To Tilt At Windmills

While Sherwood is out sick with the flu a substitute teacher, William Quigley, takes over her class. Quigley initially seems eccentric in his behaviour and encourages rebellion. He also inspires the students to believe that anything is possible, particularly Jesse and Dusty. Dusty has been turned down for the lead in a school show and is thinking about giving up.

However, it is soon discovered that after the death of his beloved wife Quigley's mental health maybe impaired.   

This episode is not a favourite of mine as guest star Kevin McCarthy is allowed to take over way too much for my liking and once again we slip into guest star syndrome. With so many episodes of this season taking story lines from other works of fiction, films, books etc.. It is is quite frustrating that here we go again ripping off another story, this time it being Don Quixote.  Although I'm not that familiar with the original story the references here are really laboured. Had things here been more subtle I think the story would have greatly been improved. Instead the school is not only doing a production of Don Quitoxe, but studying the book in English class and then when Quigley arrives, he is not only instantly familiar with the Quixote story but takes on the personality of the central character and makes Jesse his sidekick, who he refers to as his Squire Sancho, which is directly lifted from the original book. To me it all just feels way too much.

The most interesting aspect of the episodes for me is that Dusty is finally given some plot. One of the things I like about Season 5 is that the core Kids are given lots of strong plots: Danny, Leroy, Jesse, Chris and Nicole all have lots to do but sadly not Dusty. She doesn't have one single lead story line in the whole season, which I find quite odd. We get a good sense of her character, she in the episodes supporting the other characters, she's there in the ensemble, she get plenty of chances to sing but she doesn't get to carry a story. Compare her to say Leroy who is absent in this episode: Who becomes a teaching assistant; has to deal with his young niece coming to stay then burning down his apartment and then she inherits some money; falls in love with Lydia; falls and injures his knee, causing him to quit the school; has to step into the lead of a school show when racial conflict causes the black students to quit. Plus he's there supporting his friends in their problems. Dusty gets a supporting story in the first episode of the season when she's not sure she fits into the School of the Arts but really that episode's main story is about Leroy finding his place to belong. Then there is this episode, where she finally gets some plot but the lead story is about Quigley. 

I wanted to see more of Dusty's struggle with trying to get the lead in the show. It hadn't been mentioned before and would have been a nice on going story arc for her throughout the season. I wanted her to discuss the situation with Lydia to discover what the teachers have reservations are about casting her in the lead. She mentions that she's considering giving up but we don't really get to see her struggling with that decision. I just think it's a great shame. Sadly things don't improve in Season 6, where she still fails to get a full episode to herself. Yes she has a story about falling in love with Jesse but the lead story there is Danny getting a part in the Mr Wacky's World TV show. Then we see her struggling when her Minister father comes to town but Reggie rebelling and being expelled is the main story in that episode.  Considering Loretta did two full seasons, I feel Dusty's character was totally underdeveloped. So the little we get here is really interesting.

Anyway back to this episode; when it's not being heavy handed there are some nice scenes. The Quigley and Dusty scenes particularly show how the teacher inspires the students. It makes a nice contrast to the over the top manic scenes that Quigley is involved in. 

I do take issue with how the writers pile on the problems the school is having getting it's equipment. In the scene where Dyrenforth walks through the school everyone is at him to get something for them. Although the writers did something similar in the season 4 episode "Wishes" we don't normally see them struggling to get equipment. In the whole of the 5 seasons we have never seen a book without a cover before, so it all feel too convenient to suddenly be a problem. As they have enough money and resources to build a Windmill on the stage in the auditorium and have characters dressed up for the show in pantomime horse costumes, it all feels very inconsistent.    

In the scene where Dyrenforth tells the teachers about Quigley's past and he was involved in fighting for peoples rights and racial equality, I wanted Lydia to make a comment that so did she when she was in college, to make things consistent with previous episodes but she doesn't. She does comment "And then we have the Jello Incident" and her tone implies that she thinks Dyrenforth is overreacting but nothing specifically is said. In such a heavy handed episode I wouldn't have minded them labouring Lydia's point a little more.

 Then we have the end where Jesse breaks Quigley out of the mental hospital. There's locks on the patients doors, there are security cameras all over the hospital, including in Quigley's room, which are being monitored by the receptionist. Visiting is so strict that only family members are allowed in. However Jesse not only manages to get a doctors coat but he also happens to get keys to Quigley's room! What!!! We don't actually see any of this on screne, because presumably the writers couldn't come up with a credible way of explaining it all, so the audience is just expected not to think about it.  However, I just find it frustrating. Then Jesse wheels Quigley out of the hospital and no one challenges them. They do come up with a fun way of explaining that, in the sense that as Quigley is supposedly crazy anything he says must be wrong. However, this hospital must have the worst security ever and I'm surprised that the quick thinking Quigley couldn't break himself out.

Still there is some great music in this episode and I really like all the songs, particularly "Easy to Believe". My only criticism of the music is that so much of it gets talked over. I wish Dusty had been given time to sing her opening song in full before Lydia and Shorofsky start talking over her. Then "We Are The Ones" get's talked over. Surely they could have cut out just a little of Quigley's manic scenes, after all we got the point about him being unstable, so that the songs could have been played in full.

Original  air date in U.S.A 10th May 1986

Original  air date  in U.K. on The Children's Channel  Broadcast early 1993.

Original air date in Italy 01st October 1987

Original  air date in France 06th March 1996