4A
The Seven Angels Television Network (7CTN) was, like DuMont, a
short-lived fourth American television network. It was launched
in 1960 by the US branch of the Rome-based NGO Sodales
Exemplaris Divini ("Angel Academy") with financial support from
their commercial arm, Société Générale des Matériaux (SGM),
better known outside the Francophone world as General Materials,
or GenMat. It focused on educational programming, both religious
and secular, but unlike NET (National Educational Television,
which was sponsored by the Ford Foundation) 7CTN leaned more
into entertainment to make their shows more appealing.
𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺, was shot on 35mm film and survived for decades
in syndicated reruns. In the early part of the 21st Century the
series was collected by very appreciative fans in a DVD box
set. The high production values (shooting on 35mm film was
incredibly expensive in the 1960s) allowed the series to survive
beautifully for future DVD restoration.
𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 aired on alternating Thursday nights at 8 pm. It
was followed in the 7CTN lineup by 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢! starring Father
Charles Kendall, a neo-Thomist Catholic priest, alongside a
well-meaning but frequently errant altar boy known only as
"Credo." Unlike 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺, the program used live television
cameras and was performed weekly before a studio audience.
Unfortunately Father Chuck's show fared less well than 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭
𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 over the decades; only twenty-six kine-scopes are known
to survive.
𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢! episodes frequently opened with a discussion of the
𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 episode that preceded, with Fr. Kendall taking
pains to correct the liberties he believed the series took
with accepted Christian doctrine.
4B
More commonly, however, Fr. Kendall concerned himself with reconciling reason and faith, and questions of morality, against what he perceived to be the secularist onslaught of the times. Though structured as a brisk but reverent on-camera daily Mass for the studio audience, the program was also noted for its humor. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢! proved popular with Catholic and non-Catholic viewers alike, and many converts to the Church cited this program as an influence. Father Kendall watched Angel Academy on a monitor in the green room right before walking onto his live set. He usually began his broadcast genuinely flabbergasted by what he just watched. "Now, my friends, while our sponsors at General Materials produce a most engaging half-hour, we must remember that an angel is pure immaterial intellect! An angel does not reach his hand into a velvet bag to retrieve a chilled glass of pinot noir through the curvature of space-time." 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 was shot like a film. The show employed a single camera setup, rather than the multi-camera production technique popularized by 𝘐 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘓𝘶𝘤𝘺. Episodes were not filmed before a live audience nor did they employ canned laughter. 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 was certainly hilarious at times, to be sure, but the producers had a high opinion of the audience and felt their laughter should be earned rather than prompted. In the early going General Materials was the sole sponsor for 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺, with commercials for products such as the Stargazer television set, which “𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 ... 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥!” Titan-Glass was a scratch-resistant, lead-infused glass used for coffee tables and shelving: "𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯." Gen-Lustre was a specialized cleaning solution designed specifically for the delicate screens of Stargazer televisions and the high-gloss cabinets of GenMat stereos. "𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴."
4C
The pilot episode introduced Sar Lailah, daughter of Kar Melchizedek and his wife Ma'or, who became queen of Shalem in exile when her father the king was slain during the siege of that great city. She fled by sea with Uriel and their son Yishak. Lailah was born to one of the nephiloth, the kindred of the Made, long thought barren, after Avyah amended the broken works of Azul. When Davar came into existence, the first halo became possible. At will Lailah could wrap herself in a bubble wherein her weight was nought, and her black feathered wings (for the len had heretofore borne them merely as tokens of their being) became fit for true flight. Mother of all the Begotten, tall beyond most men, Lailah is ever clad as a warrior in red leather and much brass. Uriel fondly called his wife "Sarah". She commands the Gavrielim, the military choir of the Sarim, to this day. Avram son of Terah (Abram, or Abraham) freely consented to enter into hypostatic union with Ayot, forming a new composite being with the name of Uriel. And Uriel was capable of manipulating light that came directly from Ayot's true body that was the heart of Sol. He became the first teacher of Angel Academy, a wise reformer who taught the imitation of God and accompanied his sermons with "slides" that could be viewed from any angle. These images were best viewed in the dark, and the most memorable of Uriel's sermons is recorded in the Song of Remembrance as the Eventide Discourse. As he spoke, the images he summoned, of ponderous beasts, and burning buildings, and clusters of priests with hearts of flint, began to decay and grow indistinct, like an afterimage burned upon one's eye. The most memorable image he saved for the conclusion of the sermon, the stars of Earth's night sky, a sight unimaginable to the people of Kemen, who lived in a hollow world where the land in any one place was the sky in another place.
