I’m not sure what has happened to Saving Grace. The troubles seemed to start last season (or early this season, if someone can tell me if this run constitutes a fourth season or not), and the first couple of episodes back have done nothing to reverse that trend. I’m not even sure that I can pinpoint what is missing, but something is different, and I’m not digging it.
When we first talked about Saving Grace’s cancellation, the main reasoning that I was hearing was trouble selling the syndication rights overseas. Since the show already runs new on a cable network, there’s really not much of a chance of selling them domestically (Save perhaps DirecTV’s 101 Network, which is doing a great job putting together content from a lot of sources), so the story sounds right. Now that we’ve seen what the network was looking at, I’ve got a much different theory. Maybe the show just stopped being good.
Last week, I ranted about how boring the show has become, but it is much more of a complex issue than just that. While the characters are still pretty much the same, the show has stopped having a purpose. Before Leon Cooley’s death, there had always been a very slow build to that inevitability. Since, that, though, the show has lost focus. You could blame the aimlessness on the introduction and plight of Neely, but I think that her character is more just another symptom than the cause.
What is Earl’s plan? Does he even have one at this point? He’s spent no time with Grace this season. Hell, he has had very little screen time at all, even less so actually speaking. It had always seemed in the earlier seasons that he wanted to see Grace’s redemption. Last season we wondered if she could ever change her ways. Who she is so intertwined with her actions, that, independent of a major personality change, Earl may never see his goals fulfilled.
All of this circles back around to my central question. What is the show supposed to be in the final episodes? Grace is wandering through her life almost completely aimless. If Geepaw’s troubles hadn’t found a way to ground her, I’m not sure where she would have ended up this week. I liked the subplot with Clay, and (as always) her interactions with Rhetta. but other than that, there was very little this week to make viewers come back next. Things need to change, and they need to change very quickly.
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Apr 06, 2010 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
Given that Earl was afraid to look at the last page of the book, I believe Grace dies before the end of the series. Unfortunately for us, the writing on the wall has become dull and misdirected.
Does ANYONE give a shit about Neely? I still don’t even understand what she is doing on the show. She was being abused, taking drugs and then almost died but was saved, wanted to commit suicide and Grace saved her. Is that the gist? She needs to be gone. Now.
I guess Grace will face a lot of death and depression this season, and in doing so come to some place where she believes in God and is, thus, saved. I wish she was the Grace from seasons 1 & 2 and that she ended up in Hell. At least it would be more fun for us as viewers.