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Going Home

Two nurses on a computer - Going Home

Credits

Cast

Network

Reviewer

Emily Tsiao

TV Series Review

Death it is a part of life. It can be beautiful, precious, even peaceful. At least, that’s what Charley Copeland, five-time winner of the Hospice Nurse of the Year award, believes.

However, for Charley, it’s not about the accolades: It’s about the patients. She serves her clients with the goal of meeting all of their spiritual, emotional and physical needs as they transition from this life into the next. And that requires the help of everyone working at Sunset House—from the nurses checking vital signs to the chef in the kitchen.

Charley loves the work. She thanks God every day for the people He allows her to meet before welcoming them home. But it can also be challenging since many of those left behind aren’t quite ready to say goodbye to their loved ones yet.

But you don’t win Hospice Nurse of the Year five times for nothing.

Still, Charley has her flaws. She definitely likes things done a certain way. She can be irritable towards Janey, the bubbly new nurse working at Sunset House. And when her former college roommate, Katherine, shows up after 20 years of not talking, looking for in-home hospice care, Charley ignores God’s call to help, begging Him to send someone else.

But something tells me that just as God has used Charley to help others process difficulties in life, He’s going to use Janey and Katherine to help Charley as well.

Home Is Where The Heart Is

While other medical dramas use nerve-wracking life-or-death situations to build tension, Going Home has already passed that question. The patients of Sunset House are, in fact, dying, and this show is more about the transition from life on Earth to life in heaven.

In some ways, Going Home could be triggering, especially if you’ve lost someone you loved recently. We see older patients, having lived a long and fruitful life, bid farewell to family members who have already begun to prepare for a life without them. But then we see younger patients as well, dying from things such as liver failure or cancer. And those relatives left behind often aren’t ready to say goodbye—and they’re sometimes asking difficult questions in the midst of their grief.

Although it can be hard to watch these people pass on (some experiencing more physical pain than others), the show also offers hope.

Charley and her team of nurses guide patients and their loved ones through the whole process, encouraging them to make amends where necessary and end things on a positive note. And through it all, they remind these people that God is waiting for them with open arms.

The one spiritual choice that some audiences might not agree with is that many patients see their previously passed loved ones in their final moments. A man imagines his deceased mother inviting him to go on a walk with her. A woman states that an angel told her she’ll finally be able to hold her babies that she had miscarried many years ago.

However, given the show’s strong Christian message about death as a whole, this feels navigable. Especially since there’s no other negative content to speak of. A few patients mention drinking (and one man attributes his liver failure to such) but it’s always recognized as a poor choice that they are remorseful for.

So while Going Home might feel sad at times—I certainly shed a few tears as I watched—it’s such a nice show. And it can even be used as a springboard for families to talk about death from a biblical point of view.

Episode Reviews

Jun. 2, 2022 – S1, Ep1: “Charley’s Way”

Charley helps a former football player and his father cope with the younger man’s impending death.

Charley prays out loud, thanking God for the peaceful death of her patient and praying for a sick friend. A woman crosses herself at a memorial service. Another woman raises her hands to the sky in worship. When a man asks why it’s wrong to pray for a miracle, Charley tells him it’s not, but that he should also pray for courage and peace since his son still needs him now.

We hear about the deaths of several people. Charley is shocked to learn her friend is dying of cancer. At a memorial service, a man kisses his deceased son’s forehead.

Tyler, a man dying of liver failure, laments that he did this to himself by abusing alcohol and pain medications. We see his skin turning “dusky” and yellow from his illness. And as he gets closer to death, Tyler’s pain increases. He and his father, Harry, confess unspoken feelings surrounding Tyler’s mother’s death. And the two men apologize for not having this heart-to-heart sooner, reassuring each other of their mutual love. As Tyler dies, he says that he saw his mother inviting him to go on a walk with her.

Charley is irritable and sometimes harsh towards Janey because of Janey’s eagerness. However, she encourages Janey to smile since patients like that, and the two women adjust to their clashing personalities. When Charley says it’s inappropriate to celebrate a single nurse (after winning Hospice Nurse of the Year) since it’s a group effort, Janey modifies the trophies to recognize the Sunset House team.

A nurse grimaces as she empties a bedpan and her coworker makes a few jokes about bowel movements.

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Emily Tsiao

Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.

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