Any Saving Grace fans here? You agree it's the best role Holly Hunter ever did?

Cafe Society
1

I will never forget the first time I saw the pilot for Saving Grace. Starting with the opening music it was the wildest rollercoaster ride I’ve ever taken.

I’ve never seen such a incredible & fearless performance by an actor. Grace Hanadarko was the role of a lifetime for Holly Hunter. She was so fearless in exposing the character’s raw vulnerabilities and flaws. Holly completely immersed herself in that role. Taking risks very few main stream actors would consider.

Then you had the other fantastic characters. Leon Rippy as Earl. The most unconventional Angel I’ve ever seen. Laura San Giacomo as Rheta.

Amazing performances by the entire cast.

I can’t believe this show didn’t continue another season or two. I would have loved seeing Grace after finally accepting her spiritually and confronting evil in *I’m Gonna Need a Big Night Light * . She still would have rough edges. Still hard charging. But Grace would have a new direction in her life. How would she have dealt with it?

This is a show that needs to be binge watched. There’s so many layers and nuances. It all goes back to the Oklahoma City Bombing and the death of Grace’s sister. That event set everything in motion until the final showdown with evil.

I was wrung out and drained by this show. There’s so many intense highs and lows. I’m finally ready to rewatch it. I took a five year break. It’ll be my third time seeing it again.

2

I do understand why the show was cancelled.

It had 6.4 million viewers season 1, season 2 dropped to 5.2 million. It crashed to 3.5 million in season 3. Cite Wikipedia

Nancy Miller, the series creator and writer went too dark in season 2. There was this underlying dark humor in season 1 that made the show special. (Grace wakes up from a drunken bender, tied up nude with lipstick writing on her ass. Is one example).

That humor disappeared season 2. It got pretty grim at times. They killed off a couple key characters.

I understand now it was all planned to show this evil force at work. Building up to the finale. It was why Grace was saved in the pilot and giving her that shot at redemption.

3

I was a fan of the show, too. Very ‘real’ and quirky and well-made.

As to why it was cancelled: I’d suspect it confused and puzzled the corporate executives who had the power of the ax. Too ‘female centered,’ maybe.

Hunter talks about Saving Grace in her NPR interview (to promote Incredibles 2) that aired yesterday:

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I really came to love the show and all of the characters. I missed them all for weeks when I finished the series.