return to due South: season 4 episode 10 (or season 3 episode 23) "Say Amen"

Say Amen
air date March 4, 1999

( Scene 1 )

What do we think the movie was? The titles on the marquee are all previous episodes: "Dead Guy Running," "Good for the Soul," "Seeing is Believing" (at least two of these being titles based on film titles, viz., Dead Man Walking (1995) and Rashōmon (1950); "Good for the Soul" is not an obvious movie link-up to me but I'm more than willing to be corrected). Clues are spaceships and robots; this episode aired March 4, 1999, but who knows when it was shot? Could have been any time between sort of August 1998 and about mid-January 1999, right?, depending if they shot the whole season at once or (as seems more likely given the progress of Ramona Milano's pregnancy) on a rolling schedule with about, what, six weeks' lead time? In any case, it's too early for Star Wars (that is, The Phantom Menace), which wasn't released until May 19. Starting at March 4 and working backwards, I don't see anything obvious as a loud movie with spaceships and robots in the Wikipedia entries for 1999 or 1998 film releases until I get to Lost in Space, released April 3, 1998. On the other hand, our quartet are at the movies in the middle of the day, so who knows but maybe they're in one of those after-the-initial-release much-cheaper-ticket places catching a matinee.

But speaking of that, what is this: a double date? (And if so, who's paired with whom? Just for funsies I'm going to say Fraser/Turnbull and Kowalski/Thatcher, which of course is the one set of combinations that makes no sense whatsoever.)

( Scene 1 continues. )

( Scene 2 )

Credits roll.

Paul Gross
Callum Keith Rennie
Beau Starr
Camilla Scott
Tony Craig | Tom Melissis
Ramona Milano
and Gordon Pinsent as Fraser Sr.

(plus Draco the dog)

Dean McDermott, Richard Chevolleau, Elisabeth Rosen, Nola Augustson, and David Fox as Rev. Albert Barrow

( Scene 3 )

Romeo and Juliet, of course, are (as Reginald Jeeves would say) characters in a play of that name by the late William Shakespeare. They meet at a masked ball and fall in love more or less instantaneously, become engaged later that night, and sneak off and marry the following day—and we all know, don't we, how well that turns out for them. (Spoilers: Her cousin kills his best friend; he kills the cousin; she feigns death, possibly by consuming the gland secretions of a bouga toad or similar, so she can escape her family from the crypt rather than from home; he doesn't get the memo and poisons himself in his despair, though not before also killing the man her father had wanted her to marry; she comes out of her catatonia and stabs herself to death with his dagger; also his mother has meanwhile died from grief; so the body count in R&J is not fewer than six and this is not, in fact, a love story to be emulated.)

Tristan and Isolde is another tragic love story, in which the young man and his uncle's young fiancée fall in love as he is escorting her to the wedding because of an ill-timed administration of a love potion—so besides being hasty, can't it be speculated whether their love is even real, you know what I'm saying? Anyway, his uncle/her husband discovers them and they're doomed and separated forever blah blah blah.

Abbott and Costello were a comedy act in the 1940s, who, like many successful professional teams, didn't always get along personally at all.

Okay, listen, I've been trying for more than a year to come at this thing as if I didn't have long-term ideas about—well, all of it, because what people put in their TV shows and what we choose to see in those shows are often not the same thing at all, right? And we all interpret things differently. Or at least many of us do. But look: Fraser deliberately misunderstands Francesca's question when she asks what he thinks, and then when he does actually answer her question—he does in fact think love at first sight can happen—he is not looking at Francesca as she heads back to her desk but at Kowalski. (Davy is also sitting at Kowalski's desk, but his back is to the camera and the shot is well focused on Kowalski, who is speaking and gesturing, and who, on the first day they met, after saying "I don't risk my life for anybody," did.) Of course even without the Kowalski of it all, Fraser fell (what he thought was) in love with Victoria in practically no time; but I'm also saying, there's simply no denying that his relationship with Kowalski is different than his relationship with Vecchio and it would be, at a minimum, inattentive of us not to notice that.