4D
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Angel Academy season 1 episode 1, September 1, 1960: | | | | [COLD OPEN EXT. CHARRED GROUND - DAY] Embers glow red across | | the scorched ground, smoking beneath the massive bulk of the | | HUSK OF AYOT, a white cluster of seven cylinders. The taller | | central structure rests heavily on six squat gimbaled | | thrusters. A hatch drops open on the underside. SAR LAILAH | | drops to the ashen ground. Her attendant, BODEA, hands down | | heavy canvas bags of comestibles and a light, narrow | | WATERCRAFT. Bodea leaps down to join her. | | | | LAILAH | | We need to get much further away. You | | are valiant, Bodea, but I doubt you | | should wish to be burned. | | | | Bodea nods. Grabbing the ropes, the two Shalemites drag the | | watercraft and their supplies away from the ship. | | | | [EXT. LAKE EDGE - CONTINUOUS] They reach the lapping water | | of a dark lake. Behind them, a deafening ROAR shatters the | | silence. The Husk's six motors ignite, bathing the jan and | | wan in a harsh orange light. Piloted by the unseen Ayot, the | | colossal vessel slowly lifts into the night sky, leaving | | Lailah and Bodea alone in its fiery wake. [FADE OUT] | | | | [Director's Note: Because there is only one line of | | dialogue, the actors and the camera do the heavy lifting | | here. The physical strain of dragging the watercraft and | | lingering shots of the glowing embers will naturally stretch | | the opening scene to the 90-second target without feeling | | rushed] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4E
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | [ACT I EXT. BLUE VEIL FALLS - DAY (MONTAGE) SERIES OF SHOTS] | | Location shooting captures the treacherous journey. Lailah | | and Bodea abandon a battered raft at the roaring lip of BLUE | | VEIL FALLS. Below the cataract, they fashion a new raft | | from dark timber. They plunge through violent, white-water | | rapids. The river calms, carrying them into a stark, stony | | desert. Ponderous, ox-like beasts graze the banks. Local | | farmers stare in silent awe as the raft drifts past. | | | | LAILAH (V.O.) (Measured, regal) | | From the roaring of Blue Veil Falls, | | and running the unrunnable rapids, we | | were borne into the deserts of Kemen. | | We sought that which Ayot commanded the | | House of my father to seek, yet we | | found only withering heat. | | | | [CC: EXT. KEMEN DESERT - DAY (MONTAGE)] The sun beats down | | relentlessly. Lailah and Bodea sit on the raft, exhausted, | | wiping sweat from their brows. | | | | LAILAH (V.O. begins when they arrive pier side and depart | | their raft) | | For a full season we sojourned in the | | city of Sessai. Thence overland unto | | Murzi Bog, and the war-torn Isle of | | Danya. We took ship to Medon. Yet in all | | these lands, no answer was found. | | | | [EXT. TANNEDI MARKET - DAY] The montage ends. We fade in on | | a bustling, crowded marketplace. Stalls overflow with green | | produce and vibrant silks. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4F
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | [TANNEDI MARKET - (CONT'D)] Lailah and Bodea, cloaked and | | weary, walk the narrow, dusty thoroughfare. The heat is | | visible, shimmering in the air. Bodea stops, leaning against | | a stone archway, fanning herself. | | | | BODEA | | I realized something today, Your | | Highness. I was born and dwell in what | | the humans of Earth call the "hot place" | | where the land wraps around to become | | the sky, and the sun is really a lake of | | fire the size of a province. But even | | so, this must be the hottest place in | | the hot place. | | | | Lailah stops, her posture remaining rigidly upright despite | | the oppressive heat. | | | | LAILAH | | Bodea, I have taken unto myself a | | certain philosophy of necessity. If the | | weather of Kemen cannot be altered, then | | there is no wisdom in lamentation. | | | | Lailah pauses, wiping a bead of sweat from her neck. | | | | LAILAH (CONT'D) | | Nevertheless, this brings me little | | comfort. Nor yet ease. They resume | | walking, navigating through the throng | | of merchants. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4G
