The Puppetmaster

The Puppetmaster is the first episode of the second season on Wings and the seventh episode over all in the series.

Synopsis[]

In the terminal, Fay uses the PA system to welcome passengers from Sandpiper flight 16 from New Bedford to Nantucket then coily threatens anyone who picks a flower from her prize winning rose garden. Brian enter, joins Joe and Helen at the lunch counter and tries to convince Helen that she agreed to go a date with him. The trio then bicker about Helen's "no dating pilots" rule and Brian asks Helen what she is looking for in the perfect man.

The next day, Roy shows Fay the new walkie-talkies that he can use to call Lowell anywhere in the airport. Roy demonstrates the walkie-talkies by calling Lowell to ticket counter and Lowell immediately enters, but he's looking for the walkie-talkie he left at the ticket counter. Meanwhile, Helen meets Matt at the lunch counter and is immediately smitten with him. Brian and Joe watch the pair from the second floor balcony as Brian tells Joe that he hired Matt to be Helen's dream guy before telling her that he is a pilot thus making it impossible for Helen to refuse a date with Brian due to her "no dating pilots" rule.

The next day, Roy and Lowell practice using the walkie-talkies, but Lowell wants to get Fay's shrimp scampi recipe. Annoyed, Roy demands Lowell get back to work. Using the walkie-talkies again, Lowell asks Fay (when Roy standing next to her) if Roy looks mad then decides to hide behind the utility shed. Brian and Joe enter the terminal and me Helen at the lunch counter, who is excited because of her amazing date with Matt last night. When Matt enters, Brian gets him to admit that he is a pilot. Matt leaves quickly, and Helen tell Brian and Joe that she doesn't care about dating rules anymore because she is in love with Matt.

Later in Joe's office, Joe and Brian try to figure out how to break up Matt and Helen. Matt enters and the three devise a plan to have Matt demand that Helen give up the cello for him to force her to end their relationship. That evening, Joe and Brian watch Matt demand Helen give up the cello and then watch her smash a cello over the lunch counter breaking it. Matt is so taken by Helen's devotion, that he proclaims he has fallen in love with her for real, tells Helen he's an actor, gives Brian back his money, and purposes to Helen, who accepts. Joe, moved by seeing Helen with someone else, confesses his love for Helen and kisses her. With Helen unsure about who to be with Matt pulls out a gun. Joe tries to wrestle the gun away from Matt as the pair falls into the kitchen and a gunshot is heard. Joe exits the kitchen, says he didn't mean to then runs away. Helen timidly looks into the kitchen, screams, and runs away. Brian, left alone, slowly approaches the kitchen door only to be surprised by Matt popping up and Joe and Helen sneaking up behind him.

Later that evening, Roy prepares to leave for the day when Lowell calls on the walkie-talkie ask for help getting his head unstuck from between the bars of the rod iron fence near the utility shed. Roy promises to come help, but leaves the walkie-talkie and goes home for the evening laughing. Joe and Helen enter the empty terminal and she thanks him for tipping her off to Brian's plan, but says she was surprised by the kiss. The pair discuss kissing techniques until Helen offers to demonstrate a good kiss with Joe. The pair then share a very passionate kiss as Lowell sings "Moon River" over the walkie-talkie. Joe is so taken by the kiss that he stumbles over the chairs in the terminal as he exits. Once Joe leaves, Helen pours ice water down her shirt because she too was taken aback by the kiss.

Credits[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Cast[]

Craig Bierko as Matt Sargent

Quotes[]

Helen Chapel - "How many times do I have to tell you? I don't date pilots."
Brian Hackett - "Oh, you've used that excuse at least a zillion times. At long last, what have you got against pilots?"
Helen Chapel - "Look, I grew up in this airport, I know you guys. It's like you all are members of some exclusive little club that none of the rest of us can join. You act so smug, so superior."
Brian Hackett - "Well, can you fly a plane?"

Brian Hackett - "So enlighten us. What's your idea of the perfect man?"
Helen Chapel - "Oh, I don't know...Solid, sensitive, and dependable but with a sense of whimsy; a love of music and children; a sense of commitment but a respect for my independence; adventurous yet a homebody. But I really haven't thought about it that much."
Joe Hackett - "That sounds great Helen, but Kermit is a frog."

Brian Hackett - "So your saying that if Mr. Right waltz in here and he was a pilot, you still would not go out with him?"
Helen Chapel - "Absolutely. Pilots and commitment don't mix."
Joe Hackett - "Oh, come on Helen. What about all those pilots in the world that are happily married?"
Helen Chapel - "I know both of them, and they're cheating on their wives."