( Scene 4 )

False. It originated with 19th century Methodists, at least a couple of generations earlier than (and giving rise to) Pentecostals, and continues to be used, not at all improperly, today. If this church is "unfettered" it is likely its members find themselves overtaken by their holy spirit and seem to act uncontrollably. Thatcher's use of "holy roller" is derisive in its tone but probably not incorrect.

( Scene 4 continues. )

Southern accent = evangelical church, apparently. So much for Fraser's sensitivity to cultural stereotyping.

Dewey, of all people, has the most astute observation in the scene, viz., that loving someone after you know them (warts and all) is how you know the love is real.

( Scene 5 )

"Hell's half-acre" is the kind of expression Fraser would use, but we've never heard him say it until he's here specifically talking about a church context. Is that weird? Is it weirder than the fact that there are a nontrivial number of places named Hell's Half Acre?

( Scene 6 )

Well, Camilla Scott's got pipes, no denying that. (She sang well in "Dr. Longball," but this is another level up from that, isn't it.)

I guess the miracle is that Thatcher somehow knew the song after having only heard two or three bars of it, but to be fair, it's the kind of song that only has two or three bars and is designed to be easy to learn or even intuit. But the idea that Inspector Thatcher, of all people, even if they hadn't foreshadowed it with her scoffing attitude toward Holy Rollers, would be slain in the spirit is frankly astonishing. Is there some sort of drug being disseminated through the ventilation system in this church? And if so, why are Fraser and Davy and Kowalski not susceptible?

(The tenor soloist is listed in the credits as Dutch Robinson, whom we know from previous episodes this season. The alto (the one that isn't Camilla Scott) is Sharon Lee Williams, whom the internet tells me also has a long resume of vocal work. We'll come back to her shortly.)

( Scene 7 )

( Scene 8 )

The Chicago street index doesn't show a Baitland or Maitland, or Baitlin or Beytlin or anything like that. Anyone hear Kowalski more clearly?

( Scene 9 )

No, dear, she's one of those other religions.

I am not qualified to judge the authenticity of this young woman's southern accent. It might really be hers, for all I know. But it doesn't sound quite the same as the accents the preacher and Pink Suit are using. The young woman is played by Elisabeth Rosen, who's from Ottawa; the mother is played by Nola Augustson, whose internet details are sparse but who seems to be English; the preacher is played by David Fox (1941–2021), who was from the regrettably named Swastika, Ontario. Are all three faking it slightly differently, or what?

( Scene 9 continues. )

Francesca is back to looking kind of puffy in the face and wearing a jacket or overshirt, as though Ramona Milano hadn't had her baby yet, so I once again have no idea what order the episodes were shot in except that it apparently has no relationship to the order they were aired in. Which on the one hand I guess isn't unheard-of but I thought out-of-order-ness had mainly to do with getting all your location shots in one trip? Whereas Francesca we've barely seen outside of the squad room, much less the station? So I don't know. Anyway, if she, Francesca, were pregnant, that would make the awkwardness of the "I have to be pure" conversation feel a lot more authentic, so I'm going to keep waving that flag over here.

( Scene 10 )

She didn't seem headstrong when she was talking to Francesca.

( Scene 11 )

That, that sounds to me like a Vecchio line rather than a Kowalski line.

( Scene 11 continues. )

Davy is a young guy, but when Fraser called him "the boy" I didn't feel gross about it, while in the preacher's accent, "that boy" doesn't sound to me like he's talking about his age. Ugh.

Meanwhile: Paul Haggis, who created due South, only got out of Scientology in 2009, but he wasn't involved with the show by this point in its career, so is it possible Dewey's idea of leaving the police force to create a moneymaking religion is those who were still involved with the show saying, 10 years earlier, Paulie, come on, man, it's a fucking cult, why can't you see that? Hmm.