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | BODEA | | Sessai, Murzi Bog, Danya, Medon... and | | now Tannedi. Are we chasing a phantom, | | Princess? | | | | LAILAH | | We are chasing Ayot’s charge. You | | know her command to my father king of | | Shalem: We seek a man that feels himself | | estranged within this world, as though | | it were but a shadow or a figment, for | | in truth so it is. He must hunger for | | another world which is the true source | | of all that is here perceived. Until | | such a man is found, our journey does | | not end. | | | | Bodea sighs, stepping aside to let a merchant pass. | | | | BODEA | | Yet I wonder, where on the Gudrun Road | | does one find a worshipful infidel? | | | | Suddenly, a SHOUT rings out over the din of the market. | | Lailah and Bodea both turn. Precisely where the road divides | | lies a rather large shop filled with stone idols and objects | | associated with worship. Within the shop TWO MEN are locked | | in a loud, bitter dispute. The older one is dressed in a | | merchant man's finery. The younger appears a bit ragged, and | | dusty from the field, but he is fiercely defiant. Lailah | | narrows her eyes, stepping closer to the shop to listen. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4H
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | FADE OUT. (End of Act I) | | | | [The travel montage will eat up about three to four | | minutes of highly visual storytelling, backed by music. The | | discussion of the heat and the quest will take about three | | minutes of measured, deliberate acting, leaving a solid one | | minute buffer for the argument to escalate before cutting to | | the sponsor. Act II will be our longest block (8:30 | | runtime). This act must hook the audience immediately after | | the GenMat commercial break.] | | | | INT. TERAH'S SHOP - CONTINUOUS We follow the shouting into a | | small, dimly lit shop off the market. Racks of wooden idols | | and totems cover the walls. TERAH (60s, shop owner) stands | | behind a worktable, chisel in hand. His son, AVRAM (30s, | | nomadic garb), paces fiercely before him. | | | | AVRAM | | Father, thou cuttest down the cedars | | which Ayot planted! Avyah sent rain to | | water them. Imran made the Lake of Fire | | to shine upon them. | | | | Avram grabs a scrap of wood from the floor, holding it up. | | | | AVRAM (CONT'D) | | Thou growest cold, and with a portion of | | thy firewood thou raisest a blaze to | | warm thyself and bake thy bread. Yet | | with the remainder, thou carv’st an | | image of the dragon, and bowest thyself | | before it! Azul! | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4I
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Avram slams the wood onto the table. | | | | AVRAM (CONT'D) | | Thou givest adoration unto the one god | | who had no part in the provision of the | | wood itself! Why Azul? Because he is | | thy god. And wherefore is he thy god? | | Because he was the god of thy father | | Karnebo. So praise be unto Azul, and | | contempt upon the others! | | | | Avram drops to one knee, mocking Terah’s posture of prayer. | | | | AVRAM (CONT'D) | | Thou bowest thyself before this image | | and criest, 'Azul, deliver me from this | | cold season.' Yet it entereth not into | | thy mind that this deaf and dumb block, | | which thine own hands have carved, is a | | vain thing. Terah sets his chisel down | | and points to a small carving on a | | shelf. | | | | TERAH | | Behold there the image of Amathlai. | | Thinkest thou that I take it to be truly | | thy mother? These images do no more than | | direct the heart and mind along paths of | | devotion. | | | | Avram holds his peace, answering not a word. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4J
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | The chime of the shop door interrupts them. LAILAH and BODEA | | enter. Father and son fall into a tense silence as the | | strangers slowly walk the perimeter of the room, examining | | the racks of idols. After a full circuit, Bodea draws forth | | a heavy satchel. Slowly she begins to lay forth gold tiles, | | a fortune set openly for the street to see. Terah and Avram | | stare in shock. Within moments, shadows darken the doorway. | | | | FIVE MEN OF VIOLENCE cross the threshold, drawing swords. | | | | LEADER | | Stand away from the gold, both of you, | | and depart quickly. | | | | Lailah turns to face them, her posture perfectly calm. | | | | LAILAH | | Suppose we do not? With a sudden, | | mechanical shift, Lailah’s cloak falls | | away. BLACK-FEATHERED WINGS unfurl from | | her back, stretching across the cramped | | shop. The thieves flinch, but the Leader | | grips his sword tighter. | | | | LEADER | | Then we will take thy heads, and have | | the gold also. Immortal thou mayest | | account thyself, yet if thy head be | | severed, thou shalt die even as any wan. | | | | Lailah's eyes narrow. From her side, draws her weapon: | | Sha'ar ha-Ruah, the Windgate. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4K
