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In
the middle of the wilderness, at the base of a mountain, a ways
from the road, Monica and Tess discuss the perfect décor for a
remote hotel. Meanwhile, in Glendale, Joe Collette arrives at
his former home to pick up his 16 year old son, Ricky, for a
weekend camping trip. Joe’s separation from his wife, Sandra, has
had a negative effect on the whole family, but mostly on Ricky,
who acquired a drug problem and then spent sixteen weeks in
rehab. The two of them hit the road despite Ricky’s lack of
enthusiasm. Several hours into the trip, Joe stops the car to
stretch his legs and check his map. As he and his son stand
outside of their vehicle, a tiny asteroid, smashes through the
windshield of their SUV cutting a hole straight through the seat
and the floor.
Andrew shows up,
with a tow truck, but even he is surprised by the reason for the
breakdown. He offers to take their car to the nearest town, and
drop them off at a little hotel that he knows. Tess and Monica
check them in and settle them in their room, but they aren’t the
only guest this weekend. Just before dinner, a motorcycle roars
up to the door, and a little old lady named Mildred hops off.
She’s ridden through this area for years with her late husband,
and she’s never seen this place. She wants to know where it came
from, who’s running it, and how she can go about getting a room.
Later that evening,
Joe tries to connect with his son, inviting him to take a walk
with him, but Ricky refuses. He blames his father for all of his
troubles. Joe walks off by himself, eventually coming upon
Gloria, who has set up a telescope outside. She has no trouble
engaging the astronomy-loving Joe in an in depth conversation
about the cosmos, and asteroids.
After Joe leaves,
Gloria maintains her watch on the stars, and sees something that
shouldn’t be there, an asteroid. This one is huge, and it’s
hurtling right toward earth, looking to do to the planet what its
little brother did to Joe’s car. Gloria runs into the lodge to
tell the other angels what she has found. They are shocked, but
Tess says that they still have a job to do, and it won’t help to
tell their assignments what she saw.
Of course, the
secret refuses to be kept. Ricky “borrows” a portable television
from Mildred’s sidecar and catches a report of the asteroid on the
news. He hurries inside to tell his father, and soon everyone
knows. While the reports go on, and experts speculate on the fate
of the planet, Joe and Ricky realize that they are stranded in the
middle of nowhere without a car, and no way to reach the rest of
their family. In the midst of this worry, Mildred surprises them
all by saying that she wishes for the asteroid to hit, and
quickly, too.
As the day wears on,
and Mildred explains that all she wants is to die so that she can
be with her husband again, in heaven, Ricky grows more frantic.
All he wants to do is get home to his mother and sister while he
still can. Joe feels the same way, but admits that he’s powerless
to change it. Ricky decides that if Joe won’t do anything, he
will. He punches his father and runs off, stealing Andrew’s tow
truck, and taking to the road, despite a stern warning from Tess.
Away from the lodge, Ricky runs over a rusty muffler, and tears
the fuel line. With the truck out of commission, he is more alone
than ever. But he’s not alone, there are angels around him, and
one pulls up beside him on Mildred’s motorcycle. It’s Andrew. He
takes Ricky back to the lodge, where Mildred insists they all
climb the mountain to watch the asteroid approach. Once they
reach the top, Joe’s cell phone miraculously comes to life, and he
and Ricky are able to talk to Sandra and Erica. Over the phone
Joe reconciles with them, and in person he does so with Ricky. As
the asteroid fills the sky, all is well with the Collette family.
When it skips off the atmosphere, sparing the world a catastrophic
impact, Mildred has a heart attack at Andrew’s side. She has seen
a miracle, and now she is going home to the Father and to her
husband.
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