( Scene 12 )

Fraser is looking pensive as if he'd had a locked-up childhood himself, which—there's a lot to be said about Bob Fraser's parenting, and even more to be said about George and Martha Fraser's parenting when Bob apparently decided he couldn't or wouldn't be able to do it himself? But they didn't lock him up in a library (although I could argue that would be a better place to be locked up than a church, if you've got to be locked up anywhere) and keep him from going to school and having friends (Mark, Innussiq, June [Innussiq again]). Moved him to Alert when he was eight, about which I've got some notes, but bottom line, I don't think what's happening here is that Fraser is having any sort of epiphany about his own childhood, more's the pity.

( Scene 13 )

Yeah Kowalski is probably not ideally situated to give Davy advice at this time. Got the girl, lost the girl, still carrying a torch, hard to believe him when he says it'll all be okay.

( Scene 14 )

Preventative pol— Kowalski just said "to hell with his rights" about a Black man, remind me again why we love a cop show? Ugh.

( Scene 15 )

I still don't like the way Eloise's father says "the boy." Surely he knows Davy's name?

( Scene 16 )

The way Eloise's mother calls Davy "that boy" is, if anything, even worse than the way her father does it. Gives me the creeps.

And so yeah okay Davy's last name is Abelard, because of course it is, because his girlfriend's name is Eloise. Peter Abélard was a scholar and theologian and Héloïse d'Argenteuil his brilliant student in 12th-century France; they were secretly married (and she named their son Astrolabe, showing that famous people giving their children bonkers names is not a modern phenomenon); and then he sent her away to a convent to protect her from her furious uncle, who subsequently had him, Abélard, castrated. They continued to correspond but were never reunited. So we've completed the Doomed Lovers Trifecta introduced with Romeo and Juliet and Tristan and Isolde in scene 3. Nice work, everyone.

( Scene 17 )

ASK HIM HOW HE KNOWS.

( Scene 17 continues. )

I'm so proud of Fraser for finally, after five years, learning to say he'll do what he can more of the time rather than promising nothing bad will happen. He still does the latter sometimes, but there's been some progress at last—just as he's repeatedly talking ("A Likely Story" scene 1, feeling suffocated at the consulate; this very episode scene 1, his ears being more attuned to the northern forest) about how homesick he's feeling. Hmm.

( Scene 18 )

That's almost what Quinn taught Fraser when he was 12, but not quite: It's more important to know where the game is going than where it's been.

( Scene 19 )

There's some nice very creepy camera work on the preacher when he's insisting that Ellen get up and walk.

( Scene 20 )

She's almost right about Babe Ruth. (The chocolate bar Fraser is thinking of is the Baby Ruth, but he probably knows that.) He hit 59 home runs in 1921 and 60 in 1927, but the season was only 154 games in those days—which is a little less than one home run every two and a half games, so the substance of her point stands. And it's a good one: Even if she can do miracles, can she do them on a schedule?

( Scene 21 )

( Scene 22 )

Ask a disgusting question, get a disgusting answer.

"Full court press" is a basketball term, but I don't think it's a special tread on a running shoe, and for all his tracking skill, I don't see how Fraser can tell from a footprint that the shoe had a high top.

( Scene 23 )

I don't know, young men getting hit by cars in this show. Are the brakes of the automobiles of Chicago that sluggish?

( Scene 24 )

I feel like there's a glimpse here—a glimpse—of a man who loves his daughter and is affected by her distress. He wants to keep her safe to himself and away from this boyfriend he doesn't like, but I can see a glimmer of actual paternal care coming through. Is that because the actor is that good and he's really playing it? If so, nice work, Fox (no relation). Or am I only seeing it because I want to?

I assume Another Woman From The Choir is played by Sharon Lee Williams, the alto soloist.

( Scene 25 )

DIEFENBAKER IS THE BEST THERAPY WOLF.

I can't find a hard source for the "sometimes the answer is no" line. Dan Brown seems to have used it in Angels and Demons (2000). Former president Jimmy Carter seems to have said it in an NPR interview in 1996 (he is also quoted all over the internet as saying "God answers all prayers. Sometimes it's yes. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes it's you've got to be kidding me," which does sound like him, but there's never any specific attribution); Christopher Durang used it in Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You in 1979. The earliest I can find is M*A*S*H s4e10 "Quo Vadis, Captain Chandler?", in which the titular Chandler believes, or claims to believe, that he is Jesus Christ, and the series regulars argue about whether he is or isn't trying to fake his way into a medical discharge. (The only one who seems to consider that Chandler might actually be Jesus is Radar, whose teddy bear Chandler blesses in what is actually a very moving moment; he then blesses Radar as well.) Anyway, that episode was from 1975, but it hardly seems likely that the idea—that a refusal is in fact an answer, even if it's an answer you don't like—could have been new at that time, don't you think?

