The WORST episodes of Joan of Arcadia
Every episode of Joan of Arcadia ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Joan of Arcadia!
A drama about a typical family, the Girardis, facing atypical situations -- not the least of which is their teenage daughter Joan's sudden, unexpected conversations with God in such random forms as a cute boy, Goth kid, little girl or the school lunch lady. Joan must endeavour to balance the natural and supernatural elements of her life, often with little success. This is not the only major problem the family must face as her elder brother Kevin was paralysed from the waist down in a car accident. As a result, her younger brother Luke often feels that his needs are being ignored.
#1 - The Rise & Fall of Joan Girardi
Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/28/2005
After saving a girl's life Joan suddenly becomes famous but she soon learns fame is fleeting and can even turn against you; Adam has a job interview that doesn't quite go the way he wants; tension builds between Lucy and Will; as Luke prepares to get his drivers license Grace tries to educate him on the harmful impact vehicles have on the enviroment.
#2 - Game Theory
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 1/7/2005
Despite everyone's protests, Joan allows her snobby, Ivy League-educated guidance counselor to advise her against applying to college. However, after Joan relays her plans to Roger, an engaging college student on the campus she's visiting, he tells her that college is attainable and persuades her to hire him as a tutor. Meanwhile, Adam becomes jealous of Joan's rapport with Roger; Will sees a dark side of Lucy; Helen questions her commitment to Catholicism, and Beth finds it difficult to resume a relationship with the wheelchair-bound Kevin.
#3 - Secret Service
Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/4/2005
After Price discovers Joan holding an empty egg carton near his freshly egged car, he wrongly assumes she's the culprit and punishes her with a weekend of community service. Without more direction from God than to rise above the injustice, Joan tries to figure out if she's meant to help a bitter former nun, Lilly, who is overseeing the service project, or one of the social outcasts who are serving as a result of their own offenses. Meanwhile, Joan's also upset that her reluctance to begin a sexual relationship with Adam is driving a wedge between them. Also, Adam meets a troubled artist at the community center; Joan gets Luke a job at the bookstore; Kevin has another car accident.
#4 - Shadows and Light
Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/25/2005
Joan is convinced that she's meant to help Stevie keep her part-time job with Adam, despite Stevie's mother's order that she quit. In an effort to supply Stevie with the Social Security number that Stevie's mother is withholding, Joan gets Kevin to use his investigative reporting skills. Kevin's findings end up leading Will to make a discovery that quickly turns Stevie's world upside-down. Meanwhile, Adam is upset with Joan for telling Helen that he tried to have sex with her, and Kevin is conflicted when the local television station asks him to do a report that pertains to paralysis.
#5 - Something Wicked This Way Comes
Season 2 - Episode 22 - Aired 4/22/2005
God tells Joan that her last two years were just practice for her greatest challenge, which will be to face off against a mysterious man who, though he also talks to God, has a sinister agenda... Initially, Joan is simply curious about Ryan Hunter, the charming, wealthy and influential man who revealed to her that he also speaks to God, and who rescued Adam from the woods during a storm. However, she soon discovers Ryan's dark side and is alarmed that he's insinuated himself into the lives of her loved ones, who are quick to dismiss Joan's qualms about him.
#6 - Common Thread
Season 2 - Episode 21 - Aired 4/15/2005
Joan and Grace fear the worst when, on the heels of failed attempts to reconnect with Joan, the emotionally fragile Adam goes missing during a hike... Despite Grace's attempts to foster a more comfortable rapport between her friends, Joan is intent on hurting Adam with her rebuffs, which she regrets when it appears that his life may be in danger. Meanwhile, Helen is shocked when a priest tells her that the man who raped her 25 years ago would like her to visit his deathbed so he may apologize. Also, Luke is dismayed and intrigued when he learns that Friedman has been getting stoned.
#7 - No Bad Guy
Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 2/27/2004
After Joan stands up for one of her classmates being bullied, an embarrassing picture of Joan, taken with a picture phone, is rapidly spread around school. God instructs Joan to join the band. Will must deal with an elderly driver who accidentally killed several people.
#8 - Requiem for a Third Grade Ashtray
Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/12/2004
God instructs Joan to help out with the a chaotic Girardi household; Adam has his first art show; Will and Toni witness a carjacking. Will and Toni, while making an arrest, get stuck in an elevator with a pregnant woman who is about to give birth; Kevin believes he might be recovering some sensation in his stomach area and gets an EMG (a nerve conduction) test done.
#9 - Night Without Stars
Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/13/2004
Joan's newest mission from God is to work with kids, so she volunteers to help babysit children of abused mothers; Joan becomes jealous when Adam falls for one of the volunteers; Kevin starts to get cocky again and sleeps with his girlfriend, Rebecca; previous events emotionally catch up with Will; and Luke makes a shocking admission to Kevin.
#10 - No Future
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/19/2004
As Joan begins to deal with Judith's death, she faces the added pressure of having to relive the day of Kevin's accident during her deposition. Meanwhile, Will feels guilty as he recalls how poorly he treated Kevin in the hours preceding his accident. Additionally, Grace reluctantly agrees to join Luke for dinner at the Girardi's on his birthday.
#11 - P.O.V.
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/5/2004
Joan struggles with the pressures of Junior year; God assigns Joan to work on a videography; Adam and Judith work on a project together; Will, Kevin, and Helen meet with a lawyer to discuss a counter-lawsuit.
