| “ | We end up where we are meant to be and the best thing we can do is give ourselves a chance. The formula is simple: all we have to do is spread our wings and soar. We may not land where we thought we would… or when we thought we would, but we all will land. And we all will find our greatest selves on the journey and when we look back, we will look back we will remember today as one of anticipation for all that lies ahead and appreciation for all that it took to get here. We’re are now on our way to becoming who we are truly meant to be. | ” |
— Grace in "The Graduation"
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Grace Russell is a main character in the Hallmark Channel original series, Good Witch.
Grace is the only daughter of Cassie Nightingale and the third-born child of Jake Russell. She is a witch from the Merriwick family line and shares her mother's unique gifts of insight and intuition. She currently attends Wellingsley College.
Biography
Grace Doris Russell was born on October 15, to Cassie Nightingale and Jake Russell in Middleton, USA. Grace was born almost a year after the couple was officially married. She is the paternal half-sister of Brandon and Lori, as well as the step-Granddaughter of George O'Hanrahan. She was named after Doris, Cassie's foster mother who shaped and taught Cassie how to be a strong woman.
As a baby, Grace would become restless when she was still and preferred moving forward. She also slept terribly as a baby, often waking up in the middle of the night or early in the morning. As a result of her parents' hectic work schedules, Grace's older half-sister, Lori, would often look after her. As a newborn, Grace displayed a unique gift of being able to spin the figurines on the mobile that hung above her crib, something that Jake called, "magical".
After Cassie resigned from Mayor of Middleton, things seemingly calmed down for the family. Grace grew up in Grey House and attended local Middleton schools her whole life. She was close to her mother and grandfather growing up. Cassie taught her about the various herbs and how to identify them from their scent. Grace also had a unique relationship with her father, being his youngest and final child. From a young age, Grace displayed a gift of intuition and insight and seemingly took after her mother in her gifts.
When Grace was ten or eleven-years-old, Jake was killed in the line of duty which rattled her and her family. After his death, Grace and Cassie lived in Grey House alongside Jake's former father-in-law, and Grace's Grandfather-figure, George O'Hanrahan. George's presence, along with her mother's guidance, helped Grace to overcome her grief and keep a positive outlook on life. Despite Grace's acceptance of her fathers' death, she still struggled with the lack of a father-figure in her life.
She attended Middleton schools her entire life and graduated from Middleton High School with honors. She was the valedictorian of her graduating class.
Throughout The Good Witch Movies
Good Witch's Family
After Jake and Cassie finally have a moment of silence alone, while Lori's sweet sixteen party happens downstairs, Jake admits to Cassie that he is ready to start a family. Relieved to hear him say that, an elated Cassie reveals that she is pregnant. The couple then kisses passionately, excited for their future together.
The Good Witch's Charm
| “ | Look at that little face... She makes you believe that anything is possible. | ” |
— Cassie about baby Grace
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Cassie has given birth to her child, a daughter, whom she and Jake named Grace Doris Russell. They are trying to train her to sleep at nights and be regulated. The movie opened with Grace crying in her crib and Jake going to check on her. While originally alarmed when he found the crib empty, he and Lori located Grace with her mother, downstairs in the kitchen. Jake expressed that it was impossible for Cassie to be downstairs already, but Cassie gazed at her daughter's face and told her husband that Grace's face made her believe anything is possible.
An exhausted Cassie is later seen to be struggling with balancing her mayoral duties, being a wife, a shop owner, and a mother to her newborn daughter. Grace's birth seems to have caused a shift in the family dynamics, with Lori being forced to step up and take care of Grace while their parents are at work. While out on a walk, Cassie pauses to speak with a new reporter in town but leaves the conversation with a statement that Grace gets restless when she's not moving forward.
Grace's middle name was later stated to be Doris, after Cassie's foster mother, Doris, who had shaped Cassie into a strong-willed and grateful woman. As they put their daughter to bed, Cassie and Jake lay Grace to sleep in her crib, when the birded mobile above the crib began to spin. Jake commented that it is magical, to which Cassie replied, "like mother, like daughter".
