Gotcha!

Philo Sanderson has declared himself the best practical joker in Odyssey - exploding malts, spray bottles to the face, no one at Whit's End is safe. Then a mysterious note warns him a prank is coming before the week is out, and Philo spends six jittery days trusting nothing, not even a glass of water. Meanwhile Whit discovers that Connie has been reading horoscopes and handing out lucky rabbit's feet, and he tells her straight: fortune telling isn't harmless fun, and it has no place at Whit's End. But Connie's answer haunts him... horoscopes are in the paper every single day, and where's the Bible? So Whit shuts himself in a back room and builds the Bible Room, where kids can try on Paul's armor and march around a wall that actually falls. When Philo shows up covered in blue paint from his own backfired trap, crowing that nobody fooled him, Tom asks the question that stops him cold: what if the whole week was one giant practical joke?

Found on The Officer Harley Collection Album OH · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

2 of 2 0018 A Member of the Family When Whit's estranged daughter arrives furious over how he disciplined her son, a family crisis forces three generations to confront the hurts they've never spoken aloud.

0019 Recollections When Connie wonders why Whit is away from the shop, Tom Riley shares the bittersweet story of the remarkable woman behind Whit's End and the fight to save an old building the whole town had forgotten.

0020 Mike Makes Right When mild-mannered Mike Caldwell stands up to the schoolyard bully on behalf of a helpless classmate, he learns that doing the right thing can cost more than he bargained for.

0021 The Case of the Missing Train Car When a prize-worthy model train engine vanishes from Whit's End just before a state-fair competition, suspicion falls on a foster child whose troubled past makes her an easy target.

0022 A Simple Addition When a new baby arrives, a little boy waiting on a promised pair of boots wonders whether there's still room for him in his parents' hearts.

0023 The Quality of Mercy When a small-town farmer catches a boy stealing apples and lets him off easy, he soon discovers that mercy is a lesson some people have to learn the hard way.

0024 Gotcha! Whit's End's resident prankster learns the hard way that being the best practical joker in Odyssey just makes you the biggest target.

1 of 2 0025 Harley Takes the Case When a boy vanishes on his way to softball practice, a small-town officer must decide whether he's chasing a kidnapper or a kid who doesn't want to be found.

2 of 2 0026 Harley Takes the Case When a small-town search for a missing boy spirals toward panic, one overlooked officer's quiet hunch leads him somewhere no one else thought to look - and into far more danger than he bargained for.

0027 A Change of Hart When relentless bullying makes a lonely boy beg his family to move away, he gets a fresh start at a new school and the chance to reinvent himself as somebody cool.

0028 The Price of Freedom When a new teacher tells twelve-year-old Kirk McGinty that the soldiers who died in Vietnam died for nothing, the boy's cherished image of the father he never knew is thrown into doubt on the eve of Odyssey's Memorial Day picnic.

0029 Rumor Has It When a quiet family's odd habits set the school rumor mill spinning, two kids must decide whether to believe everything they hear about the mysterious boy in the window.

0030 Honor Thy Parents When a sixth-grader's carefully planned graduation party threatens to expose the parents she's ashamed of, she learns how little she really knows about them.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 3 more roles

3 supporting roles

Bible Verse Mirror Phil Lollar Sylvia Heather Sanders Philo Sanderson Nathan Fisk

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Phil Lollar Writer · Director Bob Luttrell Sound Designer · Producer Steve Harris Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

Something strange is going on at Whit's End. Officer David Harley has been trying all day to tell a joke about two hunters and a dog that walks on water, and every single time he reaches the punchline, something interrupts him. Tom Riley never hears the ending either, because the malt Whit hands him foams up and erupts all over the counter. Someone has slipped yeast into the malt container. Moments later a spray bottle squirts Whit right in the face, and the culprit gives himself away by laughing. It is Philo Sanderson, the self-declared best practical joker in Odyssey.

Whit is not upset. He likes a good prank as long as it is not cruel and nobody gets hurt, and he admits these were funny. Tom offers a warning instead: when you pull pranks on people, sooner or later somebody wants to return the favor. Philo is not worried. He has a lucky rabbit's foot, and he insists he is far too clever to be fooled by anyone.

The rabbit's foot troubles Whit more than the pranks do, especially when Philo explains that Connie Kendall gave it to him after reading him his horoscope. Whit finds Connie upstairs and tells her plainly that astrology, fortune telling, palm reading and good luck charms all belong to the occult, and that he will not let the children who come to Whit's End be introduced to it. Connie is stunned. She has not made up her mind about God or the Bible, but she never meant any harm - she only thought horoscopes were something interesting and new, and she was certain nobody was taking them seriously. Then Whit points out that she had been expecting a promotion the moment he walked in, because that is what her own horoscope promised. That, he tells her, is exactly how it works: it sneaks up on you disguised as fun. Connie promises to stop, and adds one thing that stays with Whit long after she says it. Horoscopes are so easy to find. They are in the paper every single day.

Meanwhile, Philo discovers an envelope with his name on it. He proudly refuses to open it, certain it is rigged, and he is right - but inside is also a note warning him that a prank is coming before the week is through. It is only Monday, and Philo spends the next six days jumpy, suspicious and refusing even a glass of water.

Whit, turning Connie's words over with Tom, decides the real trouble is not that the occult is easy to find but that the Bible has somehow been made to seem boring. He disappears into a back room all week. On Saturday he finally opens the door on the Bible Room, where Paul's armor from Ephesians can be tried on, a model city gives up its secret to anyone who marches around it seven times, and a dark mirror lights up when a Bible verse is spoken to it. Whit credits Connie, Tom and Philo for inspiring it, and explains that horoscopes and astrology are Satan's practical jokes, meant to confuse people so they cannot see how exciting the Bible truly is.

Then Philo arrives, covered head to toe in blue paint from his own clumsy trap, boasting that nobody managed to prank him. Tom asks him a question he has not considered. What makes him think the whole week was not one giant practical joke?