Rev. Meets Jesus, Thanks be to God

 

Not long ago I wrote about a funny and clever series called Rev. on Britbox. The central character is an earnest and hapless Church of England priest in an inner city church struggling for survival. It's a wonderful cast and Tom Hollander is brilliant as the vicar. 

The Rev. Adam Smallbone is compassionate and genuinely has a sense of mission to the lonely and lost. He loves the liturgy and rolls his eyes at thriving contemporary congregations which attract young worshipers yet seem shallow.

Adam muddles along, praying all the while, until a number of calamities occur. These include a personal indiscretion which turns just about everyone against him, including his patient lawyer wife. It's in the third and final season that there is a turn from comedy toward tragedy. Adam is suspended from duties and he becomes convinced he no longer has a vocation. Still, God isn't done with him. In a stupor of despondency he carries the cross used for the annual joint Good Friday service through the streets of London to a neighbouring parish. He is mocked by a few and stumbles in his exhaustion. 

Finally he finds  himself in a park with a vista and improbably, deliriously, begins singing the hymn Lord of the Dance. As he dances he is joined by a jogger, played by Liam Neeson, who dances with him, then assures him that he'll never be left alone. Despite the tedium and disappointment he has experienced,  Adam meets the loving Christ. All the elements of the Passion are there, and kudos to the writers and those who advised them 

This is the penultimate episode, and the final segment is a story of redemption and resurrection, although not in a predictable way. I won't describe it and spoil your opportunity to discover it for yourself. After laughing our loud often through the seasons we were both moved by the ending. If you can, watch.