AirDate: February 7th, 1998

Episode Notes

• Jarod sends Miss Parker a valentine heart candy (Be my valentine)
• According to the adult book store manager, Bucky La Fontaine, Jarod invented a portable smoke eater
• Bucky also runs a small publishing company on the side
• Jarod wrote a book and did the cover art for it too, which Bucky published for him
• ScreenCaps

Episode Quotes

Jarod: Just open the box

Miss Parker: What do you want from me Jarod?

Miss Parker: You paint a pretty sad picture.

Jarod's "manager": Do you think you can become anyone?

Jarod: I'll do my best

Jarod: Rumor has it you're feeling vaguely unfulfilled.

Frank: Let the games begin

Jarod's Euphemisms

Locations

Jarod's Discoveries

Cupid

Jarod's ignorance

Valentine

Chocolate candy with fillings

Last Name Origin

Aliases

Jarod Heart

Occupations

Gigolo

First lines

Jarod:
Miss Parker: Since when do lab rats wear Hugo Boss?

Broots: This looks like something out of GQ.

Young Jarod:

Young Sydney:

Last lines

Miss Parker: What the hell do you want from me Jarod?

Jarod: Open the box.

Music

Transcript

Detailed transcript coming soon

While impersonating a gigolo, Jarod discovers a plot concocted by a real estate developer to drive residents of a poor urban area from their neighborhood.

As Valentine's Day approaches... Jarod views a DSA in which and Sydney discussed the difference between "a house" and "home." Meanwhile, Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots discover designer clothing and a book entitled "The Kama Sutra of Love" in Jarod's old lair. Sydney concludes the items can only mean that Jarod is eager to find a new form of expression.

In Detroit, Michigan, Jarod finds employment at the "Heart's Desire Escort Service." His boss, Felicia Pratt, arranges a tryst between Jarod and one of her clients, a European aristocrat named Isabella Thyssen. Their time together goes so well that Thyssen sends Jarod a thank-you in the form of an expensive watch. Jarod tells Felicia that his secret with women is his ability to listen.

Jarod suggests to Felicia that she set him up with Cynthia Sloan, a Detroit Socialite and the only female member of the Forbes Fifty. Felicia arranges the meeting through Sloan's no-nonsense businessman, Frank Linden. Jarod attempts to impress Cynthia with his knowledge of large business transactions, but she labels him "a prop," comparable to a piece of jewelry. Cynthia tells Jarod his services will be required until the day of a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Sloan Towers, an ultra-modern high-rise that threatens to destroy a low-income housing project called Jefferson Heights.

After reviewing a newspaper article documenting the death of a young boy who plunged to his death after stepping onto a weather-torn fire escape, Jarod visits the housing project. There he befriends Alice Evans, who discusses the young boy's death.

Felicia assigns Jarod another client, Joyce Cullman, a housewife who recently separated from her overweight, soon-to-be-ex husband, Howard (and who has since moved into the garage apartment of their home). Joyce is more than eager to have sex with her handsome gigolo. But Jarod attempts to dissuade her, opting for conversation instead of physical contact. The ploy works, and when the conversation veers towards Joyce's children, it has the same effect as a cold shower.

Clues in the form of tiny candy hearts (discovered at Jarod's old lair) lead Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots to an adult bookstore. The proprietor, Bucky, shows them a piece of erotica authored by Jarod, which features a half-naked Miss Parker on the cover.
Jarod speaks with an engineer under Sloan's employ. He quizzes the man about sulfuric chloride, a chemical used to weaken brick on buildings targeted for demolition. Later, Alice describes a man, who identified himself as a safety inspector, that had inspected the fire escape shortly before it collapsed. Alice tells Jarod that the man wore an expensive diamond watch. Later, while attending a party, Jarod realizes Frank Linden owns just such a watch.

Felicia threatens to fire Jarod unless he satisfies Joyce. Before entering Joyce's home, he intentionally insults her husband. This has the intended result, as Howard tosses a pile of manure onto his car, setting off the alarm and interrupting his tryst with Joyce. Later, Jarod invites Joyce to his new lair, where he insults Howard's name, hoping Joyce will defend him. The ploy works, and Joyce realizes how much Howard means to her.

Protestors at the Jefferson Heights project attract the attention of the news media. Frank concludes the outcry could jeopardize the entire project. Shortly thereafter, Jarod convinces Cynthia she must confront the protesters face to face, and convince them their building is unsafe. At the housing project, a young girl, Tracy, tells Cynthia she discover toy horses in her secret hiding place when her family moved into the building. Cynthia moves towards the floorboards... where the name "Cindy" is carved into the woodwork. Later, Cynthia discusses her childhood with Jarod, and how she attempted to erase her past, including the building where she grew up, all in an effort to maintain her image of wealth and power.

Jarod lures Frank onto the fire escape where the little boy plunged to his death. A piece of metal railing falls off, causing Frank to cling to a window ledge. A terrified Frank admits he is responsible for the boy's death, and later, he is placed under arrest.

Guest stars:

Young Jarod Ryan Merriman

Young Sydney Alex Wexo
Young Miss Parker Ashley Peldon

// Kyla Pratt

Christina Pickles

Salli Richardson

Stephanie Faracy

Brad Greenquist

Juanita Jennings

Leland Crook

Ralph P Martin

Co-producer Jan DeWitt

Co-Executive producer Johanna Persons

Consulting producers Tony Blake & Paul Jackson

Creative Consultant Rick Wallace

Co-executive Producer Tommy Thompson

Executive Producers Craig W. Van Sickle & Steven Long Mitchell

Written by Tyler Bensinger

Directed by Rodney Charters

Next episode: Toy Surprise