Touched by an Angel: The Fourth Season, Vol. 1 [4 Discs] [DVD]

Heavenly caseworker Monica (Roma Downey), her peppery superior Tess (Della Reese) and easygoing Angel of Death Andrew (John Dye) are provided with some extra backup in their efforts to inspire mortals to change their lives for the better as Touched By an Angel begins its fourth season. Assisting the three regulars throughout the year is Alexis Cruz as streetwise angel Rafael, who brings his own brand of benign irreverence to the celestial proceedings. The season opens with "The Road Home", a two-part crossover with the Touched By an Angel spin-off Promised Land. In other episodes, the angels deal with an embittered farmer who decides to sue God for a run of bad luck; they provide courage and hope to a camp for HIV-positive teens;a and they forge a forgiving link between the daughter of a "Hollywood Blacklist" victim and the elderly screenwriter who informed on her dad. Of special note is "The Comeback," a backstage story starring Carol Burnett and her daughter Carrie Hamilton, along with Rita Moreno, Tim Conway and Carol Channing; "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, in which Monica recalls a Christmas spent long ago with author Mark Twain (John Cullum); and the two-part season finale "The Spirit of Liberty Moon," in which the angels must change the course of many lives in order to positively affect the outcome of history.