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Review
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be ever at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
May the rains fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May the Good Lord hold you in the hollow of his hand.
Amen.
I'd seen this one before. It was early on in my appreciation of the show - I knew I
loved it and moved heaven and earth to be sure I saw it, but didn't know the characters very well and hadn't started keeping the episodes on tape. This show made me start keeping them.
So, I knew going in what would happen
plot-wise and had vague memories of the reading of Jack's journal. But I was not prepared for the full weight of it to hit me so hard. Knowing this family as I do now
makes this episode the most powerful one I've ever seen. I am simply awed.
 E
veryone deserves honors for this one - Vincent McEveety, Richard C. Okie, Mary Carver, Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker. They all came together to
create an episode of the highest caliber. I can't say enough about how much I loved this episode, yet I don't have the words to do it justice.
I'll guess I'll just talk about the two scenes that struck me the hardest. Every single
scene in this episode was well done; these were the two I rewound several times as I was watching it.
 The first one was the scene where AJ actually hits
Rick. They've come very close several times, and it may be that it's happened in an episode I didn't see or can't remember, but it was stunning. I had to
rewind it to believe it had really happened. And what impressed me most was the expressions on their faces when they realized what they were doing
- not so much anger as fear. Fear of crossing a line they couldn't take back, fear of truly hurting each other. It was instantly forgiven, but
it took a while for them to meet each other's gaze and even longer for the haunted look to leave their eyes. Very, very powerful scene. Kudos to both actors. I couldn't
help but get screen captures from every angle of this confrontation. You can find them, along with the rest of the photos here.
 The second scene was, of course, the
reading of the journal. Jack's description of Cecilia and his boys were both beautiful, fascinating, and incredibly painful. Jack may have had his faults, but it was clear
that he adored his family - it was a belated farewell from the heart. I loved each description - from the all-too-real version of his oldest son's faults, to his adoration
of the little blond boy that personified all that is good in any man. Wonderful, horrible, and amazing. I don't know if I can describe it better than that.
The reciting of the prayer was touching. Coincidentally, my father gave this prayer to
me in the form of a beautiful plaque years ago. It's still up on my wall. The title on mine is "A Gaelic Prayer" by an unknown author. I've always loved it, and for it to
show up here blew me away. It's a great prayer and I'm glad they used it.
The tears were around for quite awhile after the episode ended. For once, I can't find the slightest thing wrong with the plot. I might not agree with the date of Jack's
accident, but I'm not going to argue. Excellent, excellent episode.
6 out of 5 Camaros
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