I think Kowalski means he'll stay at the hospital and monitor Davy's progress, or report on it, or something like that. I like that Fraser doesn't correct him; can he be learning about this, too, at this late date? As well as not overpromising people's safety?

The fact that the PA is calling for Dr. Clooney is vaguely amusing, George Clooney having become a Big Big Star as Doug Ross on ER in 1994; his last episode as a series regular had aired just two weeks before this one on February 18, 1999. 🤔 The PA also calls for Dr. Crohn, he of the eponymous disease. (I don't have anything on Dr. Robert.)

( Scene 26 )

First of all, we now know a lot more about Francesca than we did a moment ago, yowza. Secondly, who says Eloise remembers the miracle when she was five? She says they've always told her that happened, not that she remembers it herself.

( Scene 27 )

It's 1999, so if Eloise was five in 1984 she's 19 or 20 now—not 17, as Kowalski said in scene 13—which means legally she's an adult and doesn't have to stay with her folks if she doesn't want to. Not that it's easy for a young person to go out on her own, but she wouldn't even have to be emancipated, is my point. So are they lying about her age like she's an elite gymnast or something? (I guess they'd be lying about her age in the opposite direction if she were an elite gymnast.)

Anyway: Did the Barrows' stories differ slightly? I don't know, it looks to me like they told the same story slightly differently, which isn't quite the same as there having been discrepancies.

( Scene 28 )

Except for the Barrows' tone when they call Davy "that boy," this is the first acknowledgment that he and Eloise are of different races.

( Scene 29 )

I don't know why this Fraser-on-the-altar business doesn't make me even one fraction as uncomfortable as I was when he jumped up on the stage and joined the ballet, also to escape armed pursuers. Maybe it's because this type of church service is meant to be participatory (even though the kind of testifying Fraser is doing is not what Barrow normally has in mind), while the ballet is incredibly not. I'm a little surprised that everyone in the room, choir included, immediately believes Fraser rather than the preacher they've been trusting for however long they've been coming to this church. Maybe Thatcher's been whispering in people's ears at choir practice. (Even if she hasn't, I'm glad when she got religion she didn't stop being a Mountie.)

I'm not super confident about the lyrics the choir is singing between "If you're a sinner" and "You're gonna burn;" if anyone has anything clearer, I'm happy to hear about it, but these choir numbers were purpose-written for this episode so there's not a lot of detail about them available on the internet. (Another soloist is credited, Sheree Jeacocke, in addition to Camilla Scott and Dutch Robinson and Sharon Lee Williams, on this "Not One Bit" number but not the previous one about believing in miracles, but I can't tell where she comes in. There's some descanty stuff on the "gonna burn" cadence; maybe that's her.)

( Scene 30 )

The Immaculate Reception was a "miraculous" catch of a fourth-down pass with 22 seconds left to play in the 1972 AFC divisional playoff game; a defensive (Oakland Raiders) player tackled the intended receiver (which apparently didn't count as pass interference?), and the ball bounced off his helmet (so it was still a live ball, as apparently according to the rules at the time if it had simply slipped out of the receiver's hands it would have counted as incomplete according to the rules at the time even before it hit the ground?). Anyway, another player on the offensive team (Pittsburgh Steelers) caught it and ran it in for a touchdown, winning the game, blah blah blah. (I believe it is often also used to describe Doug Flutie to Gerald Phelan at the end of Boston College vs. University of Miami in 1984, but I think generally what's impressive about that event was the pass rather than the catch.)

Cumulative body count: 38
Red uniform: The whole episode

Previous | Index of annotated transcripts | Next