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | [DIRECTOR'S VFX NOTE: The weapon is a burning torch, but via | | high-contrast optical printing, the flame is held out as a | | matte. The result is a roaring, absolute BLACK FLAME that | | seems to consume the dust and light around it.] | | | | Lailah thrusts the black flame forward. She smites the | | Leader once. A wide aperture is carved completely through | | the midst of his body. He collapses as the camera dollies | | closely on Lailah, leaving the worst of the carnage unseen. | | But even she looks momentarily astonied at the uncontained | | power of the weapon. | | | | A SECOND MAN lunges. Lailah sweeps the Windgate down upon | | his head, and again the camera tracks away judiciously, | | leaving only the collapse of his lifeless body to be seen. | | | | A THIRD MAN strikes, his blade meeting the black fire. The | | flame consumes his sword down to the hilt, eating the metal | | as though accepting it into its own substance. The thief | | stares at his empty hilt in terror. He drops it, turns, and | | flees into the market. The remaining two thieves follow, | | scattering into the crowd. | | | | Lailah lowers Sha'ar ha-Ruach, the black flame still licking | | noisily at the air. Lailah does not pursue them. Instead she | | turns her gaze back to Avram. The hissing black ball of | | flame dissipates. The bodies of the two thieves lie in the | | shop, motionless. | | | | FADE OUT. (End of Act II) | | | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4L
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Act III. BODEA steps carefully around the carnage, and her | | expression is unreadable. | | | | BODEA | | Last year in Shalem, the order of things | | was reversed somewhat; for we were they | | that overawed the customers, and took | | unto ourselves their gold. | | | | Lailah allows her black wings to fold away beneath her cloak | | (spring-loaded props, filmed in reverse). | | | | LAILAH | | I think I made common cause with the | | Fallen Angels only that I might draw the | | attention of my father. For he seemed | | much preoccupied at the time. | | | | BODEA | | Then verily the design hath succeeded. | | For His Majesty hath taken notice, and | | behold, here are we both. | | | | TERAH, trembling uncontrollably, collapses to his knees. He | | presses his face to the floor, believing he is in the | | presence of two of his carved demigods made flesh. AVRAM | | remains standing. He looks down at his groveling father, his | | face twisting into a countenance of disappointment. He even | | steps a bit closer to Lailah, despite having seen what she | | could do, offering no fearful obeisance. Sar Lailah watches | | him. Avram's defiance all by itself confirms his worth | | beyond all doubt. She nods to the Hashmal Bodea. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4M
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | BODEA (Regal, echoing) | | In the name of El Elyon, God Most High, | | Lord of Heaven and Earth, I bid thee go | | forth from thy father’s kin, and dwell | | in the other world. Upon Earth shall | | God make of thee a great nation, and | | multiply thy bounty beyond all measure. | | Thy name shall become great among men. | | | | And Lailah took up the second portion of the recitation. | | | | LAILAH | | God shall bless them that bless thee, | | and curse them that curse thee. Mortal | | men and women in every place and in | | time yet to come shall receive great | | blessings through thee. These are the | | words of the Lord of all the Earth. | | | | Lailah stops within arms reach of Avram. | | | | LAILAH (CONT'D) | | What sayest thou unto all these things, | | Avram son of Terah? Avram looks directly | | into the searching dark eyes of the | | princess. He does not blink. | | | | AVRAM (Firmly) | | Nay. | | | | And a heavy silence fills the shop. It takes a long moment | | for the sheer audacity of the word to register with Lailah. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4N
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | LAILAH | | Knowest thou who I am? | | | | AVRAM | | Thy face is known unto many, Your | | Highness. Though my father, I think, | | hath never beheld the daughter of Kar | | Melchizedek. | | | | LAILAH | | Well spoken, Avram. Traveling with me is | | Hash Bodea. Together we have crossed the | | breadth of Kemen, over land and water, | | and even through the air, seeking such a | | man as thou art. Thus was I commanded by | | my father, for God Most High spake unto | | the king face to face. | | | | Avram nods respectfully. He reaches down, taking Terah by | | the arms, and gently lifts his trembling father to his feet. | | | | AVRAM | | I admire thy desire to do well in the | | eyes of thy father, Princess. And I wish | | thee well therein. But my own father is | | infirm of body. He earneth not enough to | | sustain himself and my mother. | | | | Avram makes a brief hand signal toward the street. | | | | | | | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4O
