(Season 3, Episode 3)
Saving Grace does family very well, from the family dynamic that has developed in the squad room to the extended family that Grace was born into. It’s the latter that took focus this week, as a criminal from Grace’s past targets members of her family. Church bombings to sniper fire, Grace’s family escapes for the most part unharmed, but one of Father Hanadarko’s (the brother the priest, and not, you know, Grace’s dad) congregation is killed in the blast meant for him.
Any show that can ramp up the drama every once in a while and still hold true to its characters really has something going for it. As much as ER‘s “event” episodes grew tiresome late in its run, the earlier versions were always outstanding, as we believed that this is how things would go if our ordinary docs were put into extraordinary circumstances (Once we realized that it would happen about three times a season, the believability factor dropped off a bit, though). Saving Grace is similar in that Grace’s reaction was exactly as it should have been.
For once, the subtle echos of the Oklahoma City bombing weren’t a part of the story, and frankly, I was a bit surprised. I think for Clay, who had lost his mother in the bombing of the Murrah building, his reaction to almost losing his uncle, and then finding that he was holding the next bomb, was understated. He handled things amazingly well. In fact, the best scene of the episode was Grace coaxing the memories of the bomber out of him by distracting him with playing catch and asking about his day. It was obvious, and Clay knew what she was doing, but it still worked. These two actors (Holly Hunter and Dylan Minnette, have great nephew/aunt chemistry on screen).
A close second for scene of the night was Grace and Ham at the location of the attack on her brother Leo. Grace holds things together so well most of the time, that when she loses it, it’s always a great scene.
The only thing that didn’t work for me was who was behind the whole thing. I guess it was wrapped up rather neatly, and quickly, but it just didn’t seem true to me that he would hold Grace so responsible for what happened to him and his family.
Most shows like this, specifically cop shows, have these episodes where they pull one part of the main character’s life into the other. As I mentioned, most shows don’t do it well enough, but Saving Grace shined at it here. Grace’s family is a big part of her life, so its natural when they become a part of her work life. Bringing in everyone at once, and managing it well, is very impressive.
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Jul 03, 2009 @ 14:00 EST5EDT
