Joan of Arcadia

16 year old Joan Girardi is approached by someone claiming to be God. He gives her a mission, get a job. Will Girardi, Joans dad and new chief of police for Arcadia, is trying to solve the case of a serial killer.

God encourages Joan to learn how to play chess; Will must work with a psychic on a missing toddler case; Helen hopes a miracle will enable Kevin to walk again.

Joan learns from God that shes holding a garage sale on Saturday, which doesnt leave her much time to sort through her familys 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 isnt strong enough. Also, Joan catches the interest of a class charmer and a newspaper job falls right into Kevins lap.

Joan baby-sits for a 6-year-old boy who is obsessed with death; officers assault a black man at a gas station.

God wants Joan to score an ""A"" on a test about French saint Joan of Arc. As the teen hits the books, she draws comparisons to the life of the young heroine who claimed to hear divine voices and was burnt at the stake. Helen finds her daughters newest obsession troublesome and urges Will to have the entire family visit a therapist. Meanwhile, Will is unjustly raked over the coals for shutting down a crack house.

God instructs Joan to ask a troublemaker to the winter formal. Will uncovers secrets that could prove unfavorable to the former Chief of Police and other members of the citys government.

At Helens 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.

Joans 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.

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.

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.

Joan takes a cosmetics class, per Gods request, and Kevin doesnt 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 Joans 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.

When the hospitalized Joan is diagnosed with Lyme disease, she begins to question if shes 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 Joans 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 shes been talking to God. In separate circumstances, Helen and Will begin to rethink their belief systems after, respectively, experiencing spiritual dreams and miraculous events.

Judith, a wild friend of Joans from summer camp, starts school at Arcadia High; Will investigates a drive-by shooting; Kevin confronts Andy about the on-going lawsuit.

God has Joan adopt a wild cat; Helens Aunt Olive has a stroke while visiting; Will calls Internal Affairs to investigate for corrupt cops.

Gods tells Joan to help her mother collect clothes for the homeless; Kevin attempts stand-up comedy in order to impress Beth; Will wants to counter-sue the Bakers.

After being prodded by Judith to go on a real date, Joan and Adam nervously prepare for a romantic night at a fancy French restaurant. Little do they know that Judith has subsequently made some misguided plans for herself for that evening, which later causes the guilt-ridden Joan to wonder if she could have prevented her friends misfortune.

While helping Grace shop for a dress for the occasion, Joan is delighted to finally meet Graces seemingly perfect mother, Sarah. However, when Sarahs drinking problem becomes evident, Joan begins to understand why Grace is so private – and why shes long been avoiding having her bat mitzvah. Meanwhile, Luke racks his brain to come up with a meaningful bat mitzvah gift for Grace. Additionally, Adam and Joan have different ways of coping with Judiths death. Will supports Lucys less-than-legal means of trying to get one of Judiths friends to describe Judiths on-the-run killer, and Kevins ex-girlfriend is deposed for the trial.

Despite everyones 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 shes visiting, he tells her that college is attainable and persuades her to hire him as a tutor. Meanwhile, Adam becomes jealous of Joans 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.

After saving a girls life Joan suddenly becomes famous but she soon learns fame is fleeting and can even turn against you; Adam has a job interview that doesnt 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.

Incensed that Will and Helen have forbidden her to go to a concert with Adam and stay overnight with him in his fathers 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 shes 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.

After Price discovers Joan holding an empty egg carton near his freshly egged car, he wrongly assumes shes 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 shes 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, Joans 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.

In the wake of Joan’s breakup with Adam, God tells her to do some house cleaning, which puts her in the middle of a school scandal.

God tells Joan that the last two years were a spiritual boot camp for her greatest challenge yet, pitting her against a man with a sinister agenda.