Trying to Settle Into Remarried Life

By SCOTT SANDELL

If breaking up is hard to do, hooking up after divorce is even tougher. And fusing two families together—well, you might not even want to go there. But "Once and Again," entering its third season on ABC tonight, unflinchingly does just that.

It's the story of a lovely lady, Lily (Emmy-nominated Sela Ward), and a man named Rick (Billy Campbell), each with a pair of kids. But from the start, it was clear that this was no "Brady Bunch," especially after infidelity threw the relationship into a tailspin midway through the first season. Nor are the kids without some serious problems, such as Rick's daughter, Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood), whose eating disorder was confronted in the second season.

Now Lily and Rick are newlyweds. And tonight it's clear that the honeymoon, if there really ever was one, is over. The younger children, Jessie and Zoe (Meredith Deane), are at war, while the eldest, Rick's 18-year-old son, Eli (Shane West), is not only out of school and work, but also in trouble with the law. Things get even more complicated between the couple and Rick's ex after Lily helps Eli land a job with a rock band.

The strength of this show is its insight into the complex web of ties that bind lovers, ex-spouses, siblings, parents and children, and so on. Whereas many programs gloss over the details of family relationships, "Once and Again" revels in them, often through subtleties such as a knowing glance or a sly twist of everyday speech. You can see the crush that Lily's older daughter, Grace (Julia Whelan), has on Eli just by the way her face lights up whenever he's in the room.

At the same time, this show is not everyone's cup of tea. With its heavy emphasis on romantic entanglements and moments of crisis, it can't help but feel at times like a soap opera. Nevertheless, it has dimensions that reflect the lives of many of its viewers. In that sense, it's fitting that "Once and Again" has moved to the time slot that was long occupied by another program about contemporary life, the newsmagazine "20/20."__ LA Times (September 28, 2001)