"Saving Grace"

I've been a fan of that series from the very first show. But perhaps not why you'd think.

Earl was everything I've been brought up to believe an angel wasn't. So, a little mind-stretching is good: it's why I enjoy select science fiction/fantasy. It's that genre enjoyment that allowed me to enjoy this show without actually believing in angels or an actively interfering deity.

I finally am a fan of Holly Hunter. I didn't appreciate her earlier stuff, but this was different, and her acting skills were up to the part. Grace was hard to like at times, but the complications in the plot and the dogged pursuit of the bad guys kept me interested. Mystery/crime fiction is my other favorite genre. But I learned to care about her character, whether or not I approved of what she was doing in her personal life. I came to appreciate the change, however hard-fought-against, in what she believed.

I watched the two-hour finale last night, and it kept me from sleeping well all night. I knew it would as soon as I hit "off". It still rides with me, hitching along behind my thoughts as I go through my day, popping up in "mind-free" moments. The thing is, I can see why it ended the way it did, why she made the choice she did, why the writers had to finish it that way. Sometimes the ultimate sacrifice is the only way to achieve your goal, and Grace was shown that when she gave up and took a breath under water. So, in order to kill the personification of evil, she had to allow herself to be killed as well. (Hey, did anybody else notice that the bags of letters survived the explosion intact?)

It was the final moments, where each character saluted her body as it was carried by, that told the story of what was happening to each of them. That usually has me in tears, but not last night. Last night I was struck by the last moment, when Ham threw away the ring, and Earl just watched. This is what I kept reviewing in my sleep. I still haven't decided why it ended just that way. Or why that particular moment sticks with me the way it does. But it does.