Good Witch's Destiny
Grace is the infant daughter of Mayor Cassie Nightingale and Middleton's chief of police Jake Russell. She is frequently babysat by either Mia, a family friend, or her grandparent-figures Geroge and Gwen O'Hanrahan. Grace is a relatively quiet infant.
Good Witch's Wonder
Two-years have passed since Grace's toddling days, and she is now five with a personality of her own. She spends her days with either her mother, grandfather George, or at kindergarten. She and Cassie arrive home when Cassie realizes she left her keys in the car. Grace giddily holds them up and Cassie smiles at her daughter's mischievous nature. Once inside, Grace wants a cookie but Cassie tells her no as dinner is almost ready. That evening, Grace's half-brother Brandon Russell returns home from college with his fiancée Tara. He happily greets his sister as they haven't see each other in quite some time.
The next day, Grace attends kindergarten where she stays late as her grandfather, George, is running behind. She pulls a vanishing act on her teacher only to reappear behind her, stumping the teacher as to how the little girl did that. George arrives and Grace happily runs to him, giving him a big hug as he scoops her up. As he talks with the teacher, he learns that Grace has been playing hide and seek a lot. She's also excelling in numbers. Grace asks him to ask her a numbers question, so he relates the question to cookies. If she had two cookies and the teacher took one while he took one, what many would be left. She thinks for a moment then cleverly answers "tears!". The teacher finds the creative answer clever as she's a progressive teacher who believes that playtime and creativity is the key to a great education. George, however, is not sold on the idea so he takes Grace home.
Once home, Grace happily hugs her mother and asks for two cookies, though her mom agrees to one instead. Grace runs off to enjoy her treat and to play. George stays behind to ask Cassie if he can tutor Grace as her school is closed for a few days for an administrative holiday. Cassie notes that it's fine as the best teachers learn from their students. George begins to teach her the alphabet and what words start with which letters. She cleverly answers his questions and then, when he isn't looking, vanishes. She appears behind him which he notes is just like her mother. He notices her shoelace is untied and offers to teach her how to tie it, but she insists she knows how. He wants her to show him and she raises her shoe to his lap, and the laces are magically tied. She insists he take a picture using his cellphone, which is something he's never done before. She encourages him to do it and he does.
George drops Grace off at school where he is a little disappointed that he couldn't teach her more schooling, as she ended up teaching him. The teacher gives him an array of photos that Grace drew. Each of the drawings features her and George doing activities - fishing, fixing her bike, or going for walks. The teacher states that Grace is learning a lot from George and must value their time together. George had no idea Grace thought so highly of him, and is touched by the sentiments. The teacher states that the best teachers learn from their students, something she does daily, and George remembers Cassie said something similar. He finally accepts the teacher's new way of teaching.
A few days later, Brandon marries Tara in an intimate ceremony in Middleton. Grace wears a dress and serves as the flower girl, spending time with Tara before the wedding. She sits with her family during the ceremony, more specifically on Jake's lap, and enjoys the reception.
Throughout Good Witch TV Series
Season 1
A fifteen-year-old Grace lives in Grey House with her mother, Cassie Nightingale. She is an honor student and shares her mother's gifts of insight. She also has her learners permit and is trying to learn how to drive, however, it isn't a major plot for her. Her best friend is Anthony, and they talk about everything, including her family. She also befriends her new neighbor, Nick Radford, and they begin to grow closer before he betrays her and gets her in trouble with the principal. She also learns how to control her gift and learns more about how it affects her and others, dealing with the fact that she couldn't save her father from dying.
Season 2
A now sixteen-year-old Grace struggles with her identity as a witch and learning how to accept comments from outside influences. Her mother and brother tried to teach her how to drive but fell short. After communicating with Nick, Grace asks Sam Radford to teach her how to drive. She later gains her driver's license because of him. She also begins working as his intern at his office. She is taking AP Biology, Chemistry, and Physics at her school. As most underclassmen would not normally be allowed to take three AP science classes, she likely had to get special permission to enroll in all three classes at the same time.