Joe Hackett - "You're going through an awful lot of trouble. Do you really want a date with her that badly?"
Brian Hackett - "Joe, I'm used to having women either loving me or hating me. This bizarre middle ground of mature, adult friendship just makes my skin crawl."

Brian Hackett - "Good morning Helen."
Helen Chapel - "No, it is not a good morning, it is a great morning! It is a fantastic morning! The kind of morning that makes life worth living."
Brian Hackett - "Yeah, I know what you mean. It's the kind of morning where you want to spray yourself with Lemon Pledge and slide down the banister."
Joe Hackett - "Why so chipper?"
Helen Chapel - "I met a guy."
Brian Hackett - "Oh, really?"
Helen Chapel - "We went on a date last night and I had the best time. Candlelight dinner, cappuccino on the wharf, terrific sex."
Joe Hackett - "What?!"
Helen Chapel - "Just seeing if you were listening. You know I hate cappuccino."

Brian Hackett - "My plan has worked to perfection. Now she no longer has any excuses not to go out on a date with me."
Joe Hackett - "Brian, are you sure you thought this all the way through?"
Brian Hackett - "Joe, Joe. You don't the puppetmaster? What could possibly go wrong?"
Helen Chapel - "You know what Brian? I'm done with dating rules.
Brian Hackett - "Oh, really?"
Helen Chapel - "Yep. From now on, Matt's the only guy for me. I'm in love."
Joe Hackett - "Any more bright ideas Geppetto?!"

Joe Hackett - "Way to go Brian. You managed to get Helen, who you want to go out with, to fall for a guy who turns out to be a pilot so she won't go out with him but with you instead."
Brian Hackett - "If we were to diagram that sentence, exactly where would you put the gerund?"
Joe Hackett - "I think you know where!"

Joe Hackett - "What if Matt tells Helen to, uh, quit playing the cello? She'd never give up music."
Brian Hackett - "Why Joe, you loveable weasel."
Matt Sargent - "Why would I do that?"
Joe Hackett - "Well, you could say that you love her so much that you can't bare to share her with her music."
Brian Hackett - "That's good. That's very good!"
Matt Sargent - "I don't know guys. I don't think that fits in very well with my character. I mean, what's my motivation?"
Brian Hackett - "Another fifty bucks?"
Matt Sargent - "I can make that work."

Fay Cochran - "Brian, are you done with my compact?"
Joe Hackett - "Shhhh."
Brian Hackett - "Fay, Fay, Fay, we're trying to spy on Matt and Helen."
Fay Cochran - "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. Where are my manners?"

Joe Hackett - "Give me one reason I shouldn't beat the hell outta you."
Brian Hackett - "I'm on your medical plan?"

Joe Hackett - "It was a good kiss."
Helen Chapel - "Uh-huh."
Joe Hackett - "You didn't think it was good?"
Helen Chapel - "No. It was fine."
Joe Hackett - "Fine, but not good?"
Helen Chapel - "Joe, it's just a difference in technique, that's all. You're a stiff liper and I'm a soft. It's no big deal."
Joe Hackett - "I never really thought about it before. Does it make that much of a difference?"
Helen Chapel - "Yes. Here, I'll show you."
Joe Hackett - "You want to kiss me again?"
Helen Chapel - "Oh, don't be stupid. This is just an acting exercise. Now, just relax. Don't pucker up like Dudley Doright. Just relax your lips. "
[Joe and Helen share a passionate kiss as Lowell sings "Moon River" over the walkie-talkie]
Lowell Mather - "Moon river, wider than a mile. I'm crossing you in style some day. God, I love that song."
Joe Hackett - "Like that?"
Helen Chapel - "That was better. That was much better."

Trivia[]

Although this episode was the first episode of Season Two, it should be noted as that this season was actually the second half of Season One, which was broken up to create two separate seasons.
Fay claims to have a garden of prize winning roses.
Craig Bierko might be better known as Anna Faris's boyfriend in Scary Movie 4 (2006).
When using the walkie-talkies, Lowell's call sign in "Red Raider" and Roy's is "Raging Stallion".
Lowell identifies Roy's car as a purple El Camino.
Joe and Helen share their first kiss in the episode.
- Almost exactly four years later, Joe wants to give Helen an engagement ring on the anniversary of their first kiss almost in Twisted Sister aired on September 27, 1994.
This episode is currently unavailable for streaming in the United States likely due to the music rights for "Moon River", which is song by Lowell over the walkie-talkies near the end of the episode.