Helicopter Rescuer (Father Cavanaugh parable, S1E14)

Helicopter Rescuer appears as an anonymous, pragmatic savior within Father Cavanaugh's drowning‑man parable, arriving from above to offer direct physical rescue. The figure operates as a rhetorical instrument rather than a developed person: a concrete embodiment of immediate mercy and human aid that cuts through theological abstraction and legalism. By representing one of the 'messengers God sent,' the Helicopter Rescuer pressures President Bartlet's conscience—framing ignored practical help as a moral failure and redirecting the episode's ethical argument from procedure to responsibility.