To be honest, I’m still processing last night’s “Saving Grace” finale. the show swung wildly from buddy cop drama to spiritual awakening to intense character study, all while maintaining a raw passion that was hard to resist. But last night’s finale didn’t sit quite right, perhaps because it all ended so abruptly.
SPOILERS BELOW. DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW.
After her spirit walk to Mexico, fueled by the death of the young girl she accidentally hit with her car, Grace returned to Oklahoma City ready to vanquish evil and serve God. Then she blew herself to high heaven.
OK. Here’s what happened. Grace goes to a storage warehouse to finally catch up with the evil demon/fallen angel/devil servant who has plagued her over the past year. He claimed to have helped the girl find her way in front of Grace’s car. He took responsibility for trying to kill Grace’s nephew, Clay. And he admitted to being there when Grace’s sister died in the 1995 federal building bombing. So Grace, sitting on a pick-up truck full of explosive material Mr. Evil threatened to use to hurt more people, flicked a lit cigar into the truck bed. And went boom.
Now, I get that Grace was willing to scarifice herself to take out the most evil of evils. But did she? Can the demon die? I don’t remember the show discussing Earl’s mortality very much, and I assume his dark counterparts would adhere to the same rules. If Mr. Evil can’t die, did he just manipulate Grace — a force for good — into taking herself out? Maybe.
Or maybe Grace did vanquish evil. At least one evil. And after her watery baptism in Mexico and decision to put herself in God’s hands, she put aside her Earthly ties (her future fiance Ham, her bestest friend Rhetta) to fight the good fight and make the ultimate sacrifice.
Earl first introduced himself as a last-chance angel. And all three of his human charges we got to know on this series — Grace, drug addict Neely and death row inmate Leon — died. It seems Earl’s job was to help those about to die find redemption. I think Leon did. Neely I’m not so sure about. But Grace? She wasn’t that far from death when the series started — just a roiling spitfire of booze and self-destruction. And even though her last meal with Earl was beer and chili cheese fries (the important things don’t change), Grace had come a long way spiritually since we first met her.
Clearly the show about Grace was a show about grace. But which definition?
Grace Hanadarko certainly had grace. She found beauty in the ugliness of life and even made chili fries seem elegant.
But she also needed grace, which brings us back to the redemption story. She might not have started out looking for mercy and forgiveness, but that’s what God kept giving her.
Or maybe her whole life these past few years was borrowed time — a grace period. God wasn’t done with her yet, and until she only died after finishing her mission. But again, was the mission only personal, or did she really save people in that fiery explosion?
She embodied other definitions, too: She showed great moral strength, despite seemingly immoral acts. Theologically speaking, she was strengthened by the spirit of a higher power.
So maybe the show was about all these things. Maybe it was just a tragedy. I think Rhetta and Ham might see it differently.
But I think the show would want us to take a cue from those who sent in the piles of letters addressed to “Angel Cop” that miraculously escaped harm in the explosion. After all, how we view the finale, and ultimately the series, is itself a question of faith.
Review by Felipe IbañezBlockedParentSpoilers2016-06-24T04:32:22Z
To be honest, I’m still processing last night’s “Saving Grace” finale. the show swung wildly from buddy cop drama to spiritual awakening to intense character study, all while maintaining a raw passion that was hard to resist. But last night’s finale didn’t sit quite right, perhaps because it all ended so abruptly.
SPOILERS BELOW. DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW.
After her spirit walk to Mexico, fueled by the death of the young girl she accidentally hit with her car, Grace returned to Oklahoma City ready to vanquish evil and serve God. Then she blew herself to high heaven.
OK. Here’s what happened. Grace goes to a storage warehouse to finally catch up with the evil demon/fallen angel/devil servant who has plagued her over the past year. He claimed to have helped the girl find her way in front of Grace’s car. He took responsibility for trying to kill Grace’s nephew, Clay. And he admitted to being there when Grace’s sister died in the 1995 federal building bombing. So Grace, sitting on a pick-up truck full of explosive material Mr. Evil threatened to use to hurt more people, flicked a lit cigar into the truck bed. And went boom.
Now, I get that Grace was willing to scarifice herself to take out the most evil of evils. But did she? Can the demon die? I don’t remember the show discussing Earl’s mortality very much, and I assume his dark counterparts would adhere to the same rules. If Mr. Evil can’t die, did he just manipulate Grace — a force for good — into taking herself out? Maybe.
Or maybe Grace did vanquish evil. At least one evil. And after her watery baptism in Mexico and decision to put herself in God’s hands, she put aside her Earthly ties (her future fiance Ham, her bestest friend Rhetta) to fight the good fight and make the ultimate sacrifice.
Earl first introduced himself as a last-chance angel. And all three of his human charges we got to know on this series — Grace, drug addict Neely and death row inmate Leon — died. It seems Earl’s job was to help those about to die find redemption. I think Leon did. Neely I’m not so sure about. But Grace? She wasn’t that far from death when the series started — just a roiling spitfire of booze and self-destruction. And even though her last meal with Earl was beer and chili cheese fries (the important things don’t change), Grace had come a long way spiritually since we first met her.
Clearly the show about Grace was a show about grace. But which definition?
Grace Hanadarko certainly had grace. She found beauty in the ugliness of life and even made chili fries seem elegant.
But she also needed grace, which brings us back to the redemption story. She might not have started out looking for mercy and forgiveness, but that’s what God kept giving her.
Or maybe her whole life these past few years was borrowed time — a grace period. God wasn’t done with her yet, and until she only died after finishing her mission. But again, was the mission only personal, or did she really save people in that fiery explosion?
She embodied other definitions, too: She showed great moral strength, despite seemingly immoral acts. Theologically speaking, she was strengthened by the spirit of a higher power.
So maybe the show was about all these things. Maybe it was just a tragedy. I think Rhetta and Ham might see it differently.
But I think the show would want us to take a cue from those who sent in the piles of letters addressed to “Angel Cop” that miraculously escaped harm in the explosion. After all, how we view the finale, and ultimately the series, is itself a question of faith.