Joan of Arcadia

As the second season begins, Joan returns from summer therapy following what she perceived as hallucinations and refuses to discuss the "`G' word" with Adam. Meanwhile, Helen is considering coming back to the Catholic faith; and Will is losing his faith especially as he's sued by the family of the boy who paralyzed Kevin.

Joan, still keeping her distance from God, reconnects with her best friend from Gentle Acres camp, a wired teen now going to Arcadia High who can't seem to win over Joan's friends. Meanwhile, Helen continues her inquiry into spiritual issues, and Will is troubled by a case involving the shooting of a child.

As part of a physics project, Joan decides to plant a garden "in the rankest place" in school to see if it can survive, and the experiment elicits varying responses from her friends. Meanwhile, Will and Helen shield Kevin from the details of the lawsuit.

While visiting, Helen's eccentric, world-traveling Aunt Olive (Cloris Leachman) has a stroke and moves in with the Girardis to recuperate. Meanwhile, God asks Joan to care for a feral cat and Will asks Internal Affairs to investigate possible corruption in the precinct.

God gets Joan involved in the student-body presidential elections and Joan campaigns for the underdog, but soon finds herself wanting to win at all costs, even if it means playing dirty.

Joan helps Helen at a church clothing drive and finds a way to help the poor and make some money for herself and Judith, but the scheme jeopardizes the drive. Meanwhile, Lucy (Annie Potts) shows interest in Will's lawsuit.

God appears to Joan as a filmmaker and encourages her to make a videography of her life for public TV, but her new perspective leads her to misinterpret a moment between Adam and Judith. Meanwhile, Will and Kevin hire a cutthroat lawyer (Evan Handler) without consulting Helen, who has a secret of her own.

Joan is stressed as she and Adam prepare for their first official date at an upscale restaurant. Meanwhile, Grace and Luke can't agree on the best way to spend the evening and go their separate ways, only to end up missing each other.

Depositions are taken in the lawsuit against the Girardis, dredging up emotional issues for the family, especially for Will and Helen, who are confronted with the animosity they felt toward each another at the time of Kevin's accident. Meanwhile, Price does his darndest to squelch the already fragile Joan's hope for a bright academic future; Luke's wish for his 16th birthday is to have dinner with Grace.

Joan is on a quest to help Grace survive her bat mitzvah, beginning with a shopping trip for an appropriate dress to wear for the occasion. At the same time, Luke is at a loss for a gift to offer his sweetheart on her big day. Meanwhile, Will investigates Judith's stabbing death, and Kevin offers Beth (Kimberly McCullough) encouragement as she prepares to testify in the case against his family.

God's vague instruction to do something that scares her leads Joan to try out for the school diving team, as does Luke, who is determined to impress Grace with an act of bravery. Meanwhile, Helen would like all of her children to proceed with more caution, and Will follows up on a lead in Judith's murder case.

As Joan debates whether she should continue her education past high school, God points her in the direction of a handsome and supportive college-age tutor. Meanwhile, Helen and Will are at odds over his working with Lucy and her religious conversion; Kevin's romantic future with Beth (Kimberly McCullough) is in doubt.

Joan receives heavenly encouragement from God when she auditions for an overly ambitious director's school play about young zombies in love. In other developments, Kevin is leery of Andy's offer to drop the lawsuit; and Luke's bond with Glynis (Mageina Tovah) over science unleashes feelings of jealousy in Grace.

Joan acts like a Good Samaritan and in return becomes somewhat of a local celebrity after she puts herself in harm's way to help save the life of a snooty classmate (Hilary Duff), who rewards Joan's heroism by becoming her way-too-clingy friend. Meanwhile, Kevin sees an opportunity to get himself on TV by telling his sister's story. Also, Will decides to dig deeper to determine what lengths Lucy would go to please him.

As Valentine's Day approaches, Joan worries that her romance with Adam could be sabotaged by his "perky blonde assistant" (Haylie Duff). Meanwhile, God tells Joan to familiarize herself with the poetry of the Romantic movement; Kevin keeps it a secret from Helen that he's going out with her ex-nun pal Lilly (Constance Zimmer); and Will debates whether to inform his wife of his problems with Lucy.

Joan feels that she's old enough to make her own decisions when she prepares to defy Helen's authority and go on an overnight trip with Adam. Meanwhile, it's clear that Stevie likes Friedman, but Luke has trouble understanding why his friend doesn't seem to reciprocate the feeling. Also, Kevin tries to help Andy put the accident behind him and get on with his life.

Joan makes a puzzling discovery about Stevie (Haylie Duff) as she tries to help the girl obtain a Social Security number, despite the fact that Stevie's mother has expressly forbidden her daughter from getting a job. At the same time, Joan's taking flack from Adam for telling Helen the intimate details of their love life. Meanwhile, Kevin is offered a job in the TV-news biz, but is wary of the assignment because it involves his disability.

Joan debates whether to take the next step in her relationship with Adam, while also facing the consequences of being framed---by God---for egging Mr. Price's car: a weekend of community service supervised by Lilly Waters (Constance Zimmer). Also, Luke feels like he has suffered an injustice by not being awarded a science prize; while Helen considers what to do after the school board cuts the art program's budget.

A school assignment gets uncomfortably personal for Joan when she's chosen to play the role of prosecutor in a mock trial based on the children's story "Jack and the Beanstalk." On the side of the defense is Grace, who's representing an ill-at-ease Adam in the part of Jack. In other events, Helen is troubled that Kevin is dating Lilly (Constance Zimmer); and an 8-year-old girl's murder appears to be an open-and-shut case for Will.

Instead of venting her romantic woes, Joan throws her energy into spring cleaning, which proves more than just therapeutic when it leads to the discovery that somebody at school needs her help. Joan's relationship problems cause Luke to feel insecure about his future with Grace, but then she surprises him with an ultra-cool gift; Kevin considers moving into his own apartment, an idea that upsets Helen.

Adam needs Joan to be there for him as a friend, but she finds it difficult to forgive and forget the hurt he has caused her. Helen's in a similar, albeit far more serious, situation when the man who raped her 25 years ago attempts to meet with her and personally apologize before he dies of cancer. Meanwhile, Luke disapproves of Friedman's pot-smoking, that is, until he considers marijuana use from a scientific perspective.

Joan is seeing and talking to dead people, including her deceased friend Judith (Sprague Grayden), who tells Joan to prepare for a test. Joan's family and loved ones start to wonder whether the high-schooler is losing it again, but Helen is left to question her own sanity after she too has a ghostly encounter. Meanwhile, Ryan Hunter, the young man who saved Adam's life, is becoming a constant, uncomfortable presence.