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Note:
John Dye became a series lead starting with this episode.
While working at the post office,
Monica meets Max, who is responsible for handling "dead" letters
addressed to Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and God. A Holocaust
survivor, Max answers children's letters to God by telling them
there is no God and not to place their faith in a fantasy. One
little girl, Tanya Brenner, continues sending God letters, even
though Max only answered the first one and ignored the rest.
Andrew, who has met the child, and Monica entice Tess to ask God if
they can read the letters. After receiving permission, they learn
that Tanya's father is very ill and that his girlfriend, Sandy has
been abusing the girl. Monica is outraged and wants to help, but
Tess reminds her that Max, not Tanya is her assignment. Taking
matters into her own hands, Monica arranges for Max to see a drunken
Sandy hit the girl. Following this encounter, Max follows her home,
where her dying father beseeches the postal worker to find Tanya a
new home. Shaken, Max runs away. When he doesn't show up for work
the next day, Monica goes to visit him. Tanya has disappeared and
Max is wracked with guilt. The angel reveals herself and gently
persuades him to do something. He decides to look for the girl,
finding her at her late father's apartment. While treating Tanya to
a meal at the diner, Max is spotted by policemen and arrested for
suspicion of kidnapping. Monica visits a despondent Max in jail,
informing him that men, not God were responsible for the Holocaust.
When Andrew emerges on the scene, Max remembers seeing him at the
Auschwitz barracks in 1944. The Angel of Death reminds Max of his
father's faith, revealing that he died on his feet praising God and
asking Him to walk with his son. Overcome by memories, the postal
worker weeps. Meanwhile, Tess persuades the diner owner to tell the
police Max did not abduct Tanya but was trying to help her. Once
that matter is cleared up, Max applies to be her foster father, so
the two of them can become a family. As Monica, Tess, and Andrew
watch unseen, Max opens a mysterious package that contains a pair of
children's shoes--his own--with the carved inscription "Lieber Gott,"
German for "Dear God."
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