#12 - Just Say No
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/24/2003
Joan learns from God that she's holding a garage sale on Saturday, which doesn't leave her much time to sort through her family's unwanted belongings. Among the items she unearths are paintings created by Helen during a dark period in her life. Elsewhere, Will goes to bat for a rape victim even though the district attorney feels the case isn't strong enough. Also, Joan catches the interest of a class charmer and a newspaper job falls right into Kevin's lap.
#13 - Dive
Season 2 - Episode 11 - Aired 12/10/2004
As Joan tries to work her way up to the high dive despite her acrophobia, Luke attempts to overcome his paralyzing fear of undertaking an activity at which he might fail. Meanwhile, Will continues his quest to find Judith's killer, and Kevin goes on a date with Beth. Additionally, while reflecting on Judith's death and Kevin's accident, Helen becomes overwhelmed with concern about her family being in harm's way.
#14 - The Boat
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/17/2003
Helen fears Joan is becoming eccentric when she enthusiastically tackles her boat-building project; Will encourages Kevin to join a wheelchair basketball team.
#15 - Spring Cleaning
Season 2 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/8/2005
In the wake of Joan's difficult breakup with Adam, God tells her to do some therapeutic cleaning, which ends up putting her in the middle of a scandal involving her guidance counselor... As part of Joan's clean sweep, she returns everything Adam ever gave her, which only adds to the awkwardness between them. Meanwhile, when Joan returns some items to Mr. Tuchman that he loaned her, a jealous student with feelings for Tuchman vindictively tells the school authorities that Tuchman initiated intimate relationships with both her and Joan. Also, Kevin considers getting a place of his own.
#16 - Independence Day
Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 2/18/2005
Incensed that Will and Helen have forbidden her to go to a concert with Adam and stay overnight with him in his father's camper, Joan goes anyway. After Joan has a conversation with God about free will, she decides to use it as a rationale for lying to her mother in order to go on the trip as she's convinced that Helen simply wants her to remain a dependent little girl. Meanwhile, Luke is shocked when the nerdy, girl-obsessed Friedman rebuffs the advances of the surprisingly infatuated Stevie.
#17 - Romancing the Joan
Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/11/2005
God wants Joan to do an extra credit assignment on Romantic poetry; Adam takes on a perky and cute assistant (special guest star Haylie Duff); Lucy gets a promotion; Helen takes a break from her Catholic studies; Kevin decides to get back into the dating game.
#18 - The Fire and the Wood
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/3/2003
Joan enrolls in advanced-placement chemistry, after God asks her to stop being an underachiever; Will ruffles feathers during an arson investigation.
#19 - Anonymous
Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 4/30/2004
Joan joins the yearbook staff, per God's request, and decides to use this assignment as a means of impressing Adam... Feeling threatened that Iris and Adam continue to share a bond over their passion for art, Joan vows to discover a hidden talent that Adam will admire. However, her disastrous attempt to be the yearbook's star photographer soon adds to her insecurities about losing him. Meanwhile, Will and Toni attempt to set up a sting for a man who is planning to hire a hitman to murder his wife.
#20 - Do the Math
Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 4/2/2004
God tells Joan to take piano lessons; Joan helps her piano teacher deal with her past; Joan learns a painful secret Will and Helen have been keeping from the family; Iris becomes suspicious of Adam and Joan closeness.
#21 - Silence
Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 5/21/2004
When the hospitalized Joan is diagnosed with Lyme disease, she begins to question if she's been seeing God or merely experiencing the hallucinations that can be symptomatic of her condition... Upon hearing that Joan may have been suffering from the symptoms of Lyme Disease for months, a somewhat relieved Will and Helen believe this news may explain Joan's mood swings and atypical behavior, while a concerned Adam wonders if Joan will be different upon her recovery. Meanwhile, the hospitalized Joan experiences a crisis of faith -- and considers revealing to someone close to her that she's been talking to God. In separate circumstances, Helen and Will begin to rethink their belief systems after, respectively, experiencing spiritual dreams and miraculous events.
#22 - Vanity, Thy Name Is Human
Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 5/7/2004
Joan takes a cosmetics class, per God's request, and Kevin doesn't react well to crossing paths with the last girlfriend he dated before his disabling accident... Glynis' flattering makeover attracts a great deal of positive attention at school, which only adds to Joan's disappointment when Adam fails to notice her own new look. Meanwhile, Kevin, who remains bitter with the belief that he had been dumped by Beth because he had become a paraplegic, harshly rebuffs her efforts to make peace with him.
#23 - Recreation
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/16/2004
At Helen's insistance, she and Will take a getaway to a spa, but all does not go well when Will cannot forget about his job. And with the parents away, the kids are up to a little recreation of their own; Kevin and his boss, Rebecca, find it hard to ignore their mutual attraction; Joan, as she is trying to sort out her feelings for Adam, is instructed by God to throw a party while her parents are way; Luke helps Joan pull off a successful party.
#24 - The Devil Made Me Do It
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/14/2003
God's mysterious ways once again bewilder Joan, when He asks her to volunteer at the high-school art show, so that she can keep Adam Rove's sculpture from being exhibited. Elsewhere, Will feels pressure from the DA's office to call a man a hero after he shoots and kills a home intruder. Meanwhile, Kevin grows weary of receiving special treatment because he uses a wheelchair.
#25 - State of Grace
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/6/2004
God tells Joan to join the debate team, where her partner has a stuttering problem. A new security system is implemented at Arcadia High School. After the art teacher quits, Helen wonders if she would be right for the job. Both Kevin and Luke seperately deal with the aftermath of a kiss. And Will and Toni deal with a case involving a reverend accussed of child molestation.