Angel's Child

First off I like angel Kelly. Her greatest episode was The Seance in S1. But all the ones they wrote her in S4 are almost as tiresome as the Kris-centric ones , if that's even possible! (That dreadful fake Southern accent from Cheryl Ladd, YUCK!!!)

As much as I like Jaclyn Smith, she was a dreadful actress. Her delivery of "Sargent, Sargent!" is pee your pants hysterical! Plus every time they give her an episode, they give her a bad haircut to match her terrible acting, LOL! Those bangs...! Was it humid in L. A. for them to not stay in place and curl every which way?

I don't know which episode is worse in S4 but it's a toss up between Caged Angel (YUCK!) Avenging Angel (Kelly: fix yo bangs, homegirl!) and this one. Don't like the performance by the Claude Atkins look-alike. As is Jaclyn copying a huge ego this season or what?! (She's even more of a b-word in Avenging Angel opposite veteran actor, Cameron Mitchell! I believe that one is even worse and more unwatchable!)

I have no idea what the other reviewers are on about, but Jaclyn Smith can't act, never could. The depth of her acting is getting through an episode thinking "Life is beautiful because I am gorgeous". That's the extent of her dreadful acting. Sometimes they gave her good clothes, most of the time she's dressed like a frump.

Really wish they'd have curbed the Kelly & Kris' showcase episodes and made it a trio with everyone getting equal time, although the Tiffany-centric episodes are really entertaining.

What were they thinking? This series was supposed to be fluff and attempting to go all "social conscience" on their audiences (or whatever you call it) simply backfired. This one's a dud. 3/10 Just skip it!

Charlie's Angels was at its best when it knew how to have fun. Angel's Child tried to tackle the serious subject matter of child abuse. It was neither a home run nor a big swing and miss. What it was for sure was an Edward J Lasko script; full of dumb criminal behavior, occasionally bad detective work, and ridiculous melodrama. At least he didn't try to slip one of his dopey songs in.

Jaclyn Smith as Kelly Garrett does pretty well here from an acting standpoint. Most episodes she's not challenged all that much, but here she goes toe to toe with Simon Oakland's Sergeant Cates.

Kelly discovers that Cates' has been beating his son and she refuses to stay quiet about it. In a incredulous development, she's given temporary custody of the boy named Greg, played by Michael Herschewe.

The subplot revolves around a trio of criminals who have it in for Sgt. Cates because he arrested an accomplice of theirs. Naturally they decide the best course of action is to kidnap Kelly and the boy in order to force Cates to release their accomplice from prison. It's a stupid plan. After they accost Kelly and the boy at her home, they decide to stay there instead of taking their hostages to a safehouse. It's another CA example of criminals compounding their own criminal behavior and drawing more intention to themselves than they would have otherwise, and it always seems to happen in an Edward J Lasko script.

A few notes; for at least the third time they reuse the same location for Kelly Garrett's house, which was great continuity.

As for the guest cast, Michael Whitney returns for a second go-round, this time playing Stone, one of the criminals. He had previously played a menacing psycho who was stalking Kris when she had lost her memory in season 3. Rick Casorla makes his third appearance playing a criminal named Burke. He previously appeared in Antique Angels in season 2, and in Pom Pom Angels playing the repressed son of an L. A. football team's female owner.

Overall this is an episode that wanted to be great, that certainly sent a strong message about child abuse, and despite Smith's strong performance, the writing and directing didn't quite measure up.