Recap / Walker Texas Ranger S6E14 "Saving Grace"

Saving Grace is the 14th episode of the 6th Season of Walker, Texas Ranger. It aired January 10, 1998.

Five inmates bound for Huntsville stage an escape from a prison bus, killing both the guards onboard, which then causes said bus to run off the road and crash. All the rest of the inmates onboard are quickly apprehended, but the five escapees in question, Ted Macy, Fred Corley, Brady Reese, Kyle Finley and Matt Walsh still remain at large. Two of whom— Walsh and Macy— Walker, Trivette and Alex have a history with, having busted them previously for the Kurland Bank Robbery. While Macy and Corley try to seek out the $3 million from the robbery, Reese, Finley and Walsh seek refuge at the Immaculate Heart Church where Alex is having one of her battered women’s support group meetings, upon which they hold the women and two nuns there hostage, threatening to murder them all if their demands aren’t met.

Written by John Lansing and Bruce Cervi
Directed by Jerry Jameson

Tropes seen in this episode:

• Affably Evil: Walsh, who grew up originally in the church before turning to a life of crime. When he, Reese and Finley take hostages at his old church, he grew to be uncomfortable with the situation after a while.
• Affectionate Nickname: Matthew Walsh has “Preacher”, considering he grew up in a church before he turned to a life of crime. He always had a story or two to tell when he and Mary Grace were growing up in an orphanage.
• Anyone Can Die: The kill count in this episode is as follows:
  • Two prison guards are killed after the five inmates make their escape from the bus.
  • A farmer and his wife are killed when the five men raid their home and steal their pickup truck.
  • The driver of a blue Chevrolet Caprice whom the gang carjacks is likely killed.
  • Three supposed new friends of Bonnie Sutherland are shot dead by Ted Macy when he and Corley reunite with her to try to find the key for the safe deposit box containing the $3 million from the Kurland Bank Robbery.
  • Matt Walsh is killed after Taking the Bullet to the chest from Reese's gun before he (Reese) could kill Mary Grace, just moments before Walker comes bursting in and dukes it out with the escapee.
• Character Title: The title character is Sister Mary Grace Canfield.
• Churchgoing Villain / Token Religious Teammate: Matt Walsh to a “T”.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Several times with Walsh. He is extremely uncomfortable with taking the nuns and Alex and her support group hostage at the church and keeps saying so, because he grew up in that particular church. Reese tells him to shut up... and two seconds later, punches out Reese, who has begun to make sleazy advances towards Mary Grace. Moreover, when the hostage situation escalates, he is willing to kill one of the women, except the nuns. Perhaps he does have some good in him after all.
  • Tanner and Floyd, the accomplices of the inmates, also have this moment when Finley threatens to kill them, too, while threatening to kill the women, only for Walker to show up Just in Time and beat him down. Tanner and Floyd give themselves up afterwards.
• Face Death with Dignity / Forgiveness Requires Death: This poignant and tearjerking scene after Matt Walsh is killed after taking a bullet to the chest from Reese’s gun and is killed as a result:
  Walsh: Forgive me. Please.
  Sister Mary Grace: Only God can forgive you. All you have to do is ask.
  Walsh: Just ask?
  Sister Mary Grace: And ye shall receive.
  Walsh: God... please forgive me, Lord.
  Sister Mary Grace: Today... you will walk with him in paradise.
  (Matt dies)
• He Knows Too Much / Leave No Witnesses: You know the routine for this show’s villains, and several times this is pulled off as the prisoners make their escape:
  • After the five men escape, they make their way to a farmhouse, kill the farmer and his wife and steal their truck. When Macy and Corley decide to go to the former’s girlfriend, Bonnie Sutherland’s house to find the key for the safe deposit box, all they have is one vehicle, but they hijack another and kill its driver.
    Aggravated Caprice driver: Hey, buddy, move the truck!
    Walsh: Like my dear old Mother Superior used to say: ask and ye shall receive!
  • The inmates consider doing this to Alex and her support group until Walker and Trivette call it in after they apprehend Corley and Macy, respectively. As luck would have it, Walker followed Corley to the church, right at the same time their accomplices, Tanner and Floyd, arrive with the guns and passports they requested.
• Heel–Face Turn / Taking the Bullet: While Matt decided not to kill the nuns after learning that Grace is his sister, Reese decides to do it himself, but Matt jumps in front of the bullet, and he is killed, moments before Walker comes in to fight Reese.
• Key Under the Doormat: Downplayed. The key to the safe-deposit box containing the $3 million from the Kurland robbery was hidden in, of all places, a light switch receptacle in Bonnie’s bedroom.
• Long-Lost Relative: Sister Mary Grace Canfield is revealed to be Matt’s long-lost sister, and it ultimately becomes the reason Matt changes his mind and decides not to kill the nuns.
• No Ending / What Happened to the Mouse?: While many can understand what happened to Matt Walsh after he took Reese's bullet for Mary Grace, we don't know what happens to the other four accomplices after they are rounded up. Chances are they were given life in prison.
• Nothing Personal: Macy says it word-for-word when he and Bonnie reunite, only to find three other men in her house, whom he shoots dead.
• Secret Path / Secret Underground Passage: Being that the Immaculate Heart Church is one of the oldest churches in the Metroplex, it has a secret passageway leading into the basement, which Walker uses to make his way inside and free the women, bolt cutters and all for the chains.
• Sick Captive Scam: Brady Reese pulls a fake seizure stunt during the prologue in order to carry out the escape from the bus.
• So Much for Stealth: Walker and Trivette secretly follow Macy and Corley in the Caprice they hijacked, wondering where the other three inmates are. While doing so, a Dallas Police car happens to show up at the wrong place at the wrong time. With Dallas officers having spotted the Caprice and pulling ahead of Walker and Trivette, the two Rangers are too late to tell them to back off, and after they run the plates, upon which they come back stolen, cue the Chase Scene!
• Special Guest: Thomas Wilson Brown as Matthew "Preacher" Walsh, Lisa Wilcox as Sister Mary Grace Canfield, Will Zahrn as Brady Reese and Barbara Bain as Mother Superior.
• Trap Door: When Reese sees Walker cuff Finley and tries to shoot him, only for Walker to quickly return fire, Reese locks him in the basement, but Walker uses a trap door to make his way into the church.