Fan review by Mari

I think the title of this half hour episode of the newest TWILIGHT ZONE series should have been A HIGHER JUSTICE. The theme was about justice, and every character kept referring to an ideal called "higher justice". THE EXECUTIONS OF GRADY FINCH doesn't fit as well.

Still, EXECUTIONS is a good little chiller of an episode of a notoriously chilling series. The new show, which was cancelled in late '03, was not nearly as good as the old show of the sixties, but this, along with a few other episodes, was good and worthy of being a "twilight zone" kind of story.

Grady Finch (Jeremy Sisto) is a death row inmate who was convicted of murdering a convenience store clerk. Now his execution looms near, and his attorney Liz (Alicia Witt) has done everything she can to help. The governor has denied any last ditch efforts for appeal, and Warden Tobey (Stephen Miller) has come to take Grady down the green mile.

Jeremy Sisto turned in yet another skilled performance, drenched with sweat and eyes filled with terror. Guilty or not, you know Grady is scared out of his mind and does not want to die.

No one could have been prepared for the lethal infusion device to freeze up, but it does, and Grady is allowed a moment's respite from death. Liz talks of a Florida case that gave someone unexpected clemency for a year, but the stern Warden Tobey won't hear of it, and Grady is again herded back to the death chamber, to be put to sleep before the eyes of the Parks, the family whose dad Grady allegedy robbed and killed. But another snafu happens, and Grady, having been tortured quite adequately in my humble opinion, is spared a second time!!!

Why Liz did not assert herself as a lawyer and file piles of motions to appeal based on the Florida case bothered me, but eh, this is just a TV show and I guess the action would have stopped. It's only allowed a half hour to unfold, which I don't agree with. It needed an hour or more!!! Feature length would have been okay by me!!! Any flaws in reality are forgivable, including why did they decide to employ an electric chair??? Don't tell me they gave up completely on the far more humane lethal injection just because of two mishaps???!!! What state are they in??? Pick a state, any state!!! LOL!!! Anyway, the sparky chair fails too, and Grady, who reacted the other two times with relief, begins to gloat!!! He reads articles titled THE MAN WHO CAN'T DIE, and begins to think himself as someone special, with some lofty purpose.

Although his laughter while strapped in the electric chair is eerie, it is at about this point where you begin to notice that Grady Finch is quite a charmer!!! He has the kind of charisma that could fool anyone into thinking he's innocent. He has a killer (no pun intended) smile and his eyes twinkle merrily as he wolfs down some nitrates with a side of nicotine. He even begins to tell reporters that he has a guardian angel shielding him from "injustice". When the angry Nathan Park tries to gun Grady down, Grady just laughs and says, "Anyone else wanna take a shot??? Go ahead, you can't kill me!!! No one can!!!"

Well, maybe not...not yet anyway!!! The higher justice Grady was anxious to preach about ends up surprising everyone, including Grady!!!

I recommend any Jeremy fan to see this if you get a chance!!!

Links

Official Site of THE TWILIGHT ZONE

Song: Getting Away by Rick Kurek, written especially for THE EXECUTIONS OF GRADY FINCH

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