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
Grace is away at college enjoying the best of her adult years. She has made new friends but keeps in touch with her family. She also takes the time to travel, even visiting the Alta Mira Caves in Spain.
Personality
Grace is incredibly kind and good-natured, with a natural sense of helping others. She is often going out of her way to help others and is very intelligent.
Physical Appearance
Grace in Season 4
She is a pretty young girl with an oval face and almond-shaped brown eyes. Grace has a slim, build, and wears casual yet fashionable clothing. She prefers to wear neutral tones, often wearing greys and lavenders. In the later seasons, her clothing colors change to earthly tones and she pairs her clothes with many simple accessories.
In Season 1 and 2, Grace's hair was shoulder-length and a dark chestnut brown color with a natural wave built into it. She mostly wore her hair down with minimal or nude makeup. In seasons 3 and 4, she wears matte lipstick instead of gloss and begins painting her nails. She also grows out her hair and dyes it to a brown to blonde ombre.
Gifts
Grace, like all of the Merriwick women, is quite magical. Even as an infant she showed great abilities, as she made the mobile above her crib spin.[4] Her mother called her magical from a young age. As a child, Grace's abilities began to manifest themselves as nearly identical to her mother Cassie's. She magically had her mother's keys which were left in the car, frequently "appeared" behind people, and enjoyed playing hide and seek due to her gift of vanishing. She also seemed to have the budding ability of helping others, as she encouraged George to take a photo of her shoes knowing it would help him learn to use modern technology.
By the time she was a teenager, Grace's powers had grown to include the ability to sense events before they happened. Though, she suffers the same blind spot as her other relatives as she can't see major events that will happen to her family. Most notably, she didn't sense her father's death before it happened.[5] However, she can predict when there is going to be a test at school, when a class is moved to a different room, when someone is going to get in trouble, and when someone she loves is in danger. The latter manifested itself when she sensed Brandon was in trouble, though she didn't know the magnitude of the event - his car accident. Additionally, her ability to move things has grown since her infancy as she can now cause a shelf of toys to collapse[6] and close doors. She can also sense who is behind her, going to call, or when she's about to get a text message.
Because Cassie raised her around herbal remedies and properties, Grace can identify herbs by scent and taste.[5] She has a working knowledge of their properties and uses.
Appearances
Notes and Trivia
- Because Grace was born during the television films, her birthday is technically October 15, 2012. However, she is aged up for the television show and graduates high school at the end of Season 5 (set in 2019).
- In Season 1, Cassie gifts Jake's beloved compass from scouts to Grace, who still has it in her room.
- In How to Make a Middleton Quilt, her birthday is listed as October 15th.
- Her gifts are being able to sense things before they happen and enhanced intuition.
- Like her mother, she has extensive knowledge of herbs and can identify herbs by their scent alone.
- Although not related by blood, she still calls George 'grandpa'.
- Grace's strong suit in school seems to be science and math, as she was taking three AP science classes in her Sophmore year.
- She was an intern at Sam's practice during Season 2 and 3.
- Grace had a concussion and injured her shoulder after she fell while rock climbing.
- One of her favorite authors is Jessica Carrington.
- She loves writing, photography, and wants to try skydiving at some point in her life.[7]
Gallery
References
- ↑ In How to Make a Middleton Quilt Grace sews her date of birth into the Wish Quilt made for her mother and her date of birth reads as October 15. Grace was aged up in years for her appearance in Good Witch. Her birth year in the films was 2012, while in the series, she was born in 2001.
- ↑ Because George is the father-in-law of Jake, who is the father of Grace, she and George are not biologically related. However, he assumes the role of her grandfather in every other aspect.
- ↑ George's wife Gwen fills the role of Grandmother to Grace when she marries George, often looking after Grace as a child. However, they are not biologically related
- ↑ "The Good Witch's Charm"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Starting Over...Again"
- ↑ "In 4/4, With Emotion"
- ↑ "Daddy's Home"