"You've Got a Friend" is the eleventh episode in the fourth season of the NBC family sitcom Family Ties. It originally aired on December 19, 1985, and is the seventy-ninth episode of the series overall.
Synopsis[]
Mallory is working at the boutique and catches a girl, Jessie Blake, stealing. She begins to feel some compassion for the girl and wishes she could do something for her. Mallory invites Jessie to dinner, and a bond of friendship develops. When Jessie shows up at the store, she steals again, and Mallory is devastated to find that nothing has really changed.
Plot[]
While Alex is visiting Mallory in the shop where she works, they catch a 12-year-old girl shoplifting several items. Mallory knows that the girl must be turned in to the police, but later expresses a desire to reach out to the girl, named Jessie, out of concern. Steven points out that the Milford Home where Jessie lives is not an orphanage but specializes in problem children, often abused; Nick knows that is true, for one of his cousins lives there (but can't remember his name nor the abusive uncle's). Mallory decides to make the girl her friend, despite Nick's warning that one can't understand such kids, and indeed is repaid by more shoplifting. Meanwhile, little Andy's greater interest for a toy's box then for its contents reminds everybody of Alex's attachment to an identical box, and even at 19 there is a weak spot left in his heart.
Cast[]
Starring[]
Guest Starring[]
Co-Starring[]
Quotes[]
Trivia[]
- Steven presents a box to Alex that looks like one he had when he was a baby (his "Ba-ba"). As he does so, he says, "Sweet dreams." Interestingly, it was just one episode earlier that Alex could have used something to help him sleep ("How Do You Sleep?")
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