing Foster will end up being a terrible burden on Robert's soul - and might just confirm for Lance everything he's been taught. Robert seems unwilling to listen to this -- until, that is, Lance leaves his father's side and joins the counter-protesters on the other side of the bridge. Lance tells his father that it is time to stop the hating, and his courage convinces Foster's followers that the march is not worth it. Stunned, Robert watches all of this, in awe that a child could show everyone the way.
In the end, Gary does get in touch with Lance's mother, and Lance is able to escape his father's influence.
SABR Matt's Comments:
Writing: 9.0
While I would agree that a better end to the final moments of the hate march (one that would be less saccherine and a tad more believable) would have been for Foster and some of his followers to continue the violence, but with an understanding on the part of the viewer that standing up for good still had a positive impact (Lance is saved from a life of hatred and the hate marchers get turned back without significant innocent bloodshed)...I think the basic plot construction is still, on the whole, very fair minded and very human. Chuck is the key. Chuck, once again, plays the pivotal role the audience needs in order to believe Gary's actions are possible. Without Chuck barking our angry thoughts (why should we save this jerk? Why do you care so much about this hate filled man and his clan? why aren't you pressing charges??), the audience would spend the whole episode too annoyed with Gary to be impressed with hown things turn out. He's too nice...it's almost unimaginable to see Gary as a realistic hero figure...as something to which we should aspire. With Chuck in there, venting our anger for us, we get to hear Gary's reaction...a calm, Christian plea toward civility and grace...and we get to appreciate the reasons why acting as Gary does is the only way to salvage something good from such hatred.
Acting: 9.0
I'm not sure I see the anger and pain portrayed by Robert as over the top...but I do agree with her that Stephon in particular was not all that convincingly portrayed and that, as EE episodes go, the acting is only...par...here. Which means the acting is quite good. :)
Message: 10.0
Steph covered the main point regarding the very Christian idea that grace can only come from a rare combination of courage in the face of evil and peaceful, rational protest of such evil. I would just like to add that Gary, too, needs to turn the other cheek in order for something positive to come from all this tragic, blind hatred. They attack McGinty's and Gary still manages to keep his eye on the big picture enough to worry less about what damage has been done to him and more about how he can save an innocent child in a bad situation. In fact, doing this might have been the key lesson Lance needed...we don't answer violence with blind vengeance and hatred...we muust always answer it with disapproval, but with grace and civility. Lance takes that very lesson out onto the battlefield and hinds a strength he never knew he had. Kids need strong leadership from their parents and authority figures. I wonder how many children Gary has "fathered" while on his "paper route."
Stephanie S.'s Comments:
Writing: 8.5
I'm not sure that a group of hardcore bigots really would lose their nerve simply because their leader's son left the fold; that might be a touch convenient. I also think the characterization of Darrel Foster is a bit on the nose. Still, I'm not going to let a mildly pat ending and some obvious character work detract too much from this episode's otherwise balanced and realistic portrayal of a town's response to a white supremacist demonstration. Both the free speech absolutists and the "ban their march!" folks get to have their say, which is quite laudable in an episode that deals with an Issue with a capital I.
Acting: 8.5
There are also a few weak spots here and there when it comes to the performances. I think, for example, that Nick Searcy (Robert) exaggerates his character's pain just slightly in his big scene - and Benjamin LeVert (Stephon) and Emile Hirsch (Lance) occasionally come across as "child actors" rather than as realistic kids. On the whole, though, the acting we see here is solid and respectable.
Message: 10.0
As noted above, the script and the performances make this episode a typical strong showing for Early Edition. What pushes March in Time into the feature range are the themes it tackles. Number one, the question once again arises whether a certain potential victim "deserves" to be rescued - and the show replies, in a subtly Christian fashion, that it doesn't matter. It may in fact be true that a world with one less Darrel Foster would be a better place, but it is not Gary's place to make that call because, stuck in the flow of time as he is, he doesn't have the vantage point needed to see the bigger picture. Gary can't play God - at least, not without fouling up some larger plan. Fortunately, Gary, despite his personal doubts, understands this; in fact, he's even able to catch a glimpse, with that preternatural instinct of his, of what God's plan might be. And because Gary takes a leap of faith and decides to trust that the Power behind the paper is attempting to pull off something good, we get the very best result: instead of a dead Foster and an angry Lance, we end up with a humbled Foster and a Lance who's been saved. That should be a lesson to us all.
