Rectify season finale
Monday, May 20
Sundance Channel, 10pm ET
It’s been a slow burn for the first six episodes of Rectify, the absorbing drama about Daniel Holden’s (Aden Young) attempt to re-enter society after spending 19 years on death row for the murder of his girlfriend. The show has become a media darling and was renewed quickly for a second season by Sundance. Good thing, because while tonight’s season finale, “Jacob’s Ladder,” delivers the same languid pace and pregnant pauses that have become the show’s signature, there sure isn’t much in the way of resolution. But then, we don’t watch Rectify to see what happens so much as how it happens. The performances are exquisite, and paired with the writing make every scene feel like the adaptation Faulkner deserved but never got.
Highlights include flashbacks to Daniel’s time on death row, an experience that just gets more horrifying with each revealed memory, further explaining Daniel’s alienation from all living things, and more incidents that prove just how dangerous it is for him to be back in town. Not just for Daniel but his family, who continue to wonder — despite any guilt that may crop up — if moving him somewhere else might be the best course of action.
Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Channel
