"Only Connect"—Episode
1
Joan goes back to high school after
a summer of therapy, designed to help her recover from the "hallucinations" supposedly
caused by Lyme disease. God confronts Joan and tells her that
she was never crazy and that God was real all long.
"Out of Sight"—Episode
2
One of Joan's summer camp friends, Judith, ends up at Arcadia
High encouraging Joan to cut loose and party more. When Judith
is carried off to the hospital after drinking herself unconscious,
Joan wonders where it all went wrong.
"Back to the Garden"—Episode
3
In a physics experiment on actions and
consequences, Joan plants a community garden in the smoking
section at her school—to
see if it will live. The smokers ridicule her efforts, but
the garden manages to grow.
"The Cat"—Episode 4
God asks Joan to adopt a feral cat. After Joan's visiting
Aunt Olive has a debilitating stroke, Helen takes Olive
in and makes
Joan get rid of the caged cat.
"The Election"—Episode
5
God instructs Joan to get involved
in the political process at Arcadia High School. When the
campaign gets dirty
for Joan's "brainy" candidate,
she declares it's time to throw some dirt back at the
popular jock candidate.
"Wealth of Nations"—Episode
6
Joan seeks to multiply donations for
homeless people by selling "the
good stuff" at thrift shops and buying even more coats for
the needy. She and her friend Judith end up skimming off the
top. They upset a donor, who finds the coat he gave away—not
on a homeless person—but on Joan's mom, Helen,
who unknowingly purchased it at a thrift shop.
"P.O.V."—Episode 7
God nudges Joan into making a video documentary of her life
for public television.
"Friday Night"—Episode
8
Joan loses her best friend Judith and struggles with her
anger and disappointment at God.
"No Future"—Episode 9
The Girardi family is experiencing great pain as each person
thinks about the day of Kevin's accident.
"The Book of Questions"—Episode
10
God tells Joan to help Grace with her bat mitzvah. At first
Grace is not interested in help. While shopping with
Grace, Joan meets
Grace's mother, who she later learns is an alcoholic.
"Dive"—Episode 11
God wants Joan to stretch herself by doing something that
scares her.
"Game Theory"—Episode
12
In the ongoing story of Helen's confirmation in the Catholic
faith, Helen and Will are at different points on their
spiritual journeys, a situation that Helen finds divisive.
"Queen of the Zombies"—Episode
13
Joan gets a chorus role in the school musical per God's request
and is elated when Adam agrees to design and build
the play's elaborate sets.
"The Rise and Fall of Joan Girardi"—Episode
14
After Joan saves a fellow student's
life, she becomes uncomfortable when that formerly mean-spirited
student—and most of the
rest of Arcadia—embraces her as a hero.
"Romancing the Joan"—Episode
15
God tells Joan to take on an extra-credit assignment to analyze
a poem by one of the Romantic poets. This causes Joan
to think seriously about her relationship with Adam.
"Independence Day"—Episode
16
After Joan has a conversation with God about free will, she
decides to use it as a rationale for lying to her
mother in order to
go on an overnight trip with Adam that her parents
had forbidden.
"Shadows and Light"—Episode
17
Joan discovers the paradox of spiritual enlightenment is
that many times this positive light triggers a painful
time of adjustment.
"Secret Service"—Episode
18
Joan learns that even simple actions
have "ripples" that
change the course of history.
"Trial and Error"—Episode
19
Joan learns by "trial and error" that
both guilt and innocence are painful states.
"Spring Cleaning"—Episode
20
Joan spends considerable time with
God discussing the virtues of cleaning up the messes in our
life—especially
those messes we don't want to look at.
"Common Thread"—Episode
21
Joan learns that we are not just individuals, but individuals-in-community,
inter-dependent on one another.
"Something Wicked This Way Comes"— Episode
22
Joan faces a disturbing force outside
herself—a spiritual
adversary. |
