Teleplay:  Stephen Godcheaux
Story:  Michelle Nader and Amy Cohen
Director: Andy Cadiff

Episode Length: 22:03

Guest Stars:

Rating: n/a

Rating:  TV- PG

First Broadcast: April 4, 1998

Storyline #1: Looking for God in All the Wrong Places
On the Pope's East Coast tour, he stops by briefly at City Hall to inspire his followers.  And does he ever.  But Mike doesn't buy into it.  He'd much rather lie his butt off in negotiations for transit workers, because it's so much easier.   After receiving inside information that they won't strike no matter what the negotiations, Mike hard-balls the workers and refuses to grant their requested pay increase.  Afterwards, he and Stuart reminisce about how it was so easy to lie to those folk because Mike hadn't seen the inside of a church in years.  It is at this moment that he steps in the middle of a street and is almost hit by a Groceries On Demand truck with it's initials boldly printed on the vehicle (G.O.D.)  A long-haired bearded fellow leans out and speaks in metaphors.  Mike considers it a religious experience.  He begins to question his faith as all sitcom characters must at some point.  He goes to confession and tries to confess about how he's strayed and he doesn't feel he's doing the right thing.  But he finds out that Stuart is sitting in for the priest and only wants to hear Mike confess about his sexual sins.  Later, Mike runs into the same truck driver who almost ran into him the day before and asks forgiveness for who he thinks is Jesus.  The driver, Wayne, says he only started the job because he worked for the transit authority which didn't get the pay increase.   Mike comes to grips with the fact that he got Jesus fired and decides to mend his ways.

Storyline #2: The Tortoise and the Hair-Brained
After the Pope's visit, The Mayor senses a religious revival.  He tries to wear a 3 foot cross and goes around acting as everyone's religious counselor.  And that's good news for Paul, who just lost his turtle.  Paul puts City Hall on alert to be looking for Frank, that beloved shelled creature.  With a stroke of divine intervention, The Mayor finds Frank, delivers him to Paul, and feels awakened at his new calling:  Miracle Worker.

Storyline #3:  Rejection
At this point, Nikki is willing to go out with just about anybody.  Here, she stoops to going out with one of Carter's old buddies.  Nikki seems to think they hit it off well, but the next day brings an interesting surprise.  Seems Carter's friend can't stand Nikki and is now holding Carter responsible for having a miserable evening.   Nikki spends the rest of the episode trying to figure out what makes her so unappealing while Stacy does the honors of going out with Daniel and appearing to be just what he ordered, which confounds Nikki even more.

Review: Pope of Gracie Mansion

Overall, a holy mess of an episode.  Yes, it was funny.  Yes, we got character development.  Yes, most of the actors got some good work in.  But religion is too much of a topic to merely glance over in one episode.  Even Mike admitted that the issue is layered when he urged The Mayor to not bandy about his conversion, since it could turn off some voters.  The subject is impossible to merely gloss over.

Granted, taking a real stand on religion threatens to alienate a lot of the audience.   And there are more potential alienated viewers if you take a stand that they would disagree with.  But if you're going to bring up the subject, you need to bring it to a logical conclusion.

Not that I want to complain too much.  These past two weeks have certainly upped the political content of the show that has been almost absent since the first season.   And I'm all for that.  And when you've got to fit in 23 minutes worth of laughs a week, sometimes the little things get squeezed out.  But let's not forget the original premise of the show.

Even though I thought the show's tone wasn't drawn out enough, what was there was pretty good.  Mike's Christ analogy worked and The Mayor's miracle complex, while somewhat confusing, led to a couple of pretty good scenes.  Plus, Stuart as a confessional priest is priceless.

The Nikki-Carter-Daniel plot was just another in a line of stories to prove Nikki is romantically inept.  And that's about all that needs to be said.

Glad they're bringing back the public opinion story lines.  I just wish they'd focus the stories a bit more.  And while Paul and animals usually would make an episode pure gold, here it's just ok.

Rating [5 pt. scale]: 3.5

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