Number two, this episode also teaches us a thing or two about how we should respond to the bigots in our midst. The right answer is not to attack them physically - that way only leads to greater publicity for the bigot. Nor is the answer to outlaw their rallies and marches - that way only drives them underground and makes them more bitter. The right answer is to confront them calmly and with unity - to respond to their speech with speech of our own.
The Benevolent Hand:
Again, the Benevolent Hand's big plan here is to rescue Lance from his father - to help him gather the courage needed to stand up for himself and his own beliefs. Everything that Gary is asked to do through the paper is designed to accomplish this overarching goal.
Highlights:
CHUCK: Baseball bats and bigots... doesn't sound good, Gar.
GARY: Neither do fractured skulls.
CHUCK: I think they should stop these people from marching altogether.
MARISSA: Well, that's the same thing they said about some other people in the sixties.
CHUCK: That's different. You have to draw the line somewhere. There's good people, there's bad people, and then there's these people.
MARISSA: And the Constitution protects these people no matter what we think of them. (That is absolutely correct. Good for you, Marissa.)
GUS: You're not crossing that bridge.
FOSTER: You threatening me?
GUS: Don't you understand English? Maybe I should repeat it for ya - in German.
FOSTER: (mocking) Heil Hitler!
(Gus lunges at Foster and has to be held back.)
GARY: Hey - what you're doin' is falling right into his game, pal. (Yep. Don't give these guys publicity.)
GARY: Did you see that kid out there today?
CHUCK: What kid?
GARY: That kid out there. I think he was Foster's son. He didn't look like he wanted to be out there, did he?
CHUCK: Don't worry about him. He's just like the rest of 'em.
GARY: I don't think so. (And Gary's instincts are right once again.)
GARY: What are you doin' gettin' a paper, anyway?
CHUCK: Checking on my future. The Chicago Black Hawks, three to one. Remember?
GARY: Yeah, three to one. (A beat) Hey, you didn't, uh...?
CHUCK: Oh yeah, I had to. You gave me the score. I had no choice.
GARY: Well, you didn't...?
CHUCK: Oh yeah. Don't worry about it. I only bet a couple of C-notes.
GARY: Well, you...
(Gary stammers some more as Chuck opens the paper and reads that the Black Hawks lost in overtime.)
GARY: Now listen. I didn't know. I didn't even look in the sports page! You know that!
CHUCK: I just lost five grand!
GARY: Well, I'm sorry you lost five grand, but... (Double take) Five grand? You told me a couple of C-notes!
CHUCK: I pressed the bet! It was a sure thing! (Another beat) I don't get it. You're supposed to be my friend! (LOL! Oops.)
(After Gary reads about Foster's assassination.)
CHUCK: So what are you gonna do about it, Gar?
GARY: The reason I get this... I gotta do what I can.
CHUCK: Well, what if the reason's on page three? Or in the want ads? Or in Sneed's column? Did you ever think of that?
GARY: What are you saying? You saying I let this guy get killed because of his politics?
CHUCK: It's worth considering.
GARY: (after a pause) No, it's not.
CHUCK: What would he do in your position, huh?
GARY: That-that's not the point.
CHUCK: That's exactly the point.
MARISSA: You're both looking at this the wrong way. The issue isn't whether to save Foster. The issue is whether to save his assassin. (Fantastic scene.)
GARY: Mr. Foster - you go out on that bridge today, and you're gonna be killed.
FOSTER: (standing and removing his sunglasses) You've got some guts, pal. You threatening me?
GARY: Just take my word for it. I know.
FOSTER: Listen to me, my friend: I've had death threats in every town I've been in. You know how many marches I've missed? None.
