Where There’s a Will, There’s ‘Grace’

By LillyKat
PTR Staff Writer

It’s getting nearly impossible for Grace Hanadarko not to believe she’s supposed to be part of this whole divine angel intervention thing.

And it’s starting to get entertaining.

Especially when Angel Earl decides to use her nephew to get her attention.

Enter this week’s episode, which was again toned way down from the first two (no romps with her married partner, no half-naked flashes) and of which I liked.

We find Angel Earl pretending to have Grace’s nephew kidnapped by the death row inmate (Leon) who is, of course, also one of Earl’s assignments.

How’s that work?

Chalk it up to sort of pseudo hallucination, pseudo dream sequence, pseudo reality and a whole bunch of Angel magic. It surely got her attention, though. “Keep your damn wings off my nephew.”

Seems Earl wants Grace and Leon to work together to sort each other out.

Angel Earl: “Two years, five months and five days, Leon. I can’t change the day you’re gonna die. That’s above my pay grade. But I can help you get ready. That pushy cop can help you, too … if you let her.”

Grace is actually starting to show some redeeming qualities (as in, she lectures her nephew, Clay, about never talking to strangers and gets so preoccupied with it that dad has to tell her she can’t see Clay for a while). She's also looking like a pretty good cop right about now given she decides to personally take into protective custody a young devout Christian kid (the “Got God?” t-shirt was a pretty good giveaway) who is the only witness in a murder case and is just days away from testifying. Both he and his dad are being harassed and sent death threats, so Grace steps in (given regular police procedure isn't going to grant any sort of “official” protective custody). Now, she does really want bad guy Carl put away (of course), and thus, needs Jesus Boy Wade alive and well. But still, I give her points for going the full yardage on this case.

Not to mention she’s got to deal with Wade’s equally devout – and somewhat confused – father. Dad thinks Wade isn’t going to make it to his 18th birthday due to some sort of prophecy God supposedly told him when Wade was a child. Turns out Wade doesn’t bite the bullet, though, at midnight. And yet, dad actually goes a little haywire and thinks he needs to fulfill the prophecy. Imagine the surprise hearing Grace say, “This is God’s will. Me. Here. Now. Stopping this.”

Is this Grace Hanadarko?

Yes.

But whether she actually believed what she was saying or was just being a clever detective doing her fair share of role playing ... well, we shall see.

Now, there was a huge irony in having Wade be such a devout Christian - talking about his unwavering belief in God, carrying around his bible and cross, praying with married partner Ham (who has got a whole slate of sins racked up for his dealings with Grace whilst also still being married). Perhaps it was a little too much, but I actually thought it worked.

Last week, Grace had to get her suspect out of a church. This week, she’s got a Jesus Boy staying in her house. And all the while, loyal friend Rhetta is still trying to convince her that she needs to take this all seriously.

Rhetta: “In the Bible, when you go through a door, you move from one level of faith to the next. And purple is the color of Lent; a time for preparation. Maybe Earl wants you to find the purple door and open it – for you and Leon since he can’t do it himself.”

And maybe she’s right.

So Grace does find a purple door at the end of the ep … but will she ever get herself through it?

Stay tuned.

New episodes air Mondays at 10 p.m. on TNT.