'Once and Again' gets stellar season sendoff

By Robert Bianco, (**** out of four) --

How like the folks at Once and Again to plan a big wedding and then worry whether anyone will attend — including the bride and groom.

It's no secret that Rick and Lily are having second thoughts about getting married — just as it's no secret that fans are afraid ABC may be having second thoughts about continuing this exceptional series. Though Once and Again ends its second season tonight with its quality standard held impeccably high, large numbers of viewers continue to decline its invitation.

Still, despite the lagging ratings, the show's prestige and its advertiser-friendly core audience should win it another season; we'll know in two weeks, when ABC announces its schedule. As for the wedding, well, things don't go as planned, but that's not always a bad thing. In the end, tonight's episode is an insightful, mist-inducing and ultimately life-affirming tribute to the beauty that can be found in families, which is the gift Once and Again brings to television.

Written by Winnie Holzman, Once uses its season-ender to revisit themes that have been swirling all year around its central couple, Rick (Billy Campbell) and Lily (Sela Ward). Though he has weathered the legal threats to his business, Rick still is feeling the economic repercussions. And while she has moved closer to Rick, Lily still feels the financial tug of her ex-husband Jake (Jeffrey Nordling) and the emotional pull of her late father (Paul Mazursky).

Combined, those pulls and pressures lead the couple to reconsider their wedding plans — and then to question the wisdom of marriage itself. Like all of the best work of TV producers Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, the resolution is astute and moving without being melodramatic, and it reveals yet one more aspect of the remarkable talents of young Evan Rachel Wood, who plays Rick's daughter, Jessie. As they have all season, Ward and Campbell give performances of uncluttered honesty.

They're two notably beautiful people who are willing and able to expose sometimes unattractive emotions and traits, a rarity in network series. So what can you do if most of the other invitees don't show for their wedding? You celebrate with those who do, and you wish the bride and groom a long and happy life together. Preferably, on TV.__USA TODAY (May 2, 2001)