GARY: First of all, Mr. Foster, I'm not your friend. Second of all, this isn't a threat. It's just a fact.
FOSTER: You know what I think? I think you're trying to scare me. That's why I'm gonna tell you why I do the things I do. (He grabs Lance and pulls him up.) Come here, kid. You see my son here? I want him to grow up in a pure country free of scum.
GARY: That's what makes this so hard, Mr. Foster. So do I. (Wow.)
GARY: What if I didn't know what I know? I mean, would it be such a great loss to the world if this Foster guy, if he just sort of disappeared? And I-I'm serious.
MARISSA: You don't really mean that.
GARY: Listen, I can't solve all the problems in the world. What am I supposed to do, keep rushing in to try to stop them? If I hadn't gone there yesterday, Gus, he'd be in the hospital with a cracked head. But you know what? He'd be in the hospital. He wouldn't be out trying to kill Foster.
MARISSA: Maybe, maybe not. You can go on with maybes forever. You have to make decisions in your life every day. You don't know the outcome all the time, and sometimes you just have to do what you think is right.
GARY: Well, what if I don't know what's right?
MARISSA: You'll know when you find it.
LANCE: What you told my dad at camp today - is that for sure?
GARY: Well, I-I don't think anything's for sure, Lance. (A beat) Where's your mom?
LANCE: I don't know. She left my dad. She tried to take me with her, but my dad wouldn't let her. She said one day she'd come back to get me.
GARY: You don't know where she lives?
LANCE: Indiana, I think. She tried to visit me once, but Dad found out and chased her off. She never believed in the stuff he was saying. I don't know what he's so mad about.
GARY: Neither do I, but I, uh... I think he's wrong, your dad.
LANCE: If you think he's wrong, then why do you want to save him?
GARY: Because I've got a dad too.
LANCE: Who started hating first?
GARY: What do you mean?
LANCE: Seems like ever since I was a little kid, everywhere we go, they hate us.
GARY: I don't know. But I do know it's gotta stop sooner or later. (Nice.)
STEPHON: My dad said if your group had their way, they would kill everyone who wasn't their color.
LANCE: I wouldn't kill anybody.
STEPHON: Why don't you just go back to your march!
LANCE: Do you do everything your dad says?
FOSTER: My son wants me to call off the whole march. Does that sound right to you?
LANCE: They don't want it here, Dad! They don't want us!
FOSTER: Of course they don't want us. They don't know what they want. That's why they're in this mess. Why do we march?
LANCE: What?
FOSTER: Why do we march? To defend what we believe in.
LANCE: Why can't we just leave people alone and they'd leave us alone?
FOSTER: I do this for you, son - so that you can grow up in a better country.
LANCE: If you want to do something for me, call off the march.
FOSTER: You sound like a coward, son. Are you a coward?
LANCE: No, sir.
FOSTER: You know what my daddy used to do to cowards?
LANCE: Yes, sir.
FOSTER: What's the big lie, Lance?
LANCE: Daddy, don't march today.
FOSTER: What's the big lie about the races, Lance?
LANCE: Why do you have to hate everyone?
(Foster slaps his son.)
FOSTER: Get him ready!
GARY: Robert - what's that boy gonna do when he sees his father gunned down?
ROBERT: Maybe he won't grow up to be a racist.
GARY: Maybe. Or maybe it's gonna confirm everything his father taught him. Maybe he's gonna grow up with twice as much hate, huh?
LANCE: Dad? It's time for me to be a man.
FOSTER: That's right, we'll show 'em.
(Then Lance steps away from his father and joins Stephon in the counter-protest.)
LANCE: I'm going here... 'cause it's time to stop the hating!
(There is a long pause as Foster takes in his son's rebellion.)
FOSTER: Come back here, boy.
(Lance firmly shakes his head. Across the way, Robert watches all of this unfold. He is stunned.)
ROBERT: "And a little child shall lead them." Isaiah 11:6.
GARY: You know what you are, don't ya? You're a hero.
LANCE: Like you said, the future is what you make of it.
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