Starring Holly Hunter, Leon Rippey, and Laura San Giacomo, TNT’s Saving Grace has wrapped its second season and is primed and ready for those of you who wait for the DVD release. The basic plot here is that Grace (Hunter) is an alcoholic, redneck, pissed at the world police officer. Still reeling from the death of her sister in the Oklahoma City bombing, she is led onward by an angel named Earl (Rippey), who more or less, spends all his time keeping her from self-destructing. Whereas Season 1 set up this scenario when Grace nearly killed a man while driving under the influence and Earl offered her a second chance, Season 2 barely touches on this aspect of the show is far and away more episodic then it’s predecessor.
While this show is on during prime time hours, it plays like an after hour’s version of mid-new millennium Law & Order: SVU (when the main characters were all having identity crises at the same time). Grace is angry, cold-hearted, and as mouthy as they come and I suppose Hunter plays her brilliantly because she manages to get under your skin (in a bad way) a good bit throughout this season. The most intense moments end the season with the execution of Leon and the revealing that Grace has had the wool pulled over her eyes royally by someone close to her. While these moments are intense, you have to embrace a willing suspension of disbelief to swallow it. Especially the fact that Grace manages to keep her badge throughout the season, not even losing it when she is arrested for kidnapping! Perhaps Oklahoma City is hard up for police officer applicants?
The main extra here is fairly interesting though. Holly Hunter and writer Nancy Miller discuss, in-depth, how the show got its start and what attracted Hunter too it initially. It’s an interesting once through for sure. The other featured extra is simply some red carpet footage that doesn’t do much for me. If you like candid interviews at Hollywood gatherings than you’ll certainly like this, so die-hard fans of the show may be geared up more for this footage than I was. Overall this show is confusing at best but not nearly as bad as most cable TV originals are!
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
