TV Jots

There’s a New Dude in Town

The wait is over, Holly Hunter fans. The Academy Award winner’s “angelic” TNT cop drama Saving Grace begins its fourth and final season with the March 29 premiere “Let’s Talk.”

When the series closed its third season last August, Hunter’s hard-living character Grace Hanadarko had just literally taken a flying leap off of a very high building while trying to prevent distraught Neely Lloyd (Yaani King) from committing suicide. Both women survived the dive, however. Then Neely went on to shock the numerous onlookers with her announcement that she has an angel, before revealing the huge wings tattooed on Grace’s back. Feel free to jump to a conclusion here.

The season premiere opens with the women arriving at the hospital, where it’s confirmed that both have miraculously escaped certain death with nary an injury. Viewers familiar with Grace’s frequently odd reactions to stressful events can guess that this occasion is no different.

While her colleagues investigate a brutal mauling case involving a killer canine and Ham (Kenny Johnson) becomes ever more involved with his deceased brother’s widow, a confused Grace gets to questioning God and the reasons for the many inexplicable incidents that have overshadowed her life since the show’s first season. Enter Mystery Man stage left.

If you thought Grace and Neely’s last chance angel Earl (Leon Rippy) was mystical, just wait until you get a load of the new guy (Gordon MacDonald), who likes to observe the various people in Grace’s life, including Earl, while diligently taking notes. He and Grace end up in a strange situation at a church, after which Grace discovers something even stranger about him with the help of her unsuspecting best friend Rhetta (Laura San Giacomo).

Saving Grace has nine episodes in its final season, which is currently slated to end on June 28. If the fourth-season premiere is any indication, the show’s last run will serve as Grace’s ultimate case, complete with all of the unexpected twists, quirky developments and unique players that longtime viewers have come to expect.

Answers to Grace’s (and our) questions about what’s really going on are surely in store, too. But whether or not viewers will be satisfied with those answers is another question. Either way, reaching the end of the road is definitely going to be enlightening.

Preview “Let’s Talk” in the following sneak peek before tuning in to the full episode.