Higher Ground (TV Series) - Episodes

Episodes

Higher Ground consists of 22 episodes, each of which having its own quotation at the beginning. These quotes comes from famous writers, politicians and other significant persons.

1. Scott Free

• Aired: January 14, 2000
• Quote: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us look at the stars." ~ Oscar Wilde

Scott Barringer is brought to Mt. Horizon, a school for troubled teens, against his will. Meanwhile, Peter Scarbrow, the administrator of Mt. Horizon, learns that the school is in financial trouble and is facing foreclosure by the bank. Scott tries to run away, but gets caught, and we learn that he was raped by his stepmother.

2. Babes in Arms

• Aired: January 21, 2000
• Quote: "The secret of secrets is inside me again" ~ Anna Akhmatova

Peter is caught between his ex-wife Chloe and a new flame, Sophie Becker. The students help search for Annie's 6 year old daughter Gracie, who wandered off into the woods during a picnic. Shelby Merrick is acting out terribly and must overcome the troubling shadows of her past in order to help rescue the little girl.

3. Walking the Line

• Aired: January 28, 2000
• Quote: "If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future." ~ Winston Churchill

Peter visits his father while in New York trying to get a loan, and back at the school the students dread taking their PSATs.

4. Our Strongest Link

• Aired: February 4, 2000
• Quote: "All are needed by each one; Nothing is fair or good alone." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

To teach the kids to work as a team, they are entered in the Junior Eco-Challenge competition.

5. Hope Falls

• Aired: March 10, 2000
• Quote: "Never deprive someone of hope; It might be all they have." ~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

After a student commits suicide, Hannah resigns and the school's founder decides to take the group on a trek to the site of his son's death 22 years earlier.

6. What Remains

• Aired: February 11, 2000
• Quote: "In the silence of our woods your children will not be alone." ~ Chief Seattle

A search-and-rescue mission is mounted to find Juliette, who has fallen into an uncharted cave containing ancient Indian bones.

7. Crossroads

• Aired: February 18, 2000
• Quote: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent" ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Peter gives the group a parenting assignment, and Katherine's behavior with her boyfriend threatens her impending graduation.

8. Worlds Apart

• Aired: February 25, 2000
• Quote: "It is easier to fight for principles than to live up to them." ~ Alfred Adler

Auggie's older brother tries to talk him into selling drugs to the rich kids at Horizon. Meanwhile potential investors visit the school, and Sophie and Peter try to figure out their relationship.

9. Seductions

• Aired: March 3, 2000
• Quote: "To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance." ~ Oscar Wilde

As a thunderstorm causes the school to flood, Shelby's attempt to seduce Scott cause him to relive unpleasant memories. He reveals his secret to Shelby.

10. Close Encounters

• Aired: March 17, 2000
• Quote: "Tell me who admires you and loves you, and I will tell you who you are" ~ C.A. Sainte-Beuve

Scott travels down a treacherous river, trying to run away after an encounter with his abusive stepmother. Meanwhile, Shelby falls in love with a horse that's been abused and abandoned.

11. Best Behavior

• Aired: March 31, 2000
• Quote: "False face must hide what false heart doth know." ~ William Shakespeare

Juliette is devastated because she is not invited to her mother's wedding. Ezra is devastated over his parents false attempt to reconcile their differences.

12. Wherefore art thou

• Aired: April 7, 2000
• Quote: "Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness." ~ James Thurber

As Ezra recovers from an attempt to commit suicide, Peter and Sophie are busy tracking down Auggie and Juliette who have run away.

13. Attention Deficit

• Aired: April 14, 2000
• Quote: "Somewhere in the world your Father is lost and needs you but you are far away." ~ William Stafford

When a tough father brings his troubled son, David, to the school, the kid antagonizes the other students while the father treks through bear country with Peter.

14. The Kids Stay in the Picture

• Aired: April 21, 2000
• Quote: "From here there is no place that does not see you. You must change your life. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Horizon's new boss wants to make a promotional film that uses actors instead of the actual students.

15. Exposed

• Aired: April 28, 2000
• Quote: "I'm giving you a longing look ... Everyday I write the book." ~ Elvis Costello

When an undercover reporter shows up to do an expose on the school, the students feed her the wild stories that she wants to hear. Scott discovers Shelby's secret.

16. Innocence

• Aired: May 5, 2000
• Quote: "The childhood shows the man, as morning shows the day." ~ John Milton

As a winter storm moves in, the kids' solo treks are ruined, Shelby becomes lost, and Peter's visiting father has a heart attack.

17. Daised and Confused

• Aired: May 12, 2000
• Quote: "I cherished hope, it is true, but it vanished when my person reflected . . ." ~ Mary Shelley

Daisy returns home with Sophie and Shelby for her mother's funeral and must face her abusive, drunken father. Meanwhile, the Cliffhangers read and identify with Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein".

18. One of Those Days

• Aired: May 19, 2000
• Quote: "You don't live in a world all alone. Your brother is here too." ~ Albert Schweitzer

Peter's brother arrives to contest their father's will; Sophie undergoes a medical procedure; Shelby's mother pulls her out of school to take care of her ailing, formerly abusive stepfather; Ezra steals the plot of Romeo & Juliet for his new play.

19. Because it's There

• Aired: May 16, 2000
• Quote: "Why climb Mount Everest? Because it's there." ~ George Mallory

Shelby's home life disintegrates when she discovers that her stepfather abused her little sister Jess. She confronts her mother about the abuse for the first time. Scott and Daisy worry about Shelby, but Peter doesn't have the power to bring her back to Horizon.

20. Falling Up

• Aired: June 3, 2000
• Quote: "Tragedies are about the depths that call up to certain men and insist that they descend." ~ Robert Bly

Peter battles his addiction to pain killers. Scott's real mother visits. Shelby returns to Horizon. This episode also features the song Wither by Canadian rock band glo.

21. Mended Fences

• Aired: June 9, 2000
• Quote: "If we really want to live, we'd better start at once to try." ~ Wystan Hugh Auden

During Parents Week, Scott and Shelby fight and Juliette meets Auggie's parents. Meanwhile, Shelby's sister Jess runs away from home to Horizon. She tells Scott and Shelby what happened to her on the streets; Scott understands Shelby's life for the first time. David returns and terrorizes Ezra and Daisy. At the end of Parents' Week, Scott lies and tells his father that his stepmother never abused him.

22. Because I Love You

• Aired: June 16, 2000
• Quote: "The child shall become father to the man." ~ William Wordsworth

Scott's dad wants to take him back home. Scott tries to convince Shelby that they can stay together even if when he leaves Horizon. Kat talks Peter & Sophie in to having a MORP - like a Prom, but without dates or favoritism. David is back and Ezra is upset because Daisy prefers David over him. Scott fights with his dad on their way home and decides not to leave Horizon. He returns just as the MORP is ending. When Shelby asked him why he came back, he says: "Because I love you." Sophie asks Peter to marry her.