Sierra McClain is leaving 911 Lone Star. What could this possibly? Does this spell the end for her character Grace? Will she disappear into a puff of smoke? Decide to move to Hawaii offscreen? Die an unseen death? Here’s what we know.
Where did Grace go?
According to the season premiere episode on Monday, Grace did indeed decide to skip town without a word. A faith-based “Doctors Without Borders “style organization gave a talk at her church, and she was so moved by the plight of the needy around the world that she dipped without a goodbye. She’s now jetting around the globe providing life saving treatments to orphans around the world.
As for her two year old daughter and husband back at home, they’ll work something out? The character Judd defended his wife’s “inconvenient” decision, but also stressed that the “touch of God” called her away from her family. God certainly works in mysterious ways, considering that Judd’s adult son was also paralyzed in a biking accident earlier in the show, and could probably really use some of Grace’s support. But hey, someone has to look after the orphans of the world, even if it means semi-orphaning your own kids in the process.
According to showrunner Rashad Raisani, Grace’s untimely exit is better than the alternative: her untimely death. While the writers of 911 Lone Star debated killing Grace off in order to account for Sierra McClain’s absence, they decided that Grace deserved better than a sudden terminal cancer diagnosis or a run in with a runaway bus. After talking it over with actor Jim Parrack who plays Judd, Rashad came to the conclusion that the only force powerful enough to call Grace away from her family was the Big Man Upstairs. God. According to the Bible, God has encouraged his followers to do some pretty wild things. He told that dude Abraham to murder his kid Isaac in order to prove his faith. At least God didn’t tell Grace to go as far as that.
Rashad references the Bible as part of the decision to call Grace away, particularly the part of the book where people are called away from loved ones in order to follow a higher power. If my Catholic school educated memory serves, I remember that Jesus told his disciples to abandon lots of things, including their jobs as fishermen and in one instance a dead father. “Let the dead bury the dead,” Jesus said, i.e. leave your unburied dad to lay on the ground and follow me whenever, wherever, Shakira style.
And like a disciple of old, Grace did.
(Featured Image: Fox)
Published: Sep 27, 2024 01:56 pm