Customer Reviews

Saving Grace: The Final Season

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I loved the first two seasons, but felt that the third and final season wasn't nearly as good most of the time. (There were exceptions.) Let me first say that I think the ending fit and made sense, so that's not what disappointed me. But a lot of the other stuff seemed very disjointed and often meaningless to me. Crime plots were suddenly 'solved' in a minute because the writers didn't bother writing a good development about how the cops solved the crime. An important new characters goes through one weird change after another: A battered girlfriend who doesn't even dare to leave the house or talk to anyone; then she's in a coma, wakes up and suddenly doesn't speak English anymore; she then skips from country to country and through all kinds of jobs (all of which she's excellent at?!); then she turns out to be a millionaire - meth-addicted suicidal religious girl with a closer link to Earl than Grace. By the way, with the exception of the first episodes she's far from a doormat, so why did she tolerate an abusive man who beat her and kept her a virtual prisoner in the house? You get the idea. The writing skips and often doesn't make sense.
The characters and actors were still great, but I had the impression that the writing suffered from the impeding cancellation of the series. Whether that was because the writers were running out of time or were frustrated and didn't bother writing at the same level as before? I don't know.
What I also find very frustrating is that we get a bare bones set with no extras whatsoever. To me that also shows a disinterest in a dying series. A few interviews or audio commentaries with some background information would have been nice. I would still buy it to get the complete series, but I'm disappointed that the final season wasn't of the same quality as seasons 1 and 2.

At first I didn't care for the show but somehow I kept tuning in to watch it and pretty soon I could hardly wait for the next week's episode. This was a WONDERFUL series that touched you on many different levels....so why did they only do 4 seasons of it? With all the garbage that's on TV now and that keeps coming back season after season (for ex. Keeping Up with the Kardashians which is a total ZERO) why would they take Saving Grace off the air after only 4 seasons and WHY did it have to end the way it did?! I was totally surprised & upset with the ending and I'm still upset about it.....it was totally unexpected and really different from the way other shows end, which makes it unique again, but I still didn't like the ending. I feel like I've had a personal loss myself.

Just got done watching the Series Finale~What a TEAR~JERKER~!!
We'll miss watching it every Monday Night~!
Holly Hunter is a GREAT & Superb Actress~!
Leon Rippy is a Unique Angel~!
Friend Laura San Giacomo~Is also a GREAT Actress~!!
I've already ordered Season 1 & 2~!!

While not released on DVD at the time of this review, I watched the entirety of Season 3 of "Saving Grace" a second time (from my DVR) in preparation for the Season 4 (and final season) on March 29. I can say without hesitation, it is the best season yet, powerful, funny, and lyrical, this is the rare show that only gets better with each passing season. Most noticeably this time, the police stories are the strongest they have ever been. The direction is absolutely hypnotic. Holly Hunter, as wild Detective Grace Hanadarko, has re-estblished herself with this show as a force to be reckoned with. Hunter is beautiful as ever (at age 52), and at the top of her game. Scenes that stand out from this season are Hanadarko's interview of a rape victim...a chilling piece of work that cuts between her inteview of the victim and her fellow detectives walk of the crime scene, Hunter's interview carried in voiceover. It's a scene that reminds us of who Grace is...for all of her wild, booze-fueled, sexually charged escapades, she is a brilliant, compassionate and searingly brave. Her strengths vastly outweighing her flaws. Another stand out moment is when Grace is abducted by a psychopath, and Earl mobilizes a team of angels to search for her...It's a gorgeous, moving scene that had my eyes welled up as it stood to deepen Earl's compassion (and at times, envy) for Grace. Or the final scene of that episode when we see her kidnapper has tattooed beautifully ornate angel wings on her back. This season also gives us a better idea of exactly what Grace has done to have a last-chance angel...stemming from her actions around the Oklahoma City bombing which killed her sister. The season finale, "Am I Gonna Die Today?" Is a wonderful, unnerving bit that places Grace at the moment where she demands proof of why she should have faith, along with mystery woman, Nelley, by jumping off a building. All of this guarantees a spectacular final season, and while I am very sad to see this groundbreaking, and fabulous show end, I am glad it is ending at the right time and not out-staying its welcome. I feel like I have some idea of how it will end, but remain hesitant to speculate on how it will get there. This show has been one of the most unpredictable shows in Tv history, and I hope has paved the way for more like it. I certainly will add this season to my collection when it is released (hopefully on Blu-ray).

