‘Parish’ Recap: ‘Pilot’

4/1/2024

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Giancarlo Esposito as Gracián ‘Gray’ Parish in Episode 101 of ‘Parish’ – ‘Pilot’. (Photo Courtesy of Eliot Brasseaux/AMC.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Series Premiere of ‘Parish’.

Stories that revolve around loss, or hard times or both… tend to focus on supremely specific moments regarding those concepts. In that, they either look at the moment the darkness begins or plunge us into a moment down the line, where the character we will be spending time with, is deeply suffering. All in the hopes of taking us on quite the moving and emotional journey. One designed to showcase how life is always darkest before the dawn and how we find our way to the light in the midst of the suffering. Which these stories are inclined to do, to inspire us obviously, and to offer teachable moments. Since there will come a day where we find ourselves dealing with loss, hard times… or both.

But while that does indeed make for some engaging storytelling, the kind that we can take plenty from, at the same time… it does do a bit of disservice to the healing process. Simply because, it only shows us the endgame. Instead of informing us of what comes before the moment we realize we must work harder and be better if we want peace and calm in this life. Specifically, the moment in time… where we are quite the fool in nature. Where we mope, we sulk, we push back on anything that might be healthy for us and of course… where we engage in behaviors that are toxic in nature. To settle a score in our minds or perhaps… to feel something when we cannot and well, we need to see this part of the process, to truly learn and truly understand how we heal, so perhaps we recognize our more unfortunate behaviors and change course sooner.

If anything, this particular part of the human condition is top of mind today, simply because… it serves as the central focus of the series premiere of the new AMC/AMC+ series, Parish. Which is a story that revolves around a man named Gracián ‘Gray’ Parish, who should be a seen as a shining example of what happens when we work toward something more. For Gray is a man that left behind a thriving career in the criminal underworld, as a driver, to start a family, to start a legitimate driving business and to lead a wholesome life. But alas, when we meet Gray in this ‘Pilot’, ride sharing has cut deeply into his business, and it now stands on the precipice and to complicate matters further, Gray recently lost his son. Which deeply wounds him emotionally and makes him unavailable to his wife and his daughter. But despite facing great pressures and emotional pain, Gray does his best to walk between worlds and keep life normal to prevent trouble… but those efforts only go so far in this tale.

Skeet Ulrich and Giancarlo Esposito as Colin Broussard and Gracián ‘Gray’ Parish in Episode 101 of ‘Parish’ – ‘Pilot’. (Photo Courtesy of Alyssa Moran/AMC.)

For an old friend named Colin, who worked with Gray often back in the day, returns to the fold, with quite the problem. In that, he is in trouble with some powerful underworld figures and hopes that Gray will stand by him and help him clear that trouble up. A request that is initially rebuffed by Gray, since that life no longer makes sense to him. But the thought of being behind the wheel again, of feeling a thrill, of feeling something during this scary time in his life, eventually becomes too great to ignore, prompting Gray to meet the mysterious man known only as the Horse and sit behind the wheel for him and for Colin, consequences be damned. But that’s just it, the consequences will be far and wide, as evidenced by the closing moments of this tale.

Wherein it becomes so clear that Gray’s choices here were poor and scary in nature and may not be easy to back away from. But he did commit to a choice, all because of the pain surging through him and well, that perfectly encapsulates the central theme in question. For we are indeed in the thick of a man in crisis. Who has grief surging through his veins, alongside a dose of anxiety and great worry about the future and that can in fact prompt us to act out and do stupid things and put ourselves in dangerous and stupid situations. To feel something stronger, to perhaps punish ourselves in ways that relate to our pain and that makes this a vastly different type of crime drama. One that features a flawed character that is desperate to find peace but is pulled in two directions by two different worlds.

All of which will lead to a powerful story, one that will undoubtedly see that struggle play out and potentially inform us… what rock bottom looks like so we can climb out or remind us of the sobering fact… that sometimes people are lost to the darkness. But while we wait to see what Gray’s struggle looks like and indulge deeper in parts of the human condition that are uncomfortable in nature, we can celebrate a perfect series premiere. One filled to the brim with beautiful writing, powerful moments through incredible performances that truly set the stage for a moving and devastating journey, through the past, through our pain and through the ugliness of life that prevents us from finding happiness or at the least… delays us from holding that peace in our quivering and hungry hands. Until next time.

To learn more about Colin’s journey in this story, please visit our interview with the actor that plays him, Skeet Ulrich.

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