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | AVRAM (CONT'D) | | As I love mine own life, I can in nowise | | turn aside from my father for all the | | days that he is a wayfarer in Kemen. | | | | A SERVANT enters the shop, leading TWO LIVING LAMBS. | | | | AVRAM (CONT'D) (To Terah) | | One for slaughter and meat. The other | | for sale, that thou might purchase the | | necessities of life until the next | | season, when I come up from the open | | range. | | | Terah, still shaken, accepts the leads. | | | | TERAH (Whispering) | | Thank you, my son. | | | | Lailah nods in full understanding. She gestures to Bodea, | | and the two travelers from Shalem begin to restow the tiles | | of gold into their leather purses. Lailah refuses to speak | | another word of persuasion, taking great care not to tread | | upon the fortress of human dignity Avram has asserted. | | With the gold packed, Lailah and Bodea exit the shop, | | disappearing into the dusty throng of the Tannedi market. | | | | EXT. TANNEDI MARKET - CONTINUOUS The camera pulls high above | | the bustling market, leaving Avram and Terah behind. | | | | | | | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4P
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | LAILAH (V.O.) | | I left him there in the heat of Kemen. | | And in all my journeys across the length | | and breadth of that world, I found no | | man at all who was remotely like unto | | Avram. | | | | FADE OUT | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ Soon the producers of 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 paid tribute to Fr. Kendall by having the show's characters use “Maranatha!” (Aramaic for “Come, O Lord!”) as a generic interjection or even a mild expletive. Together, 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 and 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢! formed an informal Catholic Hour on 7ATN, although Father Kendall's show frequently ran a little long. The 7ATN studios would scramble to find content of the appropriate length, educational short films perhaps, or time-lapse nature films, even old newsreels, any- thing to fill the interval until 9:30 PM. In 1964, Pope Paul VI honored Fr. Kendall with the title of monsignor. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also had mixed feelings over 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺. Enoch, Elijah, and John the Baptizer appeared on the series from time to time as glorified men, which comported well with Latter-day Saint doctrine. The angel Moroni was also depicted as a respected professor of North American indigenous studies at Migdalel College on the Great Plains. However, Latter-day Saints identified Gabriel as Noah, and while the glass of wine in Gabriela's hand was scripturally Noahide, many LDS felt the depiction of Gabriel as female was a poor choice, and having her blow horizontal smoke rings that drifted over people's heads as “halos,” despite the clever but obvious animation, was considered much too much.
4Q
Much of the comedy on 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 stemmed from subverted expectations. Audiences tuned in to see a celestial hierarchy of glory, and what they got instead was bureaucratic bumbling where the angels kept stepping on their own wings. Mikaela, the dean of the Academy, was a female angel (Fr. Kendall didn't much like that). Some angels were married to each other, or even to baseline human beings. The demons seemed to be charming, witty politicians rather than malevolent agents of damnation. They were called "the loyal opposition," or "the Powers of the Air," and were treated as a rival political party trying to filibuster and outmaneuver the Academy. Father Kendall said, "My friends, last night's broadcast... I simply do not know where to begin. Our beloved St. Michael running a celestial faculty meeting as a stern headmistress? St. Thomas Aquinas would have had a fit! But much worse was the depiction of Remiel marrying a young fellow from Nebraska!" (He sighs, flipping open a heavy Bible on his lectern) "On the contrary, it is written in the Gospel according to St. Luke, chapter twenty, verse thirty-five! 'They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world... neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels.' Equal, my friends! Not dating! Not registering for fine china at the local department store! And the smoking...!" This being the 1960s, all of the faculty at Angel Academy (except Raphael, the angel of healing, who knew better) were unapologetic smokers. It was practically a half hour cigarette commercial. Dean Mikaela smoked Dunhills, claiming they gave her a certain 𝘫𝘦 𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘰𝘪,but one time Cassiel scolded her for ashing in the Holy Grail. Modern viewers watching the DVDs from the collectible box set find the incessant smoking unintentionally hilarious.
4R
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 season 1 episode 1, September 15, 1960: | | Dean Mikaela sits behind her desk looking impeccably poised. | | She reaches into her drawer, pulls out a fresh Dunhill, and | | taps it on her desk. With her other hand, she casually draws | | her glowing, white-hot flaming sword from beneath the | | desk, holds the tip to her cigarette, inhales deeply, and | | sheathes the weapon. Exhaling a perfect smoke ring, she | | says, "Metatron is on his way downstairs right now for | | his usual periodic re-certification of Migdalel College." | | | | Gabriela sits across from her, frantically sorting through | | folders. She is visibly stressed and reaches blindly for a | | red-and-white can of Coca-Cola sitting on the edge of the | | desk. Gabriela brings the can to her lips and takes a hearty | | gulp. She chokes, sputtering and coughing. In the corner of | | the office, Dumah, the Angel of Silence, stands perfectly | | still, leaning against a filing cabinet, a smoldering cigar | | dangling from his lips. He looks at the Coke can. She looks | | at his cigar. Dumah offers Gabriela a small apologetic wave. | | | | Metatron arrived in Havilah to perform his periodic | | re-certification of Migdalel College, but he displayed | | a deep-seated contempt for ishim, worsened by secondary | | students who repeatedly interrupted him at inconvenient | | moments. He threatened to revoke the Academy’s | | accreditation. Mikaela, seeking leverage, attempted to | | uncover information that might compel Metatron to relent. | | | | Cassiel, who became the Scribe of God after Metatron's | | elevation, revealed to the Dean that Metatron was not a | | descendant of Sar Lailah as he claimed to be, but rather a | | draftee who had once been very human himself. Metatron was | | really the mysterious man named Enoch in Genesis 5. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4S
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Armed with this knowledge, Mikaela found Metatron in | | Havilah eating a sabich pita from an Assyrian Christian | | street vendor, his first such meal since his promotion. | | Mikaela threatened to reveal the truth of his origins, and | | his deception, to Tea Spiller. Metatron renewed Migdalel | | College’s accreditation and withdrew from Havilah, at | | least for the time being. | | | | When Mikaela confronts Metatron (Enoch) in the alleyway in | | Havilah, the mention of Tea Spiller's name is what makes him | | choke on his sabich. | | | | MIKAELA: (Leaning against the damp brick wall, exhaling | | Dunhill smoke) "It would be such a shame if Dory happened to | | route some... ancillary information during the morning | | faculty check-in tomorrow." | | | | METATRON: (Frozen, his pita halfway to his mouth) "You | | wouldn't." | | | | MIKAELA: "You know how she is. Her mind is a bit sieve-like | | when she's routing high-volume traffic. One moment she's | | connecting Gabriela to the logistics office, and the next, | | everyone in the Tri-State area knows that the great, | | snobbish Auditor of God used to go by 'Enoch' and has tahini | | dripping down his pristine linen cuffs." | | | | METATRON: (Pale, swallowing hard) "Rashiel is a cosmic | | menace. She commits spukhafte Fernwirkung on a daily basis." | | | | MIKAELA: "She calls it community service, Enoch. Now... | | stamp the accreditation." | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4T
Fr. Kendall is pacing the studio stage, his Roman collar crooked, clutching a copy of the Old Testament. "My friends... I am a priest of Holy Mother Church, not an ombudsman for the Writers' Guild, but tonight's Angel Academy has pushed me into deep spiritual waters!" He turns directly to live Camera 2. "Metatron! A figure from Jewish mystical tradition, depicted tonight as an insufferable university auditor threatening to yank the accreditation of a college! And his great crime? His dark, scandalous secret? That he was once the biblical patriarch Enoch!" He throws his hands up in bewilderment. "Genesis chapter five, verse twenty-four: 'And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.' It is right there in the text! This is not blackmail material! This is scripture! Why would an angel be ashamed of being human? Our Blessed Lord took on human flesh! Why on earth would Enoch be slinking around the alleys of Havilah eating an eggplant sandwich in terror of someone called 'Tea Spiller'?! Credo, what in heaven's name is a Tea Spiller'? Is that what you call the altar boys who drop the water cruets during the Offertory? Maranatha, my friends, just... Maranatha." Softening his tone somewhat, Father Charles Kendall welcomed Angel Academy to the 7ATN schedule, praising its wit and imagination while cautioning viewers the show seemed too willing to sacrifice theological precision for comedy. Referring to the Metatron episode, he smiled and remarked, "The Angelic Doctor assures us Enoch was translated into the earthly paradise, where he lives with Elijah until the coming of Antichrist.
4U
"We are not to believe he pines away for Mediterranean cuisine served up from a Nebraska food cart. But I must remind the writers that Maranatha, or 'Come, O Lord,' is an earnest prayer for the Second Coming, not an exclamation to be uttered upon accidentally drinking cigarette ash." The studio audience tittered at the pointed rebuke. Beside him, Credo waved a thurible beneath his nose to savor the incense. The glowing coals suddenly flared with inexplicable vigor until he became, in miniature, the Pillar of Smoke by Day, and the tittering gave way to uproarious laughter. +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘈𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘺 Season 1 Episode 3, October 6, 1960: | | In 1870 a railroad spur finally penetrates the ring of hills | | enveloping Havilah, curving on a narrow shelf along the | | river in a self-merging terminal loop. To the confusion of | | the gaping Stiffnecks, Havilah's first train is not a | | soot-belching steamer but a sleek bullet express with | | self-leveling, banking cars. It arrives on no discernible | | schedule, with only its wheels making any sound, debouching | | passengers attending the Last Rite for a man whose | | grandfather isn't even born yet. | | | | Mikaela mutters, "Tsk tsk." | | | | Cassiel asks her, "What do you think, Mikki? Twenty-one or | | Twenty-two?" | | | | Mikaela takes a long look and finally pronounces, | | "Definitely early-mid Twenty-first," inaugurating Pin the | | Decade on the Locomotive, a spectator sport unique to | | Havilah. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4V
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | The conductor is one of the deathless Nephiloth. Her | | featherless bat-wings lie folded under a high-visibility | | vest, ticket punch in her hand, ready to demand fare from | | departing passengers. Mikaela asks, "Why have you now come, | | Charen?" | | | | She replies, "I would speak to the Manager." | | | | Well up the timeline Charen had discovered a terrified | | Victorian gentleman hiding among crates. | | | | "Please don't kill me." He says the train wasn't on any | | timetable. He was curious and climbed aboard. He saw cars, | | electric lights, radio, even television. The poor man | | gradually realized he could never go home. Everyone he knows | | is dead. | | | | But the Academy offers options. As Mikaela negotiates with | | Charen for the man's release he asks one final question. | | "Does any of this matter?" Meaning the train. The Academy. | | The future. All of it. | | | | Mikaela smiles. "Enough that we came looking for you." | | | | Intreated, Charen permits him to exit the train, certain | | nobody will ever believe him. | | | | Twenty years later the old man is telling the story again. | | "...and a talking box that showed pictures." Nobody believes | | a word. The Academy's cover remains intact. Mostly. | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
4W
Father Kendall stands at his pulpit, looking thoroughly delighted, holding a toy wooden train engine in one hand. "My friends... tonight, the writers of Angel Academy took us to the railroad tracks, and they showed us one of the most poignant episodes of television I have ever witnessed" He sets the toy engine down gently. "A sleek, silent bullet train arriving in 1870 Havilah! No steam, no smoke, just a silver lightning bolt from the twenty-first century! And the angels standing on the platform playing 'Pin the Decade on the Locomotive'!" He chuckles, shaking his head. "Leave it to Dean Mikaela to treat an impossible rupture in the space-time continuum as a casual spectator sport!" His expression becomes quiet and deeply reverent. "But the heart of the story...that poor Victorian gentleman, Arthur. He climbed aboard an unscheduled train out of idle curiosity, and he found himself carried into a future where everyone he loved had turned to dust. And he asks the great, aching question that haunts every human heart: 'Does any of this matter?' Does our little corner of time matter? Do our small lives, our fleeting joys, our dusty towns have any meaning in the vast, overwhelming machinery of history? And Mikaela's answer... oh, my friends, it was sublime! 'Enough that we came looking for you.' Is that not the entire Gospel? The shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine in the fold to walk into the wilderness for the single lost sheep? You and I might feel insignificant. We might look at the marching centuries and feel like an accidental stowaway on a train we do not understand.
4X
But the Lord of History knows your carriage, He knows your seat, and He will cross the timeline to bring you home!"
Terminal Cruise 