The Letter has some nice Maggie (Janine Turner) stuff. It was written by Meredith Stiehm and debuted on 10 October, 1994.

A letter she wrote at fifteen is finally opened, and she finds herself haunted (literally) by her past, and the life choices she thought she would have versus what she does have. There are some great moments as Janine evaluates her life through the eyes of her younger self.

Shelly (Cynthia Geary) gets some mail as well, a chain letter! and then regrets not passing it on when things start going wrong in her and Holling’s (John Cullum) life. Will she be able to break the curse of the letter? or is it all her?

There’s a new barber, Angelo (Bill Cobbs!) is settling into town, and finds himself at odds with Chris (John Corbett). Honestly, he finds himself at odds with most people, he’s a little brusque and set in his ways. He’s a professional, but not the most congenial of people, but he’s really got it out for Chris. Can they sort themselves out?

And Joel (Rob Morrow) who discovers a head bump during his haircut fears it could be malignant borrows Chris’ bike to go joyriding. Much like everyone else in this episode he finds himself reevaluating his life, his choices, and where everything goes from her, and how each day is a gift.

I love the stuff with Maggie, it’s wonderfully done, and makes one wonder what one’s younger self would say if they got to meet their future self. Things aren’t always played out the way you think they way as a teen, but it can help invigorate one to do something more…

Like Maggie running for mayor!

The Robe was written by Sam Egan and first aired on 17 October, 1994.

Joel is about to run a clinical trial using placebos, but Ed (Darren E. Burrows) accidentally mixes them up, following an encounter with Bartholomew the cat. That’s going to be a problem for the trial, and things are exacerbated for Joel when Maurice (Barry Corbin) bullies him to find out what is in the medication.

Shelly has some big plans for The Brick, and Cicely, she’s thinking maybe they need a casino, and finds herself aided by the Devil himself! Satan, or Roger Brewster (Charles Martin Smith) has come to town with his pet goat. After mangling a pass on Shelly, he offers her the possibility of pursuing her ultimate fantasy – Alaska makes gambling legal, and The Brick becomes a big casino.

Shelly sees what it would all be like in a wild dream! But will she take the deal? Get the casino if she burns Holling’s robe.

This makes for a very enjoyable and funny narrative, and Shelly is a lot of fun throughout.

Oh, and as a weird story thread, in a weird episode (enjoyably so) is Chris and his new ventriloquist dummy. As the story grows, Chris finds himself jealous of the dummy, who is getting lots of attention. The dummy speaks from the heart, while Chris struggles with the mind and the ego, and everyone wants to hear from Esau the dummy because of it.

Shelly’s story is great, the rest could have been a little stronger, especially Chris’.