Michael J. Fox gets to really show his range in A, My Name is Alex. A special hour-long episode that was first broadcast on 12 March, 1987. It was written by Alan Uger and series creator Gary David Goldberg.

Alex (Keaton) isn’t dealing well with the death of his friend Greg (Brian McNamara). With a little bit of survivor guilt, he could have been in the car, Alex is having an issue processing everything. Hailed as one of the best episodes of the series, Alex and the series confront death head on.

Fox really shines here in a powerhouse performance, one which earned him an Emmy. The show garnered another pair of Emmy’s, one was for Outstanding Technical Direction, and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. The second-half of the episode was broadcast without a commercial break, allowing for a strong, emotional punch.

The second half of the episode is one long sequence, and sure there are cuts and camera changes, but it all looks great, and Fox’s ability to slide from emotion to emotion in his performance shows what a great actor he really is.

Alex has a discussion about religion, he tries to evaluate himself, and his family try to be supportive and assist him. When Alex begins to break, the episode shifts to a minimalist, almost impressionistic set as Alex goes to an unseen therapist (David Wohl).

It delves into all the questions we ask ourselves when we lose someone, what happens when we die, we worry about our own mortality, is there anything more.

The rest of the cast give nice supporting turns, but this is very much Fox’s episode and he owns every second of it. It’s a beautiful episode.

‘D’ is for Date was written by Susan Borowitz and first aired on 20 March, 1987.

Jennifer (Tina Yothers) is helping out her new lab partner, an athlete, Tim Higgins (Wil Wheaton!). She has a bit of a crush on him, and to make sure that he doesn’t think she’s super-smart she pretends to be dumber than she is.

Tim asks Jennifer out, but when they go out she keeps up the act. Alex is really bothered to hear his sister being so silly, and selling herself short. Mallory (Justine Bateman) gets it and defends her sister, but in the end Jennifer needs to be true to herself.

It plays out roughly for Jennifer when she begins failing classes, and Elyse (Meredith Baxter) and Steven (Michael Gross) have to put their foot down, and Jennifer needs to come to some realizations on her own.

In the b-story, Nick (Scott Valentine) comes to the Keatons for help. He hasn’t filed his income tax in five years, and he may be in serious trouble. So Steven and Alex agree to help.

It’s a light episode, and while it’s fun to see Jennifer in the limelight, she and Wheaton deserved a better story, especially coming on the tails of the previous episode.