Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Thursdays, I will be reviewing Highway to Heaven, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1989. The entire show is currently streaming on Freevee and several other services!
This week, Jonathan and Mark invade people’s dreams.
Episode 2.18 “To Bind The Wounds”
(Dir by Michael Landon, originally aired on February 19th, 1986)
Timothy Charles (Eli Wallach) sits in a cemetery, the only person to show up for the burial of his son, Timothy Charles, Jr. The younger Charles died nearly twenty years earlier, while serving as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Only recently have his remains been returned to the U.S.A.
The elder Charles is himself a veteran and lives in an airplane graveyard that sits in the desert. He served in World War II. The United States won World War II and Timothy Charles was celebrated as a hero. The United States lost Vietnam and, as a result, most people want to pretend like it never happened and ignore the sacrifice of men like Timothy Charles, Jr.
Jonathan and Mark show up at the funeral. Though he doesn’t know them, the elder Timothy Charles is touched by their presence and invites them back to his airplane. The elder Charles, bitter about how his son has been forgotten, wishes there was some way he could memorialize him. Jonathan and Mark suggest setting up a scholarship.
Unfortunately, a scholarship requires money and none of the wealthy people in town are willing to contribute. They all want to forget the trauma of the war. So, Jonathan and Mark pop up in their dreams and show them what a hero Timothy Charles, Jr. (played by Moosie Drier, Jr.) truly was. They agree to set up the scholarship. At the announcement ceremony, the elder Charles gives a heartfelt speech thanking them.
Timothy Charles, Sr. returns to his airplane. Suddenly, the plane is flying into heaven and his son is sitting beside him. Awwwww!
As I mentioned two weeks ago, I’m binging Highway to Heaven while in an emotional state. My father died in the early morning hours of August 19th and I’m still very much in mourning. As a result, while the logical side of me can watch this show and realize that it’s shamelessly sentimental and manipulative, the emotional side of me doesn’t care. Eli Wallach was a great actor who had a tendency to go a bit overboard. There’s nothing subtle about his performance here. And the ending, with father and son literally flying to Heaven, was absolutely shameless. But dammit, it made me cry.
And, to be honest, this episode makes an important point. The people in Timothy’s town are reluctant to honor him because he served in an unpopular war that America lost. It’s similar to the attitude that a lot of people now seem to have to those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. One sees it in the relentless gaslighting about the disastrous withdraw from Afghanistan and the refusal to honor the 13 service members killed at Abbey Gate. Instead of holding our leaders to account, the American people often seem to blame those who served. Hopefully, someday, that will change.
Through the Shattered Lens 