'Grace' Wheels and Deals a Cold Case

By LillyKat
PTR Senior Staff Writer

Let me just say there are a select few of us who name our cars.

I have no problem admitting I am one.

Call it the Christine syndrome.

Or a Herbie warm, fuzzy isn’t-my-car-cute kinda thing.

I don’t actually know how or why it starts.

It just does. And you are either genetically predisposed to: a) feel as if your car is more than a car – it’s a part of your family and, as such, deserves to be named, pampered and taken care of as if it were a person; or, b) feel as if your car is a bucket of bolts and could care less what happens to it.

I’m the former. I name my car (James, thank you).

And so does Grace.

That 1981 Porsche is Connie.

And Grace gets just as worked up about her as I do about James – especially when something bad happens.

Case in point: last night, Connie gets her door accidentally ripped off by a drunk driver, which reveals a load of $200K+ that had been stashed in the driver’s side door for a l-o-n-g time.

Like, multiple owners, before-Grace-ever-owned-her long time.

Enter Grace taking on a … wait for it … cold case. Now, can I just say she could’ve called Detective Lilly Rush in Philly and solved the case in half the time. But seeing as Lil’ doesn’t own a car, I highly doubt Rush would’ve given a care as to treating Connie – now a piece of evidence – with a whole lot of reverence.

Come to think of it, neither did Rhetta.

Grace’s panic attacks not withstanding. And her having to rent the "purple buggy" - Rhetta's very appropriate moniker for Grace's temporary Chrysler PT Cruiser.

It turns out a rich ol’ real estate developer ripped off a casino back in the day, sped home to Oklahoma and killed a highway patrol officer in the process.

Oops.

Now, we know police departments do not take cop killings lightly. This was no exception. But justice came a couple of decades later than the OCPD would’ve preferred.

But the real important side story (aside from whether Connie would survive being put back together, or Mr. Oklahoma Sooner, Barry Switzer, making a guest appearance as himself as a previous owner of the Porsche) was Ham’s brother, who was serving time in Afghanistan, being killed in a raid gone bad.

As Kenny Johnson just recently told us, the next couple of episodes are going to be some emotionally challenging ones for Ham. And if this was any indication … wow, we better hold on to our hats and glasses.

Can we say … lose it?

With one brother now out of the picture, we were introduced to another: Nick, an art gallery owner (played nicely by John Conley, who Cold Case viewers will remember from the episode “Thrill Kill”).

He is none too fond of Grace

Read: thinks she's a w*ore.

And tells her so.

I already like this guy.

Yet another who doesn’t put up with Grace’s all-for-me routine. There’s no BS; he calls it as it is. Ironic he’s basically in agreement with Grace’s nephew, Clay, that Ham running around on his wife ain’t cool; and Ham being Grace’s boy toy isn’t cool, either.

And yet, we saw some serious flashes of the very deep connection Grace and Ham share, even if it is cluttered by unfaithful, selfish and adulterous reasons at the moment. When Grace gets shaken up on first learning about Ham’s bother’s disappearance, it was a surprise to me given it takes a helluva lot to crack the woman.

But Ham is a soft spot. As is Clay.

And how she deals with both continues to get interesting.

As does the show.

New episodes air Mondays at 10 p.m. on TNT. You can watch full episodes of the show anytime over on the show’s official Web site. You can also visit EmbraceYourGrace.com to share your stories of how you embrace your inner-Grace.