Episode Report Card Deborah: A | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Desolation
By Deborah | Season 1 | Episode 23 | Aired on 05.20.2004
The scene dissolves, and we see Will and Helen asleep on the sofa. Cute Guy God enters the room and goes to Joan's bedside. She, too, is sleeping. He studies her, his face lined with concern. He reaches out and touches her head, his fingers in her hair, his thumb drawing slowly across her forehead. It might be seen as a baptismal gesture, or one of anointing or healing the sick. Joan doesn't wake or stir. He continues looking at her, his face very serious. God walks out as Joan turns onto her left side and the camera withdraws through the window, drifting up toward the "University Medical Center" sign on the outside, its caduceus lit so brightly that it looks like a fat cross. The camera continues floating up to the stars, creating a perfect bookend to the pilot, which you'll recall opened with Joan in bed, hearing God's voice, and closed with her lying in bed, thinking about her extraordinary experiences with God, as the camera drifted across a starry sky. Now we spend the summer contemplating faith and doubt; thinking about consolation and desolation; and most importantly, checking Amazon constantly, trying -- probably in vain -- to pre-order the first season DVD. Hurry up, Sony. We need it, like, yesterday.