Soap: Episode 47

Soap: Episode 47
ABC
March 15, 1979
Dramedy
DVD
B

This Harris & Silver season-closer really only wraps up one thread: the family, led by Jessica, unites to defy the Devil, who stops possessing the baby.  Well, most of the family.  Burt and Chester have an argument, so Chester throws Burt out.  Sometime later (the chronology in the episode is screwy, switching back and forth between day and night without explanation), Burt is abducted by the spaceship he saw before.  Meanwhile, Danny tracks down one of the kidnappers, almost kills him but can't go through with it, and it looks like he might be killed himself.  And Billy is held prisoner by the Sunnies.  Yeah, most of the family.  My favorite scene here is Mary assuring Jessica and Corinne that the Devil is not there because of their affairs, while she's amazed at all the men in town that Corinne has slept with.  My second favorite is the exorcism scene, which ends with us finally seeing the baby.  Kudos to Tim McIntire for his Devil voice; despite some '70s cheesiness with the special effects, this episode is a bit scary at some points.

Candice Azzara makes her first of five appearances on Soap as Millie; she'd show up in the last season of Who's the Boss?

While the first season averaged an impressive B, the high B- of Season Two (in a C+ to B range) is nothing to be ashamed of.  The series is starting to drift towards more slapstick and Flanderization, but there are still some good and even great moments.  I recall the departure of Benson, early in Season Three, as a bit of a shark-jump, but we'll see.