‘Finding Alice’ Recap: ‘What Now?’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the season finale of ‘Finding Alice’.
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Often times, stories about loss and grief, tend to resolve themselves in a happy manner in the fastest way imaginable. As though the folks that assembled the story, are worried about bringing the audience down emotionally, so it is best in their eyes… to give the person suffering through loss, a quick epiphany that puts them on the right path, so everything wraps up in a happy manner. And while that does work, since so many of us feel satisfaction at seeing that kind of story play out, it really does do its viewers a grand disservice for certain. Because that’s simply not how grief works in the slightest and some folks watch or read these stories to gain guidance on what comes next when they lose someone… because they need a helping hand.

Which is why we need to celebrate stories that show us the ups and downs and the ugly of grief, because those are the brave tales that understand the chaos and strife that death brings into our lives and can speak to it in a helpful manner, and that is precisely why the Acorn TV series, Finding Alice, continues to deserve a round of applause. Because week in and week out, it’s provided us with that raw look at the grieving process and it is so dedicated to what this process actually looks like, that even the season finale of this story refused to deviate from the honesty that this series has provided us with from day one. For ‘What Now?’ is a story that should have started to see Alice begin to move into the light quickly, by way of some kind of powerful epiphany that made her realize that she needed to leave sorrow behind and celebrate only happiness. But instead, she doubled down on her erratic behavior and continued to do her best to not deal with anything and that of course, led to more conflict and strife in her household.

To the point where a subtle and realistic moment of growth took place. Because eventually Charlotte had enough of her mother’s shenanigans and called her mother out for her irresponsibility and that in turn, brought forth a full-on blow out fight between the two of them. Where honest words flowed and yelling was just as plentiful and that in turn, motivated Charlotte to move in with grandma for a bit and having her daughter leave in that manner after spouting off some hard, hard truth… allowed for Alice to really ponder upon her situation and look at it objectively for a change and that’s incredible to see in a story such as this. Because it hammers home the reality that the way back from loss and grief involves baby steps, the kind that slowly nudge us and move us forward, and those victories help us to see that we are going to be okay and well… Alice definitely took part in some important and healthy baby steps in this tale.  

Because she came to understand the bigger picture. In that, she couldn’t be like this forever, that she had to find strength, and she had to put the pieces back together. But that, wasn’t easy in the slightest. Since it meant confronting Graham about his attempts to start a relationship with her when she wasn’t ready and confront her father-in-law over his bad behavior and herself for that matter. Which in turn allowed for her to take those all-important baby steps toward reclaiming her life and forging her future, to the point where she finally has a partner and investor in executing the build on that plot of land that Harry adored and she’s finally ready to take on bigger challenges. Especially the ones that will involve George in the future, since he is revealing himself to be a bit of a punk. 

But what matters most, is that this episode didn’t end perfectly happy, it just ended. With a hint of hope for the future and with the bare beginnings of appropriate behavior from Alice and you really cannot ask for a more realistic ending than that. Because that is what comes next for us when we lose a loved one, baby steps and one day at a time. So that new experiences fill our hearts and souls and slowly push out the pain, and that in turn will allow for sorrowful and lonesome mornings to be replaced with ones filled with purpose and pride. Since we know that we are doing our loved one justice and well, hopefully this show gets a second season and quick. So, we can see where Alice’s growth takes her in the days to come as she continues to work to heal from the darkest moment of her life. Until next time.

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