Third ‘Sarah’ a Bit Too Plain, Wholesome

In the 1991 ratings-grabber “Sarah, Plain and Tall,” viewers were introduced to the forthright mail-order bride from Maine, played with stalwart, strong-willed understatement by Glenn Close.

The third and concluding installment of the earnest dramas based on Patricia MacLachlan’s award-winning novel arrives Sunday as “Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter’s End.”

At the risk of sounding like an ogre when so much of the prime-time landscape is ruled by raunch and racy material, it hurts to humbly suggest that the apt title for this chapter would be “Sarah, Plain and Slow: When Will It End?”

Yes, the pacing in this trilogy has always been on an even, somber keel, but this time it somehow feels more pronounced.

Here, the film’s themes center on broken trust and forgiveness as a craggy solitary stranger (Jack Palance), chilled to the bone, surfaces at the family’s Kansas farm in 1918.

Who is he and what does he want? By the first commercial break, it’s no surprise to learn that Palance’s weathered John Witting is the father of Sarah’s taciturn husband, Jacob (Christopher Walken). The what and why are forthcoming as John gradually warms up to his grandchildren, the likable Caleb (Christopher Bell) and chatty, inquisitive Cassie (Emily Osment).

Meanwhile, older sister Anna (Lexi Randall) frets about the security of her husband, a soldier at war in Europe, as she nurses the town’s ailing citizens with her father-in-law (George Hearn), the town doctor.

Warm as a comforter yet much too familiar, MacLachlan’s stale story unfolds as one would expect, right down to the familial hugs and kisses at fade-out.

For many, “Sarah” may be welcomed as refreshingly wholesome, old-fashioned family fare from the nice folks at “Hallmark Hall of Fame.” For us, “The End” mercifully came just in time.

* “Sarah, Plain and Tall: Winter’s End” airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on CBS. The network has rated it TV-G (suitable for all ages).