Saving Grace

On the surface Saving Grace, which stars the still scrumptious, if somewhat seasoned, Holly Hunter, is a cop show with a female version of a rogue cop such as has been a staple on TV since the beginning of TV. But Saving Grace is about a woman who appears to be on the highway to Hell and may not get off the exit ramp in time.

It's not just that Grace Hanadarko smokes, drinks, sleeps around, and drives her car too fast. Back when I was younger, we'd call her a fun way to spend a Saturday night. Nor is the point that she's a rogue cop who could probably administer a good phone book beating with as much vigor as-say-Victor Mackey. We tend to cheer someone who can get a good confession out of a child molester or serial killer while introducing him to new experiences of pain.

The point seems to be that Grace is a lost soul, cut off from anything and anyone greater than herself. She can't decide whether she disbelieves in the existence of God or whether she is just pissed off at him.

Add to that, a great tendency toward self destruction, and Grace has a big problem. After combing two of her vices (drinking and driving too fast) she hits a man on a darkened road. In desperation, for she certainly knows what she did, she calls upon God for help.

And God answers.

The answer comes in the form of an odd angel named Earl, played by Leon Rippy, who looks like he just got off of the Redneck Comedy Tour. He chews tobacco and looks like he actually might enjoy Lone Star or Budweiser. He offers Grace some help in turning her life around.

Of course it is the oblique sort of help, without any firm guidance about what must be done. There is that principle of free will and, besides, Saving Grace would be a short series if the path out of her predicament were clear.

Indeed, in one episode, Earl fills Grace's home full of religious symbols from just about every faith imaginable. The message could not be more clear. There are many paths to God and it is only a matter of choosing which one that suits.

Naturally, Grace is stubborn. She's not going to be led to that off ramp from the highway to Hell very easily. But seeing how it happens-if it happens-will be fascinating to watch.