"Saving Grace" is/was just great! Drama, suspense, action and adventure; such a travesty for TNT to drop it after just 3 seasons.

I would recommend "Saving Grace" Seasons 1 to 3 for adult viewing pleasure.

I was not someone that really wanted to watch a show called "Saving Grace" as I was convinced it would have obnoxiously heavy handed preaching, and I was looking to be entertained not preached at. One night I was bored and saw an episode was available from Comcast cable's On Demand, and I decided to watch, and found myself intrigued. The episode I watched was part of the second season I believe, and I continued to watch episodes as they became available, particularly when I heard that the show was being cancelled.

This last season brought the entire show full circle, and allowed the viewer to see the main charector, Grace Hannadarko as not only a human being with obvious flaws, but also someone who has been chosen for greatness; and it is in the final episode, where the viewer finds out just what Grace was chosen for.

I watched the final two episodes three times, as each time I saw a clue that I had missed the first time around. I ended up feeling like hope is not simply a four letter word, and that we do not have to be perfect to become one with our creator. Although I have seen various people say various things about Grace's final moments, I for one was left feeling that love makes anything possible, and it was something I really, truly needed. It's amazing, as I think of that last episode, I am still moved to tears.

I would urge anyone to watch even a random episode of Saving Grace, and do so with an open mind and open heart. I believe you will find yourself wanting to see more, and in the end glad that you followed Grace Hannadarko on her journey.

Oh and one last thing. I have not been one to follow Holly Hunter's career, although I riveted by your performance in "The Piano". In "Saving Grace", Holly Hunter is visually beatiful, and she dives into charector in a way that I think few actor's are capable of. I don't think any other actor would have played the roll in the way Ms. Hunter did, and I think she was the perfect actor for this roll. In fact the entire cast worked so well together, it was very easy to forget this was a television show, and simply get lost in the give and take of the players on screen, as if watching a group of old friends.

I love Saving Grace & was pretty disappointed to learn it was being canceled only after 4 seasons. Why The Final Season came out before, seasons 3 & 4 came out makes no sense to me. At least I'll be owning all the seasons, so I can always watch the show. I highly recommend Saving Grace to anyone, it's differently worth owning. As you will want to watch the series over & over again.

The five star rating is somewhat misleading because the series as a whole was five star despite a very weak (at times) third/fourth season. I write from a law enforcement/legal/Catholic perspective and associated personal experiences. Saving Grace is like a 39 act play with moral, professional and spiritual elements, utilized to reveal the dichotomy presented by the two main characters (Grace and Ham). They are at once both sinners and saints. The scripts, at least for the first two seasons and a few of the third, were realistic complex examinations of the everyday lives of police officers. The spiritual umbrella of this series provided an interesting framework upon which to build a show. But all things said, it is a police story. I watched the show first run from 2007 to 2010, and recently viewed it streamed online. The result is a sense of hope, redemption and on a more superficial level I was left greatly entertained. As you watch, keep things in perspective and enjoy. Warning: the graphic sex and violence may be offensive to some, but for those of you who want a portrayal as close to the truth as television can offer, this just may be for you.

I loved this series and thought it ended entirely too soon.
The story lines were tight, the scripts true works of art and the performances stunning. I feel like I was taken on a super fast rollercoaster ride as the show took me up and down through emotions.
The final season winds everything up in a gut-wrenching, hard-hitting fashion.
If you want to think very hard about God, our choices and the overall plan of things, this is the show to watch.
Mature audiences only!

I caught sporadic episodes of the first two seasons on TV. When the Final Season DVD was on sale, I decided to see how the producers wrapped up the story. No spoiler in this review but I was surprised and satisfied with the ending. I got so hooked on the story line (real cliff-hangers at the end of each episode) that I watched all 19 episodes in three days. If you're a 'Saving Grace' fan and have not seen the episodes in chronological order, I highly recommend the final season as a closure. If you've never seen Saving Grace, or if, like me, you only saw a few non-consecutive episodes, maybe you'd like to start with the first season. It's a very quirky story line, and not really for PG-13 audience (sex, violence, bad language, religiously irreverent) but very funny and inspirational if you're open to this kind of humor. Earl is not your ordinary angel but he gets the job done! Holly Hunter is truly amazing as Grace.