'Once and Again' is true to life's messy realities

"Once and Again" never takes the easy way.

It understands that life is filled with messy little moments of emotional bruising, times when even the most rational, mature adult can act the fool.

Complicated, well-intentioned human beings who inadvertently cause hurt to even a loved one? Not on most formula television dramas. Bogus emotions are usually the rule there. So are shallow, one-note characters and neat, easy resolutions to most family conflict.

But "Once and Again," which returns for a second season at 10 tonight on ABC, is blessedly different.

As they did with "thirtysomething" and then "My So-Called Life," producers Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz have created a portrait of the human condition that actually bears a resemblance to the real thing.

Of course, this is still television. Most of us don't look nearly as smashing as Sela Ward and Billy Campbell.

But the interior emotional terrain of their characters, single parents Lily Manning and Rick Sammler, rings true. These are smart, fallible human beings filled with yearning, giddy about the love they feel for each other. At the same time, they are often confused about the best way to proceed in juggling their various responsibilities to each other, to their children, to their ex-spouses.

The "Once and Again" second season premiere is aglow with funny, awkward and tender human moments, as Rick and Lily cope with the challenge of a romantic relationship that touches so many lives.

They're still sneaking around, trying to keep their sex life a secret from their respective children. Good luck. Like a couple of goofy teenagers, they fall asleep together on Lily's couch one night while her daughters, Grace (Julia Whelan) and Zoe (Meredith Deane), sleep upstairs.

Next morning, yikes! Rick and Lily awake in a panic, rush about getting dressed and crash into embarrassment when they are found out. Obviously, there's no stashing this romance in an emotional lockbox, hidden away from everyone else.

Though "Once and Again" revolves around the romantic tango of Ward and Campbell, it also offers rich, evocative portraits of the tangled ride through adolescence.

Whelan is simply sensational as Grace Manning, perhaps the most believably human teenager in prime time since Claire Danes' Angela Chase on "My So-Called Life." But Zwick and Herskovitz have done a similarly outstanding job in casting and writing for the other young performers.

Rachel Wood, who plays 14-year-old Jessie Sammler, is particularly memorable on the season premiere as she endures a painful week in school. There is one intense, bittersweet scene between Jessie and Rick -- in which she tells her father why she is feeling tugged in so many confusing directions -- that will haunt any parent who is struggling to raise children after a divorce.

It is in mesmerizing, artfully drawn moments like these that "Once and Again" really soars. And it once again proves to be one of the most intelligent, heartfelt family dramas of all time.__Detroit Free Press (October 24, 2000)