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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ClassyCo" data-source="post: 186433" data-attributes="member: 7">I finished watching disc two of the fourth season of Charlie's Angels earlier today. Two of the four episodes featured here I've watched enough that I didn't feel the need to revisit them, while the other two I needed some definite refreshing on. Considering the fact that I'm re-watching Season Four to reexamine the treatment and evolution of Shelley Hack as Tiffany Welles, I feel these pieces I'm constructing disc-by-disc should be more Tiffany-centric than I initially intended. These episodes have Tiffany masquerading as a violinist, a nun, and a hooker. First, I'll take a moment to highlight the episodes themselves: "Angels at the Altar" (October 3, 1979): Kelly's childhood friend hires the Angels to investigate the multiple near-death experiences and attacks on her fiancee's life. "Fallen Angel" (October 10, 1979): The Angels are hired to protect a valuable diamond from infamous jewel thief and notorious stud Damion Roth (guest star Timothy Dalton). They are shocked to learn that he's being aided in his plot by Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett in the first of her three guest shots this season). "Caged Angel" (October 31, 1979): A young female inmate is shot and killed during a robbery. Kris goes undercover at the minimum security prison to find out how the girl got tangled up in such a mess, and soon walks upon trouble of her own. "Angels on the Street" (November 7, 1979): After a young music teacher is beaten up by a pimp, Kelly and Tiffany go undercover as streetwalkers, while Kris tries to get close to the girl. In the meantime, they learn this girl might not be who she says she is. I've watched "Fallen Angel" and "Angels on the Street" enough these past few years that I didn't see the necessity of revisiting them before writing this tonight. I know the plot points and the outcome, so there's nothing else I really needed any particular refreshing on. In "Fallen Angel", Tiffany is basically on the sidelines as Kris worries about Jill's involvement with jewel thief Damion Roth. There is one instance where Tiffany makes the assumption that Jill could possibly be hiding something from the rest of them, which shakes Kris and prompts her to exit the room. While this might seem minor, considering Tiffany and Jill don't know each other, it can hit a viewer sideways that's use to the close-knit bond the main characters on this show generally hold together. Jill's deliberate refusal to cooperate with Kris and Kelly come off as odd, but somehow fresh in a show that's grown increasingly formulaic. "Angels on the Street" has always struck me as one of those "Wow, that's a really good idea" episodes the producers cooked up to put the Angels in a sexy situation. Certainly, the material was probably considered a little edgy for a late 1970s cop procedural, in which the female leads were usually presented in a fashion which suited them to be role models for young ladies across the globe, but the outcome is pleasant enough. Tiffany, I must say, looks stunning in her hooker get-up. Her face isn't clowned out like poor Kelly's, and I like how they have her hold her own against a hooker who calls herself "Rose" and the pimp that goes by Freddie. Her purse-twirling street walk is cheeky, but adds a certain flair that shows a TV buff like me that Hack was at least trying to broaden this character of Tiffany, and that she was perhaps trying her hardest to find some fun in the role. As I said earlier, I had to revisit the other two episodes before I felt I needed to write this piece. Visually, albeit briefly, the episode "Caged Angel" evokes memories of Season One's "Angels in Chains". There's a bit where Kris opens her towel and has to be sprayed for lice just like Jill, Kelly, and Sabrina had to do back in the show's infancy. ("Angels in Chains" was the show's highest-rated episode ever.) Tiffany, along with Kelly and Bosley, sit the majority of this episode out because Kris' adventure here is deliberately a solo outing. After the episode's half-over, there's a need for the Angels to get information to Kris that Charlie's just given them. Their contacts aren't available, and so Tiffany and Kelly borrow some nun outfits and go into the prison as soul-saving sisters and give Kris a pamphlet laced with the information she needs to fulfill her undercover operation successfully. The last one ─ but the first one on the disc ─ is "Angels at the Altar". I remembered the least about this episode, so a re-watch here was a must for sure. Kelly's old friend needs the Angels to help her find out why all these death threats are coming against her fiancee, so they all take disguises at her wedding. Tiffany channels her inner violinist and takes a sit in the orchestra, while Kris is a waitress and Bosley minds the bar. The peach-colored dress that Tiffany wears to the wedding is beautiful, and she looks stunning in it. We learn in this episode that Tiffany is a skilled violinist, but not much else. In watching these episodes, I still don't have a clear shot as to what the writers, producers, directors, what have you, want to do with Tiffany. She's beautiful and she wears clothes beautifully, but her execution and usage is sparse. In some cases, it seems they want to push her to the forefront and make her the new "leader," but at the same time, she's held back to make room for the other Angels, especially Kelly, although I've always found the Kelly-centered episodes a bore for the most part. But hey, Jaclyn Smith had stuck with the show for four years and I'm sure the producers didn't mind catering to her a little here and there. When considering the size of her role in these episodes, Tiffany doesn't have a crowning achievement on this disc. I'd argue her best work this go-around comes in "Angels on the Street". Her sharp-tongued comebacks and blank stares to the antagonists are pretty effective, and like I said, she looks nice in her hooker outfit. I'm enjoying re-watching these shows. Maybe I'll have a complete change of heart for Shelley Hack in revisiting her episodes. [ATTACH=full]18324[/ATTACH]</blockquote>

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