The Other Woman
| The Decision | The Other Woman | It's a Wrap! |
[edit] Summary
Tom Riley is seen with a woman who no one seems to know and gets himself wrapped up in a scandal.
[edit] Plot
News flash! Tom Riley stuns Odyssey by insinuating that he may not seek re-election! He tells Dale Jacobs that he really would like to get back to the peace and quiet of his farm, which creates a media firestorm. Unfortunately, Bart Rathbone is listening to the television report on Tom, and it gives Bart the idea that he should run for mayor again. Bart’s wife, Doris, and Rodney think Bart’s nuts. They say no one would ever vote for Bart. But Bart still thinks he has a real chance, as long as Tom doesn’t run again. So Bart tells Doris and Rodney it’s their job to make sure Tom doesn’t run again.
That opportunity presents itself a few days later when Doris and Rodney see Tom driving and decide to follow him. They all end up at a place called Hillingdale Haven, where Doris and Rodney take pictures of Tom sitting and holding hands with a blond woman! Rodney is certain that Tom’s wife isn’t blond and deduces that they have a major scandal on their hands.
Doris and Rodney take the pictures back to Bart, who gives them to a new rag sheet tabloid newspaper called The Odyssey Tattler. The editor of the Tattler surmises that the pictures were taken at Hillingdale Haven Hospital, a mental health facility! He readily prints the pictures, setting off a media frenzy.
But it ends up that the story is much less scandalous than it appears. The woman is Tom’s wife, Agnes. She has manic depression and must frequently stay at Hillingdale Haven. Tom calls a press conference to tell everyone this, and to add that he officially won’t seek re-election as mayor. After explaining the real situation, what Tom said makes Bart and Doris feel so bad that they wished that they had never done what they did.
Later, at Whit’s End, Whit and Eugene discuss Tom’s decision. Eugene wonders why Tom never mentioned Agnes’s problem to the church so they could pray for her. Whit says Tom did at first, but when Agnes didn’t get better, he stopped. He says many Christians have trouble with unanswered prayer. And the only thing to do is to keep praying for people like Tom and Agnes.
[edit] Discussion Questions
- Why did Tom keep his wife’s illness quiet?
- Should he have?
- Why or why not?
- Should he have?
- Why do you think God heals some people and doesn’t heal others?
- Whit told Eugene that “Christians who can’t cope are poor advertising.” What did he mean by that?
[edit] Cast
[edit] Notes
- Trivia
- This show was written to answer the long-standing question, whatever happened to Tom’s wife? She appeared in #49: “Thank You, God” and then seemed to disappear without a trace.
- This episode marks Rodney's return from jail after the Blackgaard saga situation.
- It is stated in this episode that Agnes suffers from deep depression. Interestingly, this episode was written before depression really came into the public spotlight.
- This episode features one of the few times that Rodney refers to Bart as "Dad" instead of "Pop."
[edit] Quotes
Rodney Rathbone: Duck! There's Tom Riley! (cars screech)Rodney Rathbone: Why'd you duck?
Doris Rathbone: You said to duck!
Bart Rathbone: I could write a book!
Doris Rathbone: Oh, yeah. It'd have to be a coloring book, the way you write.
Doris Rathbone: I don't know about this choke and dagger stuff.
John Whittaker: Like any illness, God sometimes heals [mental illness] immediately; sometimes He takes His time. Sometimes He won't heal at all. His reasons are His own.
Eugene Meltsner: But where does that leave us?
John Whittaker: It leaves us -- where we've always been: stuck with the frailty of our humanness, dependent on the power of God's will, and obliged to keep praying hard for people like Mrs. Riley -- and the Tom Rileys of the world who help them.
Doris Rathbone: You've got a son who's gorwing up to be a slob, just like his father, and you're talking about Tom Riley?
Eugene Meltsner: So are you...going to run for mayor again?
Tom Riley: Now Eugene, you're not curious are ya?
Eugene Meltsner: No not at all. I was merely inquiring out of a fundamentally objective desire to know.
John Whittaker: He's curious.
Rodney Rathbone: But what if the gang sees me carrying around a laundry basket. They'll start calling me sissy, too.
Doris Rathbone: Oh quit your griping. I had a cousin named sissy once. It's a very nice name.
Rodney Rathbone: Turn with him.
Doris Rathbone: If you say so.
Rodney Rathbone: Ma, you could've braked first.
Doris Rathbone: Well they always do it that way on TV.
Rodney Rathbone: Do we have a camera in the car?
Doris Rathbone: Are you kidding? You're dad broke the brownie after our trip to Hawaii, remember?
Agnes Riley: Maybe next time you come, I'll be a red head. That'll get em talking.
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- 1996 Season Episodes
- Episodes with theme of Rumors
- Proverbs 16:28
- 1 Peter 3:12
- Episodes produced by Dave Arnold
- Episodes sorted by name
- Episodes in Album 28: Welcome Home!
- Episodes sorted by Airdate
- Episodes written by Paul McCusker
- Episodes directed by Phil Lollar
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- Episodes with music by John Campbell
- Episodes recorded at Unknown
- Episodes engineered by Todd Busteed
- Episodes executive produced by Kurt Bruner
- Episodes aired 10 times
- Episodes with Agnes Riley
- Episodes with Bart Rathbone
- Episodes with Bill Stringer
- Episodes with Doris Rathbone
- Episodes with Eugene Meltsner
- Episodes with John Whittaker
- Episodes with Rodney Rathbone
- Episodes with Tom Riley
- Episodes with acting by Susan Silo
- Episodes with acting by Walker Edmiston
- Episodes with acting by Matt Hurwitz
- Episodes with acting by Pamela Hayden
- Episodes with acting by Will Ryan
- Episodes with acting by Paul Herlinger
- Episodes